August 15, 2011

August 15, 2011

We crossed the Colorado and headed uphill from the Sonoran Desert to the Mohave. Mohave is the high desert and what grows here is different. But so far not much of anything, not even cacti. It is mostly barren making Tucson look like a jungle. Eventually we come to the Mohave National Preserve at the heart of the desert. When I was a small child we drove to California along Rt. 66. I remember my father being worried about this last section thru the Mohave. No wonder, it is desolate. Thinking those thoughts must have jinxed me. When we finally got to the Visitor Center on the site of an old desert ghost town, Aimee notices that one of my tires is flat. Great, just great!? A two day old tire nonetheless! Fortunately at the last minute, I packed our emergency tire pump and after twenty minutes I got enough air into it to make driving a little safer. It seems to be holding. I am crossing my fingers that the valve stem just got a little dirt in it.

A little calmer, we head into the Visitor Center for a quick run-through. It is located inside the town’s restored train station back when trains were super labor-intensive and an iron ore mine operated nearby. Now the train glides right by without stopping.

Mohave National Preserve has several distinct environs including a monster sand dune, a volcanic lava field, granite mountains and an extensive Joshua tree forest. We exit the park thru the forest. Unlike Joshua Tree National Park, these trees are more stunted but much more prolific. It almost looks like a Joshua orchard.

From Mohave we drive most of the day north following the eastern edge of the Sierras. This side is in the rain shadow of the mountain range and is bone dry and desolate. Southern California could easily be given to Nevada or Arizona and nobody would care (or know).