Oatman, Arizona

We got on a little used portion of historic Route 66.

As we neared the old mining town of Oatman we were greeted by their welcoming committee.

The wild burros are long time residents of Oatman.

Oatman is primarily a tourist town keeping the Old West image alive.

Baby burro and mama.

I sat on a bench in the shade to watch for awhile.  There was a wet spot in front of me which I didn't pay much attention to.  A few minutes later mama burro came over to the wet spot to pee.  As she walked away, the baby moved into position and pee'd in the very same spot.  Then they both ambled on down the street.  Now I found that very interesting that burros will pee in the same spot as others rather than just randomly wherever the urge strikes them.

Yeah, I am fascinated by the strangest things whereas none of the tourist shops interested me, 

including staged gunfights in the middle of the street.

This Can be Yours

Yes, this is a property for sale sign in the desert.  The strange thing is that the sign is a couple hundred yards away from a very seldom traveled two lane road.  Who is going to see it?

We have crossed the Colorado River and are in Arizona now.  I hope to find some more interesting subjects for the blog in the next few days rather than the usual rocks, barren landscape, rocks, occasional lizard and more rocks that have been showing of late.

Good news is that fuel is over a dollar a gallon cheaper just by leaving California.

Time Traveling a Few Months into the Future

After spending a long amount of time away from civilization it was time to resupply and do some shopping.  I was pretty sure Halloween was approaching but when I saw this I wasn't too sure if I even knew what month it was.

Had I been away that long and completely lost track of time this badly?!

Seriously, there ought to be a law!

2

Owl Canyon, Barstow, California

On another day I went off to explore a neighboring canyon over the ridge from our home site.

Early on into the hike I came across this.

I never did see anymore numbered sign posts.  

There is nothing in the campground that says anything about a self-guided nature trail.

I see some of the strangest things on my walkabouts in the desert.

A view of the tremendous forces at work tilting the landscape.

Eventually the canyon narrowed to where there would be a bunch of  "bouldering" involved.  That's climbing over large rocks and I am not into that all that much in these years of my life, so I turned back.  Plus it would be just my luck another one of those huge slabs of rock may decided to come tumbling down from the cliff high above.

Playground in the Desert

And no one to play with.

Hiking Owl Canyon

...or at least I tried.

I walked up the side of the hill behind our home site where at the top I picked up an established trail that followed the ridge line high above the valley below.  This I followed. 

It sure offered some great views of the forces uplifting and folding the land over eons of time.

A view of the land on the opposite side of the ridge the trail followed.

That one light colored layer of rock looked like the Great Wall in China.

At any rate here you can see the lifting to almost a 90 degree angle from what it once was.

Finally I ran out of trail and could see nothing leading me towards my goal in the distance.

A bit perturbed, I turned around and retraced my steps.

 Part of the trail was on a very hard surface, covered with small granules of rock with a steep slope on each side.  Imagine walking on a sidewalk covered with small ball bearings.  Then add a very strong side wind blowing up and over from the left.  Great fun!

I didn't want to end up like this person.  

I doubt it was a real grave.  Someone went through a lot effort to make it look like one.

Owl Canyon

Near Fort Irwin north of Barstow, California

I heard of this place while talking with my neighbors when at the Alabama Hills.  They were saying how great it was, especially at night with all the stars.  I kind of shrugged it off like I am going to remember.  But while driving along a few days later I saw it on the map and thought Oh that's the place Todd and Sophia were telling me about.  So we went there to check it out.

I drove through the campground and no one else was here.

We had the entire place all to ourselves.

Beans likes it when places we stay are like this.

It is a very nice campground with cement tables, shade structures, a fire ring 

and these fancy bar-b-que stands at each of the 31 campsites.

There is even a water faucet!  In the desert!  

Only it just dribbles out so you better bring your own water.

There are two playgrounds for the kiddies, 

a very uncommon attraction at most government campgrounds.

Most campgrounds of any sort have Camp Hosts.  They usually do it for the season and get to stay for free.  It's only costing me $3 a night (the old person's rate) to stay here.  I've talked with many camp hosts about this and they all enjoy doing it and really do not have to do all that much or even be around everyday.  This wouldn't work for me though as I like to always be on the move.  

But for those who live full time out of their RV it is an ideal arrangement.

There is lots to explore here as the area is rich with fossils and geology.  

The neighboring canyon is called Rainbow Canyon for all the different colored rock in it.

 And I might get to see one of these guys.

Now you may think Owl Canyon looks like a pretty desolate place.

It sure beats where we stayed the night before!

Uniroyal Gal

Pearsonville, California

Her name comes from a brand of automobile tire so I assume she was used for advertising purposes at a tire dealership long ago.  From the hairstyle one would think the 60's.

If you Google her name then "images" you can see many more of these fiberglass ladies 

all across the country, most in much better condition.  Worth a look.

 Inquiring minds will want to know, yes, she is wearing red panties.

Lucy Pearson once lived here in Pearsonville, pop.17 although I saw no one but it was very early in the morning too.  She was known as the Hubcap Lady for her collection of around 80,000 hubcaps.  Lucy as since passed on and there wasn't a hubcap in sight but it's claim to fame still stands on the water tank nearby.  I waited too long to see this dazzling attraction so it seems.

Now what where on earth could one stash away 80,000 hubcaps?

Fossil Falls

Near Coso, California

I'll admit I wasn't expecting much at this site but once there I was genuinely impressed.

I take pictures of signs so that I have information to refer to for the post.

Here I'll just include the sign itself and you kind read or skip past.

It is really difficult to imagine this area east of the Sierra mountains a rich oasis as stated.

It is so dry, desolate and barren now.

Hard to picture, huh?

This is at the brink of the falls and think of the tremendous amount of water over how long a time to be able to sculpture and polish hard sharp basalt lava to look like this.

There were many places where a rock would get caught in a depression and the action of the swirling water would spin the rock around creating a deep hole over, again, how long a time?

Looking back towards the brink of the falls.

That is 200 feet down.

  I was wandering around there saying out loud how I wanted to look down and see the bottom but boy, I did not feel comfortable at all approaching the edge.  "I wanta look down!"

Finally I found a spot where I could get on my knees with the edge of a large piece of lava between me and the abyss, offering me a sense of security.  Oh to be young and carefree again.

Looking on out of the gorge.

The distant landscape does not look anything like that sign depicted.

Along one of the side of the gorge two holes drilled into the lava by the rushing water.

As I tripped and stumbled over the lava back to the parking lot I wondered how the Native American peoples walked around this stuff without any hard-soled foot ware.  Moccasins wouldn't last a day.

When I got back another lady was taking a picture of Beans in the window.

Another missed money-making opportunity.

Now I Know

I often wondered what Beans does when I am away from the RV. 

 I stopped in a small town to get a coffee and when I returned a young lady was taking a picture of the inside from the passenger side window.  Beans was sitting there posing for her.

Now if I could only figure out a way to attach a "tip jar" to the door 

this would help pay for her gourmet cat food.

Google Maps

It was a windy day and I pretty well spent most of the time inside taking shelter.  I was logging in on Google Maps places we had stayed by dropping pins and labeling the sites for future reference.  I eventually noticed that Google Maps had overlaid the area that had burned during the recent fires in California.  If you look in the center between the words Annadel State Park and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, that unburned area is where my house is located.  

Way too close for comfort. 

Windy times a'coming

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California

Temperatures are still too high to move any further south and it is quite pleasant here so why move?  Well to get some variety of food to eat would be one good reason.  I went into town the other day and there is just one grocery store in Lone Pine.  A typical small town store with high prices.  I walked out with a quart of milk, a bag of salad rapidly approaching it's "best by" date and some bananas that quickly turned on me overnight.  

I've went off hiking in every direction here and feel I've seen it all although that is hardly the case.  But I've pretty well covered enough geology here on the blog that we might be just seeing pictures of Beans for awhile unless I make some new discoveries. 

Oh, I am having my picture taken.  I'll stick out my tongue."

Some 40 to 50 mph winds are predicted at midnight tonight until 8am.

That will be interesting.