Joshua Tree and Salton Sea, October 2016
Painted Sky, View of Mojave Desert from Joshua Tree
We had great clouds from October rainstorms.
Eagle Cliff Mine, Miners Cabin in the Rocks
Since this was our third trip to Joshua Tree, it was time for some new hikes like this cross-country climb to the Eagle Cliff Mine. There's a faint use trail most of the way but it still requires some route finding. The reward is this very well preserved mining cabin that demonstrates you can really live under a rock if you want to! The roof shingles were made of flattened tin cans and the window glass was still intact. Even the cookstove area still had pots and cans. Fun to explore!
Male Tarantula
It was tarantula mating season and we were lucky to see this beautiful large male spider out in search of a female to mate with. Male tarantulas reach sexual maturity between 8 and 10 years of age - this guy was way older than I thought!
Window Rock / Thunderbird
Another new hike we did was the North View / Maze / Window Rock loop. The North Views are spectacular, the Maze is interesting and then there's Window Rock: at a certain point along the trail when you look at Window Rock, it has a thunderbird shaped opening. But walk along a little further and it just looks like a rectangular shape.
Cap Rock, Gram Parson's Memorial
Being fans of Gram Parsons, we always like to visit the unofficial memorial to him at Cap Rock. It's illegal to leave any objects or paint the rocks at Joshua Tree and the NPS regularly removes these things but people still create this shrine at the spot of the attempted cremation of his body 43 years ago. If you're not familiar with this story, it's wild, strange and sad; you can read about it here.
Cactus
California barrel cactus, dollar-joint prickly pear, teddy bear cholla
Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture
One of my goals this trip was to explore more art in the desert. Just outside of Joshua Tree National Park, sculptor Noah Purifoy created large scale works made from found objects on this 10 acre property - mysterious, profound and a pleasure to explore. It's now an outdoor museum. Admission is free and you can visit during open hours. We were the only ones there until the end when a man and his dog showed up.
Noah Purifoy's Voting Booth
Just as relevant today as it was when Purifoy created it in 1998, this work offers a humorous but hard-hitting commentary to those who venture around the other side.
White / Colored
Purifoy, spent his childhood in segregated poverty in Alabama. This is one of his more brutally direct installations about segregation.
Good morning from the Salton Sea!
Our first visit to the Salton Sea was in March 2008 and we've been wanting to go back ever since to explore more of it. Some things hadn't changed: The dead fish are still washing ashore (and yes, it does smell really bad) and the sunrise was stunning.
Salton Sea - abandoned equipment
We were surprised to find that much of the fantastic decay porn around Bombay Beach had decayed to not very interesting sticks. This time, however, we were able to see this beautifully-corroded equipment because the water level of the sea was much lower than last time, thanks to 5 years of drought and a decrease in water use by the Imperial Irrigation District, resulting in less agricultural run-off filling the lake.
Salvation Mountain
Leonard Knight, the creator of Salvation Mountain, was still alive in 2008 when we last visited. We were concerned about what might have happened to this monument since his death in 2014. We were pleased to find that it was still in relatively good shape: a foundation was started in 2012 to support volunteer efforts to maintain it.
Salvation Mountain "The Museum"
In 2008, this addition to Salvation Mountain was just a skeleton - we were amazed to see how extensive it had become. It includes several large domed areas supported by "trees" that Leonard built from old tires, wood scavenged from the surrounding desert, and adobe, and then covered in colorful paint.
East Jesus Sculpture Garden
Our final art stop on our trip was the sculpture garden at East Jesus, an experimental community in Slab City near Salvation Mountain, founded by the late Charlie Russel. On the left is Flip Cassidy's Wall of TVs and on the right is Joe Holliday's Mammoth "Definition of a Grievance" made with blown out car tires. There's so much more art to see but I promised a short photo esay so you'll have to go see the rest for yourself!