Lake Havasu

On this day we were at the far end of the lake (many miles away from the London Bridge) checking out a camp ground. It was pretty desolate here, but beautiful.  Although I took quite a few photos, the thing that caught my eye was this Heron. It caught my eye because it was following us around.

They look a little ungainly when walking, taking off, or landing, but in flight they are amazing.

This is a nice one to enlarge.

This one as well.

If you forget about his feet, he looks kinda like of the Mondoshawans from the Fifth Element. That is, IF a Mondoshawan could fly. I know most of you are thinking" What the heck is a Mondoshawan and has Tillett lost what little mind he had left after the 60's and 70's?"  As long as we're on the subject, does anybody out there know what a Mondoshawan is. Without googling it, that is?

Even though I take quite a few photos of birds, I know very little about them.  I know this guy is a Heron, but I'm sure there are many kinds.

This was so close to being an AMAZING photo. I had to shoot from the hip because he surprised me. Like the Hawk I tried to photograph when we were in Sedona, I took three shots in rapid succession, without really aiming. I got one of the blue sky (with nothing in it), one of my knee, and this! Even thought it didn't work out, I LOVE the textures and colors in his wing.

Also not much of a reflection, but I loved this little puffy duckling. At least I think it was a duck.  It sure as heck wasn't a Mondoshawan!

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections sponsored by James.

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Dr. Who?

I see blog posts and blog references about this TV show all over the Internet. I admit in advance that I'm out of the loop on a lot of things, but seriously, I've seen this show and I've tried to get "into it" for quite a while. I'm just as geeky as the next guy and I love science fiction, but I still don't have a single clue what the big deal about this show is...   Is it just me?
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Anza Borrego - Palm Canyon

First off, we aren't in Yuma this week, like I said we would be. We had some technical difficulties and couldn't go. This post is from a hike we took a while back in the Anza Borrego desert in Southern California.  It was to a isolated oasis in a place called Palm Canyon. It's one of those hikes that can be either easy, medium, or advanced, depending on how far you go and which route you take. We went a lot further than I thought we would and ended up  hiking about 6.5 miles with 1,400-foot gain in elevation. It was pretty hard actually, and NOT a thing to be attempted during the hot summer months. 

These photos are going to be like a Quinton Tarantino movie. First the answer and then the questions.  This photo and the next one, are the pay off after a long hard uphill hike. 

Here is the rest of the pay off. It's an actual oasis in the absolute middle of nowhere, in an amazingly harsh desert climate. This stand of palms is the only one featuring palm trees that are native to California. It was so cool and shady under those trees. 

The round depression in the rock was used to grind grain seeds for hundreds of years. They are called mortars or morteros. Several different tribes settled here over the centuries because of the availability of water, in an otherwise totally arid environment.

This is where we spent the night. Just kidding! 

Of course, there has to be at least one black and white.

Only because I liked the colors.

I didn't expect to see humming birds in the canyon.

We gotta hike over that?  Not really, my wife is looking for mountain sheep. We only have to hike around it.

Our first view of the natural spring running down hill.

We took a different route back out of the canyon. This one was a lot more steep and very rough. My wife is deciding which way to go. She's a good trailblazer...

I said it was steep. This narrow part of the trail had about a one hundred foot drop off.  Yes, I was the idiot hanging over the edge for a photo.

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections sponsored by James.

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London Bridge

To some of you, this post will not be a surprise at all. To others, it will be a TOTAL surprise. I'm sure most of you remember the song "London Bridges Falling Down" from when you were a child.  I'm also sure that many of don't know that the London Bridge now resides in the middle of nowhere, in the Sonora desert of Arizona! 

Well, the London Bridge didn't fall down, it was moved to Lake Havasu city in Arizona, USA.

It first opened in London in 1831 and spanned the Thames river. 

In 1968 the bridge was sold to an American entrepreneur for about 2.5 million dollars.

The bridge was taken totally apart and moved stone by stone to Lake Havasu City. It was re-assembled and opened in 1971.

When I said it is now in the middle of nowhere, I meant it. The place may be called Lake Havasu city, but it's small and most certainly in the middle of nowhere.

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I still have several posts to put together relating to this trip, but we're already hitting the road on Monday morning. This time we're heading for Yuma, Arizona. It's a long ways from Lake Havasu and only about 5 miles from the Mexican border. I've never been there and have no idea what to expect. I'm sure I'll find some interesting things...

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections sponsored by James.

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Grapevine Canyon - Nevada

We just spent two weeks in the desert around the Colorado river in the Mojave Desert.  We stayed near a town called Needles. One day we drove about 30 miles upriver to Laughlin, Nevada. Laughlin is a pretty good sized gambling town, with several casinos right on the Colorado River in the middle of nowhere. VERY casual, when compared to Las Vegas. I think Laughlin is most famous though, for a major fight and shootout between the Hell's Angles and Mongols motorcycle clubs here several years ago.  Our intent was not to go to Laughlin to gamble (we did though). Our intent was to hike up to a place called grapevine canyon....

Our destination was the mountains several miles up this road.

We parked and hiked up this wash for a while and then headed uphill. My wife is out front trailblazing (sort of).

To see this!

And these! (embiggen to see what I mean)

Petroglyphs, everywhere...

Quite a climb to get to this group. These are about 1000 years old. (embiggen please)

This was the best group. (embiggen)

This is as far as we hiked. You can see the wash we started on in the distance. I'm getting too old for this stuff.

Ancient Alien?

They call this guy the chief. Do you see it?

More petroglyphs

We got out of there just before a thunderstorm moved into the canyon. It would not be a safe place during a downpour due to flash floods.

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections sponsored by James.

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Salvation Mountain - Desert Folk Art or OCD?

Salvation Mountain

I recently made some posts relating to Slab City, dry land Sea Serpents, and assorted other desert oddities. Today's post, may just be the weirdest most impressive of the lot.  A guy named Leonard Knight started on this little bit of folk art in 1984. After more than 20 years of work obsession, and Mr. Knight in the "hospital" no longer on the premises, we are left with his life's work; Salvation Mountain. It's pretty clear that his theme was "God is Love."  Agree or disagree with that as you will. Everyone will have to admit that this guy was committed to what he was doing.

Talk about in the middle of nowhere. The closest civilization to what you are about to see is (drum roll please), none other than the modern day metropolis of (that's right folks!) Slab City!

Here's the main part of Salvation Mountain. It's made of hay bails, logs, paint, and anything else the guy could find. To add some scale to the place, please note the person standing between the "O" and "D: the right of the cross.

This structure is made up of cave like rooms and atrium like areas. 

Of all the things I saw there, I think I liked this tree the best.  I would have loved to been able to move the home made bench and shade from the photo.

One of the "atrium" like areas. This one must have been 30 feet high.

One of several old cars and trucks. Of course they all were adorned with the artists "theme." 

Considering that it was made of junk and old tree limbs, this was pretty cool looking.

This photo was taken from the top of the "mountain." In the background, is the road to Slab City. I guess this makes Salvation Mountain a suburb of Slab City.

That's a lot of work to show off your bowling trophies.

Just an alternate view of the same stuff.

A walkway or hall through the structure. Yes, that's an automobile door in the background. 

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This place was given a national award as one of the premier examples of folk art in the United States. I wonder how many awards it received for being maybe the biggest example EVER of  massive obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
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We've been at home for about three weeks and moss is starting to grow on us.  So, it's time to hit the road again. On Friday we are once again heading for the desert. Not this desert though. This time we'll be heading for the mighty Mojave Desert. We'll be staying (in our RV) near a town called Needles. Needles is very often the hottest spot in the United States. I can't say we'll be spending any time at all in the actual town though. There is much to see in this area. Our side trips should take us into Arizona and Nevada also. 

UPDATE:
Leonard Knight, the creator of this giant work of desert folk art, passed away on February 10, 2014. Think what you will about his art, but you can't deny the man's dedication.

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