Yesterday was a beautiful day here in the desert, with high clouds, so hubby and I decided to drive through Joshua Tree National Park, starting at the Cottonwood Springs entrance. That entrance is about 25 miles east of Indio, CA, right off Interstate 10. So, we headed out about 8:30 a.m. We passed through some BLM land where people can pull off and "boondock". That means they can stay for several days and not have to pay fees. They basically are out in the desert. I now follow several RVers who boondock and it seems quite interesting. You just pick a spot on BLM land, register, and VIOLA! You don't have noisy neighbors, except for a few birds! :-) Anyway, I went for a short hike along one area and took some photos of the washes. I saw lots of animal tracks, including coyote ones. Then we drove to the visitor center/ranger station/weather station at Cottonwood Springs. Hubby now has the free Golden Adventure pass (you get it free once you turn 62, I believe...), so we no longer have to pay to enter national parks. See, it's GOOD to bring him along with me! :-) I was busy taking photos and I didn't see this couple walk right in front of me, but aren't they cute? The cottonwoods were all bare yesterday, but, with the clouds, I didn't care! I almost took more photos of the clouds than the landscape! I'll continue our trip tomorrow. That's looking west, toward Mt. San Jacinto in the top photo. I don't know why it looks so washed out...sigh...The next two are BLM land.
2 comments:
I suppose that if I ever get to the point where I don't have animals or am not the primary caretaker of the animals, boondocking might be a good way for me to escape the noisy neighbors. One of my neighbors must have lost his job recently, because he has taken up pulling old race cars out of junk yards and fixing them up. He has about 8 vehicles on his lot at any given time and always has an engine revving. This was such a quiet place until he started this new business. I can still hear him when I walk in the desert near my house, so I have to find some place far, far away from houses to hike.
Hiking has become such a major part of my daily life that I go through withdrawals if we have a few days of rain.
Cottonwood Springs is a wonderful area for a hike. So agree with you about loving to get out in the open desert where the only sights and sounds are of nature! It recharges my battery!!
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