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.

When is Hot too Hot??

 Cadiz Dunes is one of the hottest desert areas in Southern CA. We wanted to go there for Milky Way photography, but couldn't get our schedules to align until mid-June. We knew it would be very hot. I was hoping for mid- to upper-90's, but 100 to 105 degrees was more likely for June. We wouldn't be doing much hiking (from the camping area to the dunes is only about 1/2 mile), so limited exertion. We would also be taking shade umbrellas, lots and lots of water, and multiple coolers filled with ice. We also had a portable fan and spritzer bottles, so we were well aware of the extreme heat dangers and were well prepared. 

I think there's a little dust tornado in the center of the photo. A beautiful day for skywatching!

 

Each day closer to our departure resulted in weather predictions rising by a degree or two. By the time our departure day finally arrived, weather predictions for the Cadiz Dunes area was up to a high of 111-115 degrees!! Wow, that's hot enough to make me worry. Should we cancel? We've put so much time and effort into preparing that we don't want to consider that option.

As I was pulling into Amboy on old Route 66 (who knew I would be back in Amboy so soon??), the most amazing thing happened. Right in front of me was an airplane on the highway, slowly taxiing down the road! Thinking that the heat exhaustion was already kicking in, I rubbed my eyes and did a double-take. Sure enough, a small plane taxiing down Route 66!! I was able to capture just a bit of it as the pilot turned the plane and parked next to the Roy's sign.

 

Dusty the Jeep next to the plane and the iconic Roy's sign on Route 66!

 

"Dusty", my open-air Jeep on Route 66 just before the Cadiz turnoff.

The rest of the journey would be on dirt roads with washboard surfaces, so time to let some air out of my tires. By this point, the temperature was around 110 degrees. We previously decided to take two vehicles for safety. If one had a problem, at least we wouldn't be stranded in a remote area with no cell service and extremely high temperatures. In hindsight, a problem for me was driving in an open-air Jeep, and being totally exposed to the very high temperatures during the 3 hour drive to the dunes.

Even with the tires aired down, driving these washboard roads is a teeth-rattling adventure!

Finally we arrive at Cadiz Dunes Road turnoff. Can you see the dunes? At this point, the road looks like packed sand and an easy drive, but don't let that fool you! It quickly turns to soft sand, and there are a number of reports of people getting stuck here. Best to have 4WD and good ground clearance if you plan to visit the dunes. I tried to take a video but my phone was overheating so it didn't record.

 

Mitch's car thermometer.

 

We set up shade quickly. I was already feeling a little "off" and was anxious to just sit in the shade and drink fluids.

 

Mitch offered to bring a large salad with all the fixin's for dinner, which was really nice (and delicious!). I was giving him a hard time about bringing a tablecloth! I brought a freshly baked loaf of bread and Nadine provided dessert.

 

Thirsty soil.

 

Creosote is the dominant plant species in the area. It's interesting how their roots stabilize the soil. Over time, the sandy soil that's not stabilized blows away, leaving behind the creosote bushes on hillocks or mounds.

 

We have eaten an early dinner with the idea of exploring the dunes and scouting good locations for Milky Way photos, but none of us are feeling very energetic in this heat. I'm feeling downright crummy, with nausea and a headache, and it occurs to me that I probably have heat exhaustion. It kind of snuck up on me very gradually. It's a good learning experience. I was always under the impression that if I continue to hydrate adequately and not over-exert, I'll be fine. But as I read up on heat exhaustion and heat stroke, there's more to it than that. In addition to adequate hydration, you need to limit your exposure time. The longer your exposure time, the more likely you are to "catch" it. The long drive in an open air Jeep with no AC was a big factor. OK, lesson learned. I do eventually make it to the dunes in the evening, but without any scouting or preparation completed, and still feeling crummy.

 

This is a good stopping point. Drop by next week for the conclusion of our adventure.

 

PS: We all make it back alive!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Milky Way over Amboy

 I've posted about Amboy before. It's so interesting and photogenic, I'll probably be posting about it again sometime! It's kind of a living ghost town that sits on Route 66. If you are a fan of Route 66, you really need to visit. Just try to avoid the summer months. I think I saw a post that it was 115 degress yesterday. Not all that unusual for Amboy.

 

Anyone remember this TV show from the early 60's?

 

After exploring some interesting locations in the general area (last post), I continued on and pulled into Amboy about 7pm. Amboy consists of a working gas station that also sells snacks and cold drinks, a non-working motel (about 8-10 individual bungalows), a post office (not sure if it's still open for business), a church, and an overgrown airstrip. I went into the gas station (where the cafe used to be), bought a cold drink, and asked the person at the counter if Amboy had any full time residents. She said one. 

AMBOY, CA, POPULATION 1. 

So I guess not quite a ghost town. I asked where she lived, and she said 29 Palms. That's quite a long drive back and forth to work, but Amboy truly is out in the middle of nowhere. This short video clip will give you a view of the "town".

I forgot to mention, at one time Amboy had a school. As I walked over to take a photo, I came across this old survey marker. I almost missed it because it was covered by weeds. It looks like it was placed here in 1934. The town was founded in 1858.

 

Looking east into the great wide open.

Amboy, like many small towns that dotted Route 66, is a victim of the freeways. When the 40 was built, it became much quicker to travel the freeway, so traffic along Route 66 was dramatically reduced and the little towns died off. But Amboy is a survivor.

 
I find myself wondering if I traveled this road as a little toddler. We used to visit my grandparents and other relatives outside of Chicago. We took the train once, but other times we drove. We likely traveled this stretch of road during the long drive to Chicago. Heck, we might have even stopped for a night and stayed in one of the little bungalows! Here I am, all these years later. 

 

View of the Roy's sign from inside one of the bungalows.

 

 

Air strip on the left.

 

Flower power!!

 The entire town of Amboy is owned by a single individual. He has a real knack for finding and collecting quirky things. It's one reason Amboy is so photogenic!

 

 

 

As the sun sets, the lady at the counter turns on the neon Roy's sign.

 

Did I mention that my main goal for this trip is to get a picture of the Milky Way over the Roy's sign? The lady at the gas station said she will leave the Roy's sign on until about 10pm, when she locks up and goes home. That's good news. It means I can get my foreground photos of the sign when it's lit up, and get my Milky Way photos when the sign is off. She also said no problem at all if I want to hang around and take photos in the middle of the night. 

 

The MW would be in a good position in relation to the Roy's sign at about 2AM, so I set my alarm for 1:30am and slept (or tried to sleep) in my car for a few  hours.

It was a beautiful clear night (well, actually morning). I love the look of the little motel bungalows, and again found myself thinking of tired families pulling up in a station wagons to get a nights rest while on their way to who knows where.
 

 

Version two... with car driving by on Route 66!

 
Now that I was fully awake, I decided to check out the old church.

 

Photoshop "negative" filter.

 

Thanks for stopping by. See you soon, Amboy!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.