We got back last weekend from a week long road trip. We headed out to see the desert bloom. We’ve had a lot of rain recently, so conditions seemed right.
Two of the nights we spent in
Death Valley hoping to see more than we did last year. Last year we were a few days late but saw a lot of blooms above 3500-4000 ft. This year not so much.
We drove in from Shoshone near the south end of the valley up Badwater Road. We have seen a good show on this road before, especially in Jubilee Pass before dipping into the valley. After passing into the valley we were soon below sea level. Badwater Rd. passes thru Badwater, no it’s true, which is the lowest spot in North America. We saw a few flowers, but were disappointed at the lack of a bloom.
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| Ashford Mill Ruins on Badwater Rd. | Flowers near the abandoned mill |
These yellow desert sunflowers are pretty common everywhere you look. Scattered around will be the blues, purples and red of less abundant types.
This was a good spot and I thought I would get a little time to do a quick naked walk and some snaps, but no luck. We got to the mill ruins in the afternoon and only one car was there. I was waiting for them to leave so I could do a short naked walk. They were wandering around doing what we were doing. Looking at flowers. The call of nature intruded so I went to the pit toilet but when I came back more cars had arrived.
So I didn’t get an opportunity to walk naked there.
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| The Desert Sand Verbena | This is a Desert Five Spot |
On the five spot you can barely see the spots inside. I am always surprised at the colors in the desert. You just don’t expect it. The landscape is uniformly brown and gray most of the year, so when we see colors in this volume, it’s always a treat. When there has been a lot of rain, the floor of the desert turns green with small grasses. Oh well, we saw a few flowers. We think we were probably a week or so early. We could see many sprouts of new growth. There will probably be a better show in the valley in a couple weeks.
The 1st night we drove up to Father Crowley Point, above
Panamint Valley, to do some binocular stargazing. Between the high winds and clouds, we could only see a few stars in the open patches. Not much luck on the stargazing this trip.
The last day we drove out to Lee Flat to explore. It's on the west side of the valley and there is a Joshua Tree forest there. It's in a remote but accessible area and the only cars we saw were 4WD as the road was severely washboarded. I was able to carnude and do a little naked walking in the forest.
Panorama of the Joshua Tree forest at Lee Flat in Death Valley
An old Joshua Tree Remnant hanging on till the end.
These are not true trees. The are members of the lily family. Because they aren’t trees, when they get tall the high winds can take them down. Especially if they are compromised by drought. You can see how large these can get in the right conditions. There is another one of these forests near Cima Dome, about 70-80 miles from our house. Being in one of these groves has a special effect. Most places that you see Joshua Trees, they aren’t this big. They are such a different plant. You just don’t expect to see them get so tall.
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Walking in the “forest”  | Walking on the road at Lee Flat |
I keep getting these notions to walk down a road naked. It is always fun. Something about walking on a road headed somewhere, naked of course, appeals to me. Of course I always pick lonely, little used roads.
Please, to those who live in more familiar dense green woods or forests, keep in mind that the term forest, when used in the desert, is a relative term. Plant life in a desert is compact and scattered. When you see a large group of anything in a desert, it attracts your attention.
After leaving Death Valley we headed southwest toward Oxnard. Our intent was to take CA Hwy 1 (Pacific Coast Hwy.) south. We drove that highway as much as possible. For the most part you can see the ocean from the road. There was not much opportunity for naked time once we got into southern California. It is just so densely populated. I didn’t know where all the good spots were for CO activities. So I made lemonade.
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| The lighthouse at Point Vicente | Sunset at Point Vicente |
Point Vicente park is about 120 miles north of San Diego. Apparently it’s a good spot for ‘whale spotting’. We didn’t see any of them either.
We are hoping to go camping in a month or so back out to Cima Dome, where the other Joshua Tree forest is. Maybe we can see some flowers then and some stars. I hope to get a little naked hiking in at the same time. It’s somewhat remote but there is more traffic every year.
We saw a few flowers, a few stars and no whales. But it was a good trip. We punted and visited some of the Jesuit missions on the El Camino Real. As I said, last year we were a few days late, this year a little early. Eventually we get the timing down.
The lemonade was good!
Duane
