Green Streak at the Mojave Preserve!

 I've strayed from my usual hangout of Joshua Tree National Park and traveled north to the Mojave Preserve near the ghost town of Cima. As mentioned in my previous post, our trip here seemed to be jinxed right from the get-go. But as sunset settles in, the rain has stopped and the wind has died down, and the skies are truly amazing. In this case anyway, perseverance seems to have paid off!

I think I read that the Joshua trees in the Mojave Preserve are a different species, or maybe subspecies, than what is found in Joshua Tree National Park. Here, it's common to see multiple branches coming up from the base of the tree, and the foliage is more dense. You don't see that in Joshua Tree. 

 

 

 

Mitch has a nice view from his tent!

 

Mammatus clouds glowing pink in the sunset!

 

 

 

And now, for my favorite photo of the trip. I was excited to shoot the Milky Way because night skies are darker here. Not only was it a new moon night, but there was supposed to be a meteor shower at its peak. Looking through my camera, I wasn't seeing any meteors, but the MW looked wonderful. I used a 15 second exposure for the MW, and right after I activated the shutter, I saw a huge meteor streak across the sky! I remember thinking "Please please please be on the photo!!" It not only showed up, but the composition was perfect, with the meteor streak running parallel to the MW. Added bonus: the meteor streak was green, which is something I've not seen before! Here's what Google says. 

"A green streak from a meteor happens when specific chemical elements inside the space rock- most notably magnesium or nickel- vaporize and glow brightly as the rock speeds through Earth's atmosphere. A green streak from a meteor is quite rare."

Interesting, wouldn't you agree?

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Is Our Trip Jinxed??

 Do you believe in bad spirits? How about a particularly ominous horoscope telling you not to do something? Or Mother Nature giving you a message to avoid a certain area? Our small group planned to go to the Cima area (Mojave National Preserve) about a month or so ago. About 10 days before our scheduled date, we learned there was a fire in the area (7 miles from where we were planning on camping). We decided not to cancel or plans, but rather just to follow closely to see if the fire gets contained. A few days after learning about the fire, a couple (in our party of five) had a neighbor who had a house fire. They said "Sorry, but the stars don't seem to be aligned for this trip, and we're going to have to cancel." A fire close to home is certainly unsettling. Now we're a party of three. Then two days before our departure date, a large thunderstorm moved through the Mojave Desert. We need to drive through Amboy to get to our destination, and I see a FB post from Amboy showing extremely heavy rain and flooding (here's a link... hoping it works: Flooding rain at Amboy). Amboy looks like a lake, and everything is under 2" of water. The next day I see posts about Amboy Road being closed because of downed power poles that fell across the highway, and yet another post about Route 66 at Amboy Road being closed westbound because of a huge train crash. The wind was blowing so hard that it literally blew the freight train right off the tracks! By our day of departure, we're totally surprised that there are no posted road closures, so we decide to go for it. After driving 2.5 hours, we get to the "town" of Cima and the Cima Road turnoff (about 6 miles from our planned campsite), only to find two Park Rangers standing next to a newly placed ROAD CLOSED sign. Cima Road had washed out and the area was totally closed off. Maybe someone really was trying to tell us something?

 

We drove around the area for a while and found a clearing off a dirt road that looked like it would make a good camp site. That's where we ended up staying the night, and it would turn out to be a good decision.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A quick note about Cima (since I'm fascinated by places like this!):

 

Cima is a largely uninhabited ghost town situated at an elevation of 4,175 feet within the Mojave National Preserve. Originally established in 1906 as a critical commercial water stop for steam locomotives climbing the steep Kelso Valley Railroad grade, it later became a central supply hub for local miners and cattle ranchers. The original town retains its historic charm with abandoned wooden cabins, and old general store, and a post office structure. While it has no recorded population on recent US census filings, it remains a beloved destination for desert historians, campers, stargazers, and hikers.

 

On the drive to the Cima area, we passed by the old Kelso Depot. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area. It's very photogenic, and the bathrooms are clean! (Why is it so hard to find clean bathrooms these days, anyway??). Not sure if the Lunch Room is ever open. It was closed on this particular day.

Old Kelso post office. Been boarded up for a long time.

 

Kelso Depot

 

Back to Cima. Here's the road we followed, looking for someplace to camp. It wasn't long before we came across a clearing. Side note: The Mojave National Preserve allows "dispersed camping". Any clearing you can find that is safely off the road is pretty much fare game to spend a night or two. First come, first served. I love places like this!

Mitch took this photo of me. Dynamic skies and lots of Joshua trees. What more could you ask for??

Shortly after picking out our campsite, the weather starts getting weird. In the photo above, you can see dark ominous skies straight ahead, but the sun is breaking through the clouds behind me, making the foreground bright and golden. What you can't see is the wind and rain. I'm already having visions of a bad night for camping with everything getting soaking wet, and perhaps more road washouts which could make for a tough drive home tomorrow. 

The Joshua trees are thick in this area.

 

 

This rainbow came out, as if to reassure us that everything would work out fine.

 

Be it ever so humble... my home for the night!

 

Thanks for stopping by! More photos from Cima in future posts.

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Partial Lunar Eclipse

 I got home from taking my granddaughter to flag football practice at about 8:30pm, and the sky was heavy with clouds. Should I our shouldn't I?? I seriously doubted that I could get any decent photos of the lunar eclipse. At times the moon was 100% covered by clouds, but I grabbed my camera and tripod and set up in the back yard anyway, hoping for the best. To the naked eye, you could only see the bright top part of the moon (non-eclipsed section). The eclipsed part that was supposed to be orange could hardly be seen.

 

I put my camera in manual mode and something called "live view", which allows you to view what you are photographing on your camera's screen. Then I used magnify to fill the screen with the moon and carefully focused. What I saw was really quite amazing. The clouds were moving very fast and were mostly visible above the top (bright) part of the moon. It gave the appearance of a giant sand storm moving across the moon's surface! There was just a hint of orange color on the eclipsed section of the moon.

 

 

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Milky Way over Cadiz Dunes

 Well, I'm still alive, and I've learned my lesson! That lesson being that even with plenty of water and limited exertion, exposure time to high heat is critical. On my last post, we had made it to Cadiz Dunes, but I was feeling poorly from heat exhaustion. Because the temperature stayed so hot into the evening, my recovery was slow. 

Cadiz Dunes Rd., looking east.

I didn't want to set up my tent, but I forced myself into action. My head was pounding and I was feeling nauseous. I don't always use a tent, but it can get buggy here (bugs in the air and critters on the ground), and I knew I would sleep better in a tent.

Thunderheads on the horizon.

Scorpions are all over the place out here, and I didn't want to wake up with one in my sleeping bag! That's where a tent comes in handy.

 

Up to the dunes we go! We really did no preplanning, so it's "lets walk until we see something interesting!" I don't recommend this approach. The white area is sand being lit up by our headlamps. Unknown to me, one of the lights in my backpack was accidentally activated, so my backpack is glowing! That's Mitch to my right. Nadine took the photo.

 

First Milky Way attempt. It looks like the surface of the moon! I definitely need to do a better job lighting the foreground.

 

That's better. Now let's work on the sky detail.

 

My personal favorite.

 

I walk across the dunes about 30 yards for a different view.

 
We get back to camp, I climb into my tent and turn on my battery operated fan. Much too hot for a sleeping bag. I have a sheet, but I don't use it. My head hits the pillow and I fall into a deep sleep. I wake up early the next morning and feel fine. We agree that next time we visit Cadiz Dunes, it won't be in summer, but I sure like those dark skies!!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.