So day before yesterday (my Red Rock Canyon road trip) I set out for Red Rock Canyon. However, I usually approach Red Rock from Hwy 58 in Kern County, CA. This time, I went via Hwy 178 East. And I turned left, just as I would have from Hwy 58. Except that Red Rock was to the right.
Again however, I passed through wonderful high desert with scattered Joshua Trees on Hwy 178.
Something about the wide open spaces of the West make it easier to breathe. When we lived in North Carolina it was gorgeous – green, trees everywhere, stunning. But when we moved back to California, we realized we had felt confined in North Carolina. So I enjoy driving through high desert like this.
I love the chollo cactus also. No matter the time of day or direction of the sun, these cacti always have that filtered light look. They are lethal, though – some are “jumping” chollo, especially around Joshua Tree, and the long stickers kind of jump out if you get too close. We could barely pull them from the sole of my husband’s sneakers at Joshua Tree.
More late fall flowers also.
Sometimes I take pictures from the car window as I’m driving. Hard to drive, watch the road, hold the wheel, and aim the camera, so it’s chancy, but sometimes I get lucky. Look at this wonderful sky.
Also notice the lack of traffic. It’s great out there. As I turned onto Highway 14, I was in volcano country. Lots of old, extinct volcanos out towards California City, Ridgecrest, Randsburg – the desert towns.
So I drove along, admiring the sky, scenery and wide open places. I was a little distracted by personal matters, however, so it took me a long time to notice that I didn’t seem to be getting to Red Rock Canyon! As Highway 14 turned into Highway 395 toward Lone Pine and Bishop, I began to wonder if I was in a hallucination. Then I got to Pearsonville. Never heard of it? Not surprised.
It’s the Hubcap Capital of the World! Maybe it was, once. It has a park with this very odd statue. No explanation as to what she is doing there.
Maybe she scared away the population and the hubcaps, because these bleachers in the park look deserted.
So even though I should have realized I was way, way in the wrong direction, instead I thought, Fossil Falls is around here somewhere. I think I’ll stop.
And I did. When a volcanic eruption dammed the Owens River, the water flowed over the basalt lava and sculpted and formed what is there today. This happened about 440,000 years ago, and the resulting sculptured river bed is 40 feet deep.
It was hot and I walked about a mile to get to the basalt flow. It was deserted and quiet and I was alone, but I was also determined.
I did run out of steam, however, and didn’t go far down the riverbed.
Cool stuff.
Back on the road. Like an idiot, I continue north. I know Red Rock is not north of Fossil Falls. What was I thinking?
I guess I wasn’t thinking. Also, I was hungry. And as I came across the Ranch House Cafe, which I had never seen before, I realized I was in uncharted territory. Actually, I was about 20 miles from Lone Pine. Grrr. But the Ranch House had a great cheeseburger.
Just to make sure I was as stupid as I thought, I asked the waitress which direction Red Rock Canyon was. After all, she didn’t know which direction I’d come from. And of course it was to the south. Way south. I enjoyed my cheeseburger and left.
I tried to smile. But I was really quite tired of driving more than 60 miles out of my way by the time I was done. And the road continued much the same.
The long and winding road. Straight as an arrow. There was a consolation, though. By doing this all wrong, I arrived at a particular point on Highway 178 west (I gave up all hope of Red Rock) and I spotted an animal running. I pulled over and looked – I knew that animal was out there somewhere. I looked and looked and stared right at a wildcat, who was sitting and looking right at me. How exciting! It was beautiful.
As soon as it realized I had spotted it, it took off but I did manage to get two photos. What a wonderful end to a very strange day.
Stay tuned for Friday’s adventures and wildlife sighting #3 – so far we have the bobcat and the coyote. What will be next? Until then, you can check out other nature photos here.
[...] terrific car ride was I70 through Utah with dear friend Michael Purcell. Another was a drive to Fossil Falls, although that was a mistake. A third was a drive to Red Rock Canyon, where I meant to go in the [...]