Lizard in the Sink!

While out exploring in Wonder Valley last Saturday, we came across an old homestead cabin (long since abandoned).  The roof was caved in, and a strong wind could have brought the whole place down! Here's the view from outside the kitchen window looking in:

From inside the cabin, looking out (actually, not too smart of me to go in this place!).  Note the lizard in the sink!

 This was the only other intact window in the cabin.  I switched my camera setting to monochrome to add to the antiquated feeling.

 

Old single bed springs outside the cabin.

 

I rescued this guy out of the sink.  He was very sluggish, and I'm guessing, nearly starved.  Based on a quick Google search, I'm guessing he is a Common Side Blotched lizard, which is probably the most commonly seen lizard in the CA deserts.  Hope he was able to survive!!

 

 

Family Reunion in the Desert!

Wow, what a day! Exhausted (in a good way) as I type this.  My cousin and his wife from Pennsylvania, my other cousin and wife from Wisconsin, my aunt from Chicago, my mom, wife and I are all out at our place in 29 Palms having a blast!  Really great to see everyone, and just wish we could do it more often. I'm officially proposing we make this an annual event!  My sister and brother-in-law will be joining us tomorrow... can't wait for them to arrive.

Started the day hiking the Hidden Valley nature trail in Joshua Tree.  Really nice, easy hike (1 mile loop) and very scenic! I give it two enthusiatic thumbs up if you are looking for a short hike. Great rock formations all along the hike.



Signage at start of the hike.




The Gang!




Lots of great rock formations.




Quality time!





My cousin doing a little rock climbing!

 


My cousins wife, Beth, high up on a rocky ledge!




A professional climber seen along the hike today.





Kind of reminds me of a Hershey's Kiss!

  Afternoon activity:  49 Palms Oasis

After heading home from the Hidden Valley hike for lunch, four of us headed out to tackle the 49 Palms Oasis hike.  This is a 3 mile out and back hike with an elevation gain of 360 feet (felt like more to me!).  Basically, the first half of the hike is up, the second half (to the oasis) is down.  Not a lot of flat terrain!  However, I really enjoyed this hike.  Try it towards the end of the day so you can complete it by sunset for very pretty views to the north.

A big storm was moving in, so lucked out with some very pretty cloud formations! Hoping for another post tomorrow, weather permitting.  Not sure what to expect... rain?  Possibly even snow???




Signage at start of hike



The intrepid hiking team - AKA the Motly Crew!

Second half of hike - going down to the oasis.

Lots of beautiful red barrel cactus along the way!

The oasis - sureal in the desert!

A birds nest near the oasis.

The views toward 29 Palms are stunning!

Sunset - making it back just in time.

Night Skies in the Desert

We're back out in 29 Palms this weekend.  Last week, I bought a tripod, and anxious to try taking some night pictures.  Never done this with a digital camera, so not sure what to expect.

Usually, the skies out here are beautifully lit up by stars.  So I quickly unpacked the tripod after we got out here last night around 10:30 PM, and attached my Cannon Rebel T1i.  I put the setting on "manual", zoomed the lens to as wide as it would go, and started fiddling around with the exposure. 

Click... Oops, first picture didn't work because I had the auto-focus on, and the camera couldn't figure out what to focus on (too dark).  OK, change to manual focus and try again.  Click (long click... most of these exposures were in the neighborhood of 25 seconds!).  Viola!  Night sky!

North View:  Highway 62 and Copper Mountain

South View:  Joshua Tree National Park

West:  Moon View!

Good Morning!  Just before sunrise looking NorthEast

Forgot to mention, my sister-in-law from Kona joined us this weekend.  She's here in CA visiting.  Below are a couple photos she took... first is a 'wild' chicken (which has actually become pretty tame) she has named "Henrietta", and her chicks!

Proud Mama!

Next is the totally awesome view from her deck!

Wow!!! View from my sister-in-laws deck in Kona

Copper Mountain

Drove out to 29 this weekend.  Got off to a rough start, however... realized I left my camera at home once we got here.  Dang!

Wife and I decided to drive up to the top of Copper Mountain, which is just the other side of Hwy 62 from where our place is.  Beware - this is a pretty tough road.  Very rocky and some very steep area.  I almost turned around at one point; didn't want to beat up the Jeep too badly!  However, views from the top are spectacular, so we forged ahead!

Fortunately, my wife brought her little Kodak point-and-shoot.  She's a very good photographer... she has a much better eye for artistic composition than I do. 

My sister over at Lap Dog Knits blogspot got me started looking at Flickr... incredible pics, and every photo group imaginable.  I ran across one group called "Flare Friday" and posted a photo that my wife had taken (told you she's good!):

Yours truly - Cottonwood Spring, Joshua Tree National Park

So now our running joke is we keep trying to take "flare" photos.  It's very hit-and-miss (mostly miss).  Here's one on the road up to the top of Copper Mountain.

The road up.

No flare here, but view looking due North from the top of Copper Mountain.  That's the 29 Palms Marine Base on the horizon.

Looking North from the top of Copper Mountain

Last one for this post... got some things I need to get to before our drive home.  My wife took this one from our back porch this AM.

Sunrise flare