It's certainly a mystery. What's this truck doing in this desert wash, miles from the road, in Joshua Tree National Park Wilderness Area (no vehicles allowed)? How it got here, who was driving it, and why they abandoned it sounds like a great storyline for the next Netflix movie!
Very strange. A shoutout to virtual friend G.S. for giving me some hints as to location. This was actually my second hike to this old truck. I was going to link back to my original post, but guess what? There is no original post!! Somehow, that hike must have slipped through the cracks and was never posted. Is it just me, or do the cracks seem to be getting wider as each year passes?
Let me start by sharing a few pics from the hike in. My goal for this hike was to explore some rocky areas near the truck that I had never seen, and then to end up at the old truck around sunset.
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| I feel as if I'm being watched! |
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| Lovely late afternoon light in this desert wash full of smoke trees. |
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| The delicate purple flowers of a smoke tree in bloom. |
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| Spaceship rock! |
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| Window rock |
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| Desert milkweed seedpods |
I came across a number of rocky shelter sites that I had never seen before, so that was a treat. No definitive signs of Native American use, although the third photo (below) has a boulder just inside the shelter that looks suspiciously worn down! I thought I found a couple of bedrock mortars outside the shelter in the forth photo (below). After closer inspection, I think they may be naturally occurring depressions in the rock.
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| Even in the desert you can see vibrant green color! |
My timing was good, as I reached the old truck just before sunset.
As the moon started to rise and darkness was closing in around me, I couldn't help thinking about the long hike back in the dark, using only my headlamp and Garmin for navigation. I wonder if there's anyone still alive that knows the full story behind this truck out in the middle of nowhere!?? It's likely another in my long list of desert mysteries that will never be solved.
Linking with Skywatch Friday.
Stay safe and stay healthy!!
I like how an abandoned truck create a story for you. By asking questions, you will usually receive answers from the universe. I'm hoping you will. Suddenly, I'm wanting to eat fudge stripe cookies too. LOL! Those rock structures are amazing especially the ones you can go inside and shoot what is outside. Wonderful blog!
ReplyDeleteThat truck must have been driven a lot of sandy landscapes to reach this spot - your photos don't look like an area to drive at all - a mystery for sure.
ReplyDeleteI've been known (many years ago when I was young and stupid) to drive a pickup in places I shouldn't have because of traction issues. I had to get pulled out of a few. No doubt that's what happened to this idiot. All those bullet holes! Love the rocks, as always---the one with the greenery looks like a shark eating... something.
ReplyDelete...I read during the first government shutdown when Trump took office that people were driving and destroying things in the Joshua Tree National Park Wilderness Area. Perhaps the Ford was abandoned then. The beauty that you find is surreal and I'm thankful for you sharing your adventures.
ReplyDeleteThat's some auto graveyard, there. Glad to have a chance to see. TFS!
ReplyDeleteYes ~ am finding the 'cracks' in blogger are getting wider ~ having some problems myself ~ trying to fix it but it is very time consuming ~
ReplyDeleteGreat photos ~ some of them seem familiar ~ did you ever find previous post? Also read that the Joshua Trees are a threaten tree? Is that so? Due to climate change?? ~ Too many questions in this year 2020 ~
Live each moment with love,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Thanks, Carol. I looked all over my blog for a post on this old truck (first visit) but just couldn't find it. I feel like I posted about it before, but don't know for sure. Yes, I think the Joshua Trees are threatened. Rainfall in Joshua Tree is significantly less than it was even 50 years ago. Hard to believe that they were grazing cattle in the high desert just 70-80 years ago. Much too dry now!
DeleteDearest SP&P,
ReplyDeleteWOW, that is a rusted heap of questions left in the dessert; that's for sure.
You managed to locate the old truck and in a timely manner too.
Great photos and wish you would find out about it!
Hugs,
Mariette
PS a fun post on my end: https://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com/2020/12/husband-pieter-became-superman-when.html
Almost all your captures in this post have that mysterious quality! Smoke trees, this is the first time I hear about it and see them:) Can tell that truck is a real mystery to you. Maybe one of the reasons you keep going back to the desert is because you like to solve mysteries? That space shuttle is easily labeled. The first impression of the alvoce inside, it looks like a "dog" is laying on the ground.Another weekend solving the mysteries of the desert ... title of your book?:)
ReplyDeleteAmazing shots.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice weekend.
Things like that truck just intrigue me. The usual questions like how did it get out there? Who left it out there? And why? But also like is it stolen? Does it have an id # anywhere. A place west of Tulsa called "The Wilds' has a not so old SUV abandoned out there that gives me similar questions.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting hike. That blooming smoke tree is beautiful. Happy Skywatching!
ReplyDeleteIt's not just you, seems the days get faster, the to do list gets longer and before you know it! BAM You've lost your zebra
ReplyDeleteI am imagining a flash flood that left the truck stuck in the sand??? Or an alien game that left the "ball" stuck in the playing field? How the mind runs on! I loved the photo of the desert milkweed!
ReplyDeleteThe edits are natural and fantastic sir. Fabulous write up matching the journey. The film look of truck is stunning
ReplyDeleteWOW. And the car looks rather new - really a movie thing?
ReplyDeleteCool rock, "hello back!". Oh, to all, you sure are a true artist, thank you for sharing this beauty!
And the memories. If we only could travel these days...
If you find out about the car, please share!
You have to wonder how it got there, was it stolen and abandoned or did the owner just drive it there and dump. Looks like it drove in a hole and got covered in sand.
ReplyDeleteawesome photos of the walk
Lovely faces in the desert again and that car will be an archeologic found in the future. That owl face in the second photo is for me a real stunner. Keep discovering.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteIt looks like truck is being swallowed. Love the sunburst images. The rock formations are all amazing. The third photo is one of my favorites, the shelters are cool. Great series. Take care, have a happy weekend!
I have enjoyed this wonderful hike again. The Spaceship rock and other rock formations are truly amazing. That old truck is a fantastic mystery.
ReplyDeleteAwesome a my grandsons would say. I could see a broken cookie with no trouble. I just called Sherry from across the table, Spare parts found my last work truck. I honestly don't remember getting rid of it. LOL now I know. Loved the hike. Oh yeah you said:
ReplyDeleteIs it just me, or do the cracks seem to be getting wider as each year passes? Oh you are so right. Mine is so wide the truck could fall thru.
Love sent from Florida
Sherry & jack
There is a story behind that abandoned truck for sure!
ReplyDeleteLove all your landscape photos, so different than anything I have ever seen.
Have a blessed day!
PS: The Desert Milkweed shot is AMAZING, and striking!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love old trucks and at first I felt sad for it, being stuck there. But then I though this is a better place for a truck retirement than the alternative.
ReplyDeleteYou let many of your photos here speak for themselves and I found that I loved it. Of course your narratives are always interesting, but the pictures are so magnificent that letting them speak for themselves really worked for me. I enjoyed this post very much.
I've walked many miles in my life, but none of them to see an old truck at sunset. That's clearly a mistake as you've got some great photos out of your expedition. There was a time when every farm around here had a car and tractor graveyard and I wish I'd taken photos because they've mostly been cleared up now.
ReplyDeleteI must be getting old. The truck doesn't look THAT old! Probably ninja 4x-ing, got stuck and instead of facing the consequences left it there. 80's maybe?
ReplyDeleteI agree (not the part about you getting old, but the part about the truck not looking all that old)!
DeleteThe desert is full of mysteries. Great post! Maybe it was part of a movie. Thelma and Lousie perhaps? I can only remember hiking in the dark once: We hiked to the lava flow on the Big Island, then back in the dark to see it flow down the hillside. Hiking over lava is hard.
ReplyDeleteCool! What a find! Thanks for sharing it :) I'm a fan of the fudge stripe cookies, too.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a great writing prompt. Put the picture of the truck up, and let people have at it. Because just off the top of my head I can think of at least three reasons why the truck is there.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to figure out the year of the truck, but not being an aficionado of such things was unable to. It would be interesting to know how it got there and whether the owner ever had any sense that he would recover it at some point. Maybe it was stolen, maybe a drug deal went down in the desert, maybe, maybe, maybe. We'll never know!
ReplyDeleteThat truck reminds me of what could easily have happened to my car when I had to cross over several arroyos in New Mexico on my way out to Chaco Canyon. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnother amazing journey in to the desert and beautiful photos. The truck does raise a lot of questions that we will never get the answers to. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteMy imagination is in overdrive...and harking back to my youth..I've got dozens of stories!
ReplyDeleteHow the truck got there is a mystery. Yes, I can see the 2 big watchful eyes on the rock. Great capture of the Desert milkweed seedpods. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteVery cool shots!
ReplyDelete'The rock has eyes.' That abandoned truck reminds me of the abandoned plane in Lost.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous captures that fascinate!
ReplyDeleteWow, how that truck ended up there is definitely a mystery!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get the answer to the mystery - and, some great scenery along the way. Your smoke tree isn't what we call a smoke tree back east - our smoke trees would never survive out there.
ReplyDeleteSo many beautiful photos. I love the one of the rock face. Very cool. As for the old truck in the sand, the moment I saw it I thought I'd seen it before on your blog. It's odd you thought you had posted about it before but couldn't find it. Now it makes me wonder what I saw, lol. Perhaps I was just remembering the car forest.
ReplyDeleteSo many interesting shots besides the truck. I love the mystery of the truck though and I’m pretty sure I remember you posting a truck in a similar position a while back. But maybe it was another mystery truck.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cynthia. I feel like I posted about this truck before, too (from my first time hiking to it). But I've searched and searched and can't find it. Hopefully not too much redundancy with this post!
DeleteThe old truck is already something peculiar in the desert, but I like the views of all those rocks with "eyes" and "mouths" that you shared today. :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best!
It is a desert mystery isn't it. I would like to know the whole story too.
ReplyDeleteThe scenery and natural rock sculptures are just amazing. I see many things. I bet everyone---well almost--sees different things with the rock formations.
Thanks for the hike
MB
As interesting as seeing this abandoned truck was, and it is certainly unique, the purple flowers from the smoke tree and the milkweed pods were my favorite images. If and when you learn anything more about the truck, please let us know.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a lot of bulletholes in the truck - maybe that's a clue? It's fun imagining what the real story is. Great rock formations.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t you used to have a wonderful old truck rusting away out there as your header photo? Not this one I know, it was a different color and maybe even older? I use my blog all the time to try to remember something (or to win, or more often lose, an argument with the person who travels with me ). But it is getting so it’s hard to find the old stuff. I need to work on my categories, to narrow things down, but that takes so much time!
ReplyDeleteSally, you have an excellent memory!! Yes, for a long tie I had an old truck photo as my header photo. That rusting relic is located near the Wall Street Mill parking area. You're right... much older than this truck!
Deletereminds me of the Joshua Tree "Car Wash"...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Wayne. The Car Wash is even more of a mystery, with it's 8-10 vehicles. Also weird about the car wash it that it's just the vehicle bodies. No engine, no tires or rims... very odd!
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