Joshua Tree - Part 2
Random Pics from my Thursday hike to Contact Mine
I have hiked to a number of mines in Joshua Tree and I am always stumped as I look around and try to understand what made someone dig a hole here as opposed to twenty feet away or 100 yards away. I'm sure there was some rock formation that indicated gold was present, but these places are in the middle of nowhere and of course there wasn't a trail or road. I imagine a guy walking with a couple of burros hour after hour, day after day, looking for some indication that gold might be present and then after finding it, he had to build a road to haul all this equipment to the mine.
After posting part 1 of Joshua Tree N.P. , a backpacker approached and asked if I could give him a ride anywhere near the west entrance. His car was park at a campground where he began his hike four days ago. Hie car and campground was well past the west entrance but I agreed to take him to the West entrance which was still quite a good distance away. He was a grad student studying architecture in N Y City taking time off to do a nine month road trip, backpacking and skiing at various places. His next stop was Yosemite N P.
After dropping him near the West entrance, I did a short and uneventful hike, then headed back to camp. My friends Phil and Mary were spending the night at the Twenty Nine Palms Elks Club in their Moho and were coming to my campsite to visit. We had a great time and per our usual routine, drink copious wine.
Skull Rock, one of the many unique rock formations at Joshua Tree
Friday morning at 7am, I was on the road heading home. I altered my route home to avoid Phoenix and have a cup of coffee with Marilyn in Yuma. The visit with Marilyn broke the drive in half. The drive to Yuma was interesting and wound through there desert on a two lane road connecting I-10 to I-8. After leaving Yuma, Enzo battled a very strong headwind all the way to Benson. Most times the truck would not shift out of 5th gear. I have a 6 speed transmission, so my gas milage averaged 10 mpg, rather than was usual 14-16 mpg. I arrived home at 5pm. I wanted to get back to the Co-op to attend a “Celebration of Life” event for a friend’s husband who passed in October of last year.
That pretty much sums up my quick trip to Joshua Tree. Enzo preformed well, I was nice a warm with the furnace. The new DC to DC charger that I recently added, seems to have solved the low alternator output to the house batteries.
I don’t have any overnight trips planned in the future. It looks like the lot with the casita will get inspected after February 15, so hopefully I change lots and get settled in before the end of February. Then I will spend some time living in the Moho on the new lot and decide whether or not to sell it.
Tight Lines and safe travels.
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