It was a rainy ride all the way south through Utah, even in St. George. But by the time we passed through Las Vegas the sun was starting to come out and an hour later as we approached Mojave National Preserve the weather was looking great. We made a good choice! We wanted a relaxing trip with sunshine and warmth and I think we picked the perfect location.
Mojave National Preserve is huge - only Yellowstone and Death Valley Parks are bigger in the continental United States. We only had time to cover the highlights of the park - this is definitely a place worthy of another trip.
Upon entering the park we drove through the world's largest Joshua Tree forest. These are amazing looking trees! They like things a little cooler so they were mostly located in the higher elevations of the park.
Joshua Tree - Mojave
Joshua Tree - Mojave
Me in the Joshua Tree forest - Mojave
The road turned to dirt (of course) as we climbed to almost 6,000 feet - one of the highest elevations in the park. We were thinking this would be a good place to camp, but the area suffered a massive fire a few years ago and didn't look particularly scenic. It was also much cooler at this elevation and the trees that weren't burned were mostly junipers. This reminded me too much of higher elevation Utah - this trip was supposed to be about warmth! We decided to move on. A passing shower and rainbow followed us for a while. Another good choice.
Rainbow near Mid Hills - Mojave
We made our way to the Hole-in-the Rock camping area and the scenery changed again from junipers to yuccas - a sign of warmth. The site was perfect and we enjoyed an evening of warm sunshine and good beer. It was beginning to feel more like a spring break!
Our tent at Hole-in-the-rock
Campsite at Hole-in-the-rock
Rob relaxing at Hole-in-the-rock
Yuccas
Rob setting up the tent at Hole-in-the-rock
I'm usually awake at the first hint of daylight and this has given me the chance to see some amazing desert sunrises. It's my favorite part of camping. Rob must have been really tried from working and the long drive because I took a long sun nap after sunrise until he finally emerged from the tent.
Sunrise at Hole-in-the-rock
Sunrise at Hole-in-the-rock
Sunrise at Hole-in-the-rock
The weather was perfect on Tuesday and after a brief stop a the Hole-in-the-rock visitor center we headed south through some of the lower elevations of the park. Too hot for the yuccas, the ground was mostly covered with creosote bush. It was in the 70s but the landscape made it appear much warmer. After looping back north for a bit we came to our destination for the day - Kelso Sand Dunes. The dunes rise up over 600 feet above the surrounding land and provide a stark contrast to the dark mountains surrounding the dunes. These dunes are particularly interesting because they "sing" when you get enough sand sliding down their slopes. It's a difficult noise to explain, but it sounds like a boom or a low flying airplane. Only a few dunes in the entire world do this. We spent hours running up and down the dunes, listening to strange sounds, and relaxing in the sunshine.
Kelso Sand Dunes
Me hiking to the dunes
Playing in Kelso Sand Dunes
Pretending I'm at the beach
Kelso Sand Dunes
Later that afternoon we found a great place to camp under some trees near Kelso Sand Dunes. Rob took a nap and I wandered around enjoying the desert scenery and a beautiful sunset. It looked a lot different than the red rock desert of Utah but it felt comfortable and welcoming. The skies were clear that night and the stars were amazing, except in the northeast sky where Las Vegas polluted the universe with an unbelievable amount of light.
Rob setting up camp near Kelso Sand Dunes
The view from our campsite near Kelso Dunes
Wild rhubarb
Kelso Sand Dunes
Sunset near Kelso Sand Dunes
I think the highlight of the trip was a simple morning walk through the desert near our campsite. There is no cryptobiotic crust to worry about but we still tried to minimize our impact by walking up washes. There was no trail so we just wandered and made little discoveries along the way. It was very peaceful.
me near a large Yucca
Desert tortoise shell minus the tortoise
Cholla cactus
We made a stop in Kelso to check out what used to be a bustling railroad depot on the Union Pacific Line. After walking through the museum of railroad history at Kelso we continued north to the volcanic cinder cones and lava flows. We spent a few hours walking around the lava flows and enjoying the scenery - a stark contrast between the black lava and the pale sand of the surrounding desert.
Kelso Depot
Kelso Depot
Volcanic cinder cone
Lava flow
Lava flow
We headed north to Baker, CA so Rob could get some ice cream (he said it was a sweet treat emergency). I also wanted to see the tacky, but must-see, Baker thermometer. This is a town that takes pride in being hot.
The Baker Thermometer
Finally we headed to Zzyzx Road (because that's a really strange name for a road!) and we wanted to see Soda Springs - a desert oasis next the Soda Lake, a dried up lake bed. The area used to be evangelical health resort but is now the location of California State University's Desert Studies Center. That's about as strange as the road's name. We found the place to be a little creepy - it still felt like an abandoned resort.
Soda Springs
Soda Springs
Soda Springs
We planned on camping in the Joshua Tree forest that we passed through on our first day but when we arrived we mutually decided that we needed to find somewhere else to camp. It was windy and cold and just didn't feel very comfortable. Since it was a long drive back to Salt Lake we decided we could make the drive more comfortable on Thursday by heading north for a couple of hours and camping in the Virgin River Gorge for the night. After the torturous drive through Las Vegas (a shock to the system after a few peaceful days in the desert) we made it to the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona and found it to be much more comfortable. The next morning we made a stop in Snow Canyon near St. George, UT to enjoy a little more sunshine and warmth before heading back to winter in Salt Lake.
Snow Canyon - Utah
Snow Canyon - Utah
Snow Canyon - Utah
Snow Canyon - Utah
Snow Canyon - Utah
