Lone Pine Canyon
Not much for art, but a fairly decent illustrative shot.
About this photo;
This is a young, or new, canyon formed by the San Andreas fault which separates the Southern California and Mojave Desert geomorphic regions. The fault runs pretty much down the center of the long canyon, follows the edge of the foothills across the ridge in the distance and passes to the left of San Jacinto Mountain furthest away in the shot. At the base of San Jacinto Mountain lies Palm Springs.
Visibility in this photo is about 60 miles. The high mountain to the left is the 10,000 ft. ridge and Mount San Gorgonio in the San Bernardino National Forest. San Gorgonio sits on the North American continental plate while San Jacinto sits upon the Pacific plate. San Jacinto will someday, millions of years from now, move west along the transverse range and sit to the right of where I’m now standing- The Lone Pine Canyon saddle.
One hundred and fifty years ago Mormon settlers came to the canyon and found a single pinyon pine tree about half way up along the way. Near the pine is where they built the rock shelter where they lived until called back to Zion to go to war with the United States. The lonely pine still stands today in better condition than the fallen pile of rubble that once was the stone cabin.
Lawman Wyatt Earp’s sister and her husband (Almon Clyde) lived in the canyon later on and planted apple trees. The orchard still produces sweet apples that when in season, may be bought from the rancher that now owns the place- Sometimes not. The orchard is high upon a terrace on the side of the mountain, so a thief would have to first brave late summer rattlesnakes in the brush before dodging buckshot.
The odd-looking spire in the foreground is a Lord’s candle yucca. The flame is gone, but will/may ignite again in several years, if the rain is right. The big bush front and center is a rubber rabbitbush. Note that this shrub is the only thing a rabbit will not eat. Rubber rabbits don’t eat, ’cause they’re rubber. During World War II experiments were made to attempt to extract the rubber from the plant.
To the right, and out of the shot, is Slover Canyon. This canyon at the head of the Lone Pine canyon is where the last grizzly bear in southern California was killed by Isaac Slover, and interestingly enough, where the last grizzly bear killed Isaac Slover. That being a whole other canyon is a whole other story, which I’ll save for a time when I get a decent shot. 
They are big and they look mean, but Chuckwallas (Sauromalus ater) are harmless herbivores feeding on desert flowers, fruits and leaves. Young chuckwallas are known to try a grasshopper or two, but usually stick entirely to plants by the time they are a year old. Chuckwallas get all their water from the plants they eat and never drink, even when water is readily available. Instead of urination to void their body of salts, these wastes pass through and build in their nostrils as crust which breaks up and falls out when the reptile exhales. They are adept at living in rocky areas under 4,000 feet elevation. As well as dodging into cracks of the rocks in which they live when threatened, they inflate themselves with air making it nearly impossible to remove them by brute strength.
As the subject of the shot isn’t outright apparent, well;
). I believe the actual faultline is running somewhat through the middle of the shot.
I finally made it, the trip to Little Petroglyph Canyon! Such a beautiful place. It’s easy to see why it would have been sacred to the early people.
The banditos would hide their horses in the clefts in the formation, climb to the top, and keep a lookout- They could see for 20 miles in each direction. The stage would approach, and they would move dustlessly into a deep and shadowy arroyo, then lie in wait.