You know you're getting old when you start actively checking things off your bucket list. That's what this trip to the desert kind of was for me - checking a few things off my bucket list. But I found that I packed my itinerary way too full plus everything I was seeing was just making me add more things to the list! I'm already planning future trips and I just hope I get to everything eventually. Haha
The list of what I had already seen on the previous day was getting pretty long and exciting. Click the links below:
2) The hot yet cool Mud Volcanoes and still more adorable Owls and Birds.
3) The wacky and yet inspiring artistry of Salvation Mountain and Slab City.
4) Death and Beauty at the Bombay Beach Ruins.
Now, after having a really good night's rest (which I had NOT gotten the night before in Calipatria) at my motel in Barstow, I was up early to drive Historic Route 66 to the Amboy Crater in search of flora and fauna of the Mojave Desert.
I headed out into the fairly cool morning and turned onto Main Street in Barstow which is Route 66. My directions to Amboy Crater said to get on Highway 40, but what do they know!?! (Are you getting the pattern that I am a little rebellious, even against my OWN plans??) I stayed on Route 66 because I wanted to full experience!
In the interest of full disclosure, this post and my next post will be photos from the same trip, but this one is more about Route 66 and the gorgeous and interesting desert that surrounds it. The next post will be a study of the flowers, lizards, and (1) beetle that I found as I was "tracking the bloom". #TrackTheBloom
So let's get hip to this timely tip and make that California trip!
I wanted to get out, set up my tripod, and try to get a photo of me jumping in the air above the Route 66, but I decided I'm 1) too fat for that, and 2) so klutzy that I would probably get hit by a car, so I didn't. lol But it's been added to my bucket list for when I have a friend with me.
On this morning, I was gloriously alone. On a lot of my trips, I meet people and end up hiking or hanging out with them for at least part of my trip (that happened several times the previous day, including my hike at Sonny Bono). But I was happily alone and driving with the wind blowing in the windows and tunes blaring on the radio down Route 66.
When I saw a pioneer cemetery, I made a hard right off the pavement and of course got out to pay my respects.
A lot of the graves were marked only with wooden crosses. This is the case in a lot of older cemeteries in remote places. Most of them have been restored somewhat and crosses erected where graves have been located with markers missing. Check out my post on the Bodie Ghost Town cemetery which is in the process of being restored for more on this.
There were a few graves with there original markers at Daggett.
Actually, the town of Daggett was quite 'big' at one time in the 1890s, but now the population is 200. I didn't see where they may have been, only a few houses near the cemetery. As usual in any pioneer or gold/silver rush community, a lot of the casualties were children in that hard climate.
After some time spent at the cemetery, I hopped back on Route 66 and drove East. The road is really fun at this point. Very 'humpy' and long, with only a few curves. Kind of like a kiddie rollercoaster!
FYI, that pink sunflare was totally natural! I didn't even notice it in the camera, only when I looked at the photos on Photoshop! So cool!
Anyhoo, driving on...but actually not for very long because I kept stopping as I saw flowers and great vistas that I had to photograph.
These are Desert Dandelions (yellow) and Fremont's Pincushions (white).
It seemed like almost every telephone pole had a Raven couple building their nests!
Did you know that Common Ravens are believed to mate for life?
After awhile, the landscape changed and the sandy desert seemed to be dotted with asphalt spills.
But it wasn't asphalt, it was volcanic rock! Cool!
But for some reason, Route 66 at this point seemed to be made of volcanic rock too! It was rough and I am not kidding. I saw one person in a new Lexus SUV going slower than I was because it was so rough.
I caved.
I hopped onto Highway 40 at the next opportunity, which sadly to say wasn't for about 3 very slow, bumpy miles. lol I stayed on 40 until it was time to get off for Amboy Crater, which was actually the next available exit. I was back in business!
Soon I was at Amboy Crater! Sight of the BLM Insta-Meet that I was supposed to be going to at 4:30 p.m. the day before! Better late than never, right?
One of the first things I saw as I hiked over to where the flowers seemed to be, was this VERY fast and amazing Desert Spider Beetle! It was really motoring! So cool looking!
After following this poor creature trying to get a clear picture, I headed over to where there was a strong concentration of flowers and volcanic rock. I was sooooo happy to see purple!
In this next picture the purple is Desert Sand Verbena and there are white Fiddlenecks, Brown-eyed Evening Desert Primrose (upper right corner), and some yellow flowers that I couldn't find the name of.
The desert is surprisingly beautiful. I've never realized that when flying down I-10 to Vegas.
There are a lot of yellow flowers! This is a combination of Brittlebrush, Desert Sunflowers, and probably more that I don't recognize.
And then. I saw out of the corner of my eye a medium (?) sized lizard! OMG! So excited! It ran up onto a volcanic rock and basically posed for me!
I have no idea what is it, but I hope to find out from an Insta-friend that is a biologist and works in the Carrizo Plains. A bit later I saw two more lizards; one looked a lot like the one above and the other was much smaller and dark green/blackish.
Here is the second lizard I saw.
He was sunbathing on a much larger rock and has a lot more color on his face, but I think they may be the same species.
So, as usual, I had taken way too long to get to my destination and I had to check out of my motel. I called and extended my checkout by a little bit, but the hike around Amboy Crater was much more time-consuming than I thought. The sign said to allow at least 3 hours and I didn't have that. So back on the bucket list!
I hopped back on Route 66 to blaze back towards Barstow because I had seen a bunch of flowers that I wanted to stop and photograph as well as a mostly abandoned town.
This photo is Brittlebush and Desert Lupine with Amboy Crater in the background.
This is not Amboy Crater, but it looked like it could have been man-made. But I have no idea! lol But it's a great photo of the Brittlebush and surrounding desert though!
One of my major finds was this flowering cactus!! To be honest, I was flying down Route 66 and the bright pink drew my attention. I parked and hiked back to find this lone flowering cactus in the Mojave!
I seriously didn't see any more, although I could have just missed them or didn't hike to the right places. #Blessed
After this, I felt my flower search was complete for now (although later I was going to head back to a different part of the desert I had driven through the day before). I headed back at a pretty quick pace so I could photograph the abandoned houses I had seen.
Creepy!
After this, I had to really bust it back to Barstow. I ran up to my room and threw my stuff in my car and made it to the front desk 3 minutes late! They didn't charge me, thankfully. haha!
Now I was headed back up Barstow Road to a particular area that had been rife with blue flowers when I drove through the evening before. I couldn't wait to explore! But I'll have to wait to post it.
"If you ever plan to motor West,
travel my way, take the highway, that's the best.
Get your kicks, on Route 66!"
xoxo
