Mars Training Grounds

Do you have plans to travel to Mars anytime in the near future? Looking for a place to train and get in shape before your trip? I have just the spot!!

 

Our friend Travis told us we should check out a remote area in Joshua Tree National Park he nicknamed "Mars Training Grounds" and "Yoni Bridge". Travis is a professional guide and has hiked JTNP more than anyone I know. When he recommends something, it's always worth seeing!

Here's where we start the off-road drive portion of our adventure. It's 10 miles of sandy road to get to where we will start our hike. The recommendations on these signs should NOT be taken lightly! Here's a closer look:

No water. No medical services. No gas. Most importantly, no cell service. Deep sand/4WD high clearance vehicles ONLY. If you can get a tow truck driver crazy enough to come out here and tow you back to the road, it will be over $1000. 

 

Some years back, a 44 year old Dutch music promoter and his 38 year old German girlfriend were in a rental car (2WD) and decided to take this road. Their rental car got stuck in the sand a handful of miles from here (no surprise) so they left their car and started walking back the way they had come. On this day, the high was 106. Someone out exploring came across their bodies along the road later that same day. They were only a couple miles from their car before they succumbed to the heat and dehydration. A very tragic situation.

 

The first 2-3 miles of our hike was flat and followed the base of these rocky hills. Then came the uphill part (photo above). It was quite a bit steeper than it looks. Look very closely and you might be able to make out Mitch and Nadine, my hiking partners for the day. I was in charge of route finding. I used Travis' route as a starting point, but Travis is 30 years younger than me and can cover a lot more ground and vertical elevation. I shaved off a couple miles by finding a more direct route up to the Mars Training Ground. It turned out to be steep and rocky but doable.

 

After a lot of climbing, we manage to make it to the top of a large flat-topped butte covered with rocks. But not just any rocks. Everything up here is volcanic rock. Back or redish in color and full of small holes. It's the kind of volcanic rock you would expect to find around a cinder cone, but I don't know of any cinder cones in the area.

 

This must be what Travis calls the Mars Training Ground, and I can see why. If you wanted to train for a trip to the rocky Martian surface, this would be a great place to do it!

 

NASA video clip of Martian surface.

 

In some areas the volcanic rock is tightly packed and easy to walk on.

 

About the only plant life are some scraggly, half dead creosote bushes.

 

From a distance, we can see another butte (left side of the photo) but it appears it will require another steep descent down and climb up the other side to get to the second butte. As we get closer, we see a bridge of land connecting the two. This must be Travis' "Yoni Bridge", and it makes the hike over to the second butte much easier.

 

Another view as we make our way to the second butte (left).

 

Nadine and Mitch crossing the "bridge". There is a steep drop off to the left that you can't see in the photo. With drop-offs on either side, it really does feel like a bridge!

 

On the second butte, we investigate this pile of rocks. Any guesses as to what it is??

 

If you guessed a Bureau of Land Management benchmark survey, then you guessed right! I checked my GPS app on my phone to see where to proceed next and noticed we were standing exactly on the park boundary. On one side of this benchmark is BLM land, on the other side is Joshua Tree National Park!

 

What a surprise to find Whitestem Milkweed growing up here!

 

Looking back toward the first butte (Mars Training Grounds)

 

Safely down from the buttes and heading back to the car.

 

Made it back just in time to enjoy the sunset!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Have a Happy Valentine's Day!!❤️

First Rain in a Long Time!

I took a walk in our local hills after our first rain in what seems like forever. Just a light sprinkle earlier in the morning, which had stopped about an hour before I started walking. The skies were mostly grey and monotone, so I helped things alone a bit by converting everything to b&w. I always enjoy b&w photography, and it takes me back to when I used to shoot b&w film and develop and print it myself. I think younger people who only know digital photography missed out!

Yin and yang.

 

Uh oh! Just a few minutes after taking this photo I got wet!

 

More rain predicted for the next couple days. That's good, we need it!!

 

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Cowboy Rock Under the Stars

 This was my second visit to Cowboy Rock. I usually prefer not to repeat hikes, but this location is so interesting and unique, I was really looking forward to it. I was also looking forward to an over-nighter in the desert. It's a long hike out to Cowboy Rock, and spending the night would give us a lot more time to explore!

We pass through a delightful Ocotillo garden on our search for Cowboy Rock.

 

Perhaps the largest Ocotillo we've ever seen!

 

The smile on our faces tells you we found it!

 

Cowboy Rock is one of the most interesting petroglyph sites in JTNP. It's also rarely seen because of it's remoteness, and people who have seen it don't share the location. In the center of the main panel is a horseback rider (although the "horse" appears to have horns) which I assume is where the Cowboy Rock name came from. Look closely to the left, and there appears to be another rider carrying a flag. It seems like with this pannel, the more you look, the more you find. There are also a few petroglyphs (including "horse" and rider) on the rock panel to the left of the main panel.

 

I think people would refer to this as a "post-contact" petroglyph panel, which would help determine the age. Women in dresses and riders on horses would make you think that contact with European explorers had already been made when this panel was created.

 

Snake and woman wearing a dress.

Shadow selfie.

 

 

Time to set up camp. Simple for me: Tarp on the ground, sleeping pad (inflatable), and sleeping bag. Pros: Lighter backpack (no tent to carry). Cons: Colder and you might wake up with a critter sharing your sleeping bag! I underestimated how cold it would be, and even sleeping with every possible piece of clothing on, I had a very cold night!

 

With my sleeping arrangements completed, it was time to wander around and catch the golden hour.

One of my favorite photos, although it was much better "in person". Just the tops of the Ocotillos were lit up by the golden hour sun.

 

It was getting dark fast. Before long, all we could see is whatever our headlamps were pointing at.

 

Mitch's kitchen: Cooking by headlamp.

With the stars rising, I decided it was time to try and capture Cowbow Rock under the stars. It was a beautiful, clear night. I had brought along a miniature tripod, and I used my headlamp to light up the glyphs. I was in for a little surprise...

The Milky Way!! Totally unplanned, so just a lucky shot, but my favorite from the hike. Ha, and you thought I was done with MW photos!! I'm wondering if anyone has ever photographed Cowboy Rock under the Milky Way? My guess would be probably not!

 

The next morning I woke up cold, stiff, and tired from lack of sleep. But this was the view from my sleeping bag. I was too cold and tired to climb out of my bag, so I took this photo with my cell phone while lying down. Now if I could just talk Mitch into bringing me over a cup of hot coffee. Talk about lazy!!

 

We really do practice the "leave it cleaner than you find it" adage. On the hike back to the car, Mitch finds a large cluster of mylar balloons tangled in a bush. We've really grown to hate these things. People release them, not realizing they can travel great distances and land in pristine places. They take years to break down and make a huge mess in the process. Please don't buy mylar balloons!

 

Packing it out. Thanks, Mitch!

 

Hope you enjoyed this over-nighter out to Cowboy Rock.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

The "Wolf Moon"

 I just happened to notice the big full moon rising the other evening, and decided to grab my camera. After all these years, I'm still a sucker for a beautiful moon!

 

Moonrise, partially obscured by the neighbor's palm tree.

 

Seeing this pretty moon kind of motivated me, and I decided to check on details for the next morning's moonset. Turns out it was 7am, so I decided to check it out. There's a hiking trail that takes you up to a nice lookout of downtown LA. Based on the predicted compass reading for the moonset, I guestimated that I might be able to get the LA skyline and moon in the same shot.

After hiking in the dark for about 20 minutes, I came to my lookout. Luck was with me, and the moon was slowly descending on downtown LA. This first attempt was at 6:34am. The moon was still pretty high, but I was able to get both the moon and downtown LA in the same frame, so I started shooting. I love how the buildings of LA look in the early morning hours. Kind of bittersweet knowing all the distruction and loss from the fires. I could see no fire or smoke plumes from my vantage point, so hopefully that's good news.
 

6:38AM. Just 4 minutes after the previous photo. Seems like the lower the moon gets on the horizon, the faster it drops! By the way, all photos here are single images. No composite photos, AI, or other trickery. I used a 200mm-400mm telephoto lens with a monopod.
 

6:50am

 

6:55am

 

7:00am

 

As the moon was setting behind Los Angeles off to the west, the sun was getting ready to burst out from behind Saddleback Mountain in the east. 
 

7:07am. The moon has just dropped below the horizon, and the sun has just started to rise. You can see sunlight reflected off a couple of the glass buildings in downtown LA, about 20 miles from where I'm standing.
 

Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you had a chance to see the Wolf Moon!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.