http://desertgazette.com/blog Officially, Unoffical Mon, 26 May 2008 07:20:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I'm very happy about being able to host the Mojave History web site by Kathy & Richard Thompson. I've found scores of great information on the local areas clicking through their site. Heck, I never knew Apple Valley had a history.  You can find out more about the high desert town's ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/27 The last couple years have had pretty much uneventful springs.  This year however, the State Poppy Reserve in the Antelope Valley has really come into its own. The Reserve features the California poppy, Escholtzia californica, although there are many other wildflowers that can be observed in abundance.  I made two trips out there ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/56 I haven't paid too much attention to my little scurrying friends in the last couple years.  But lately I found that if I move slow, and talk low, I can sit down right beside them and have a nice little one-sided chat. This first one is a common side-blotched lizard I ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/55 When I first saw the desert I thought, 'There's nothing out there', and I wanted to see 'nothing' closer- Maybe stand in the middle of it and scream or something. When I got there I found it was far more intricate and rich than I could have imagined. The more ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/54 I was fortunate to be able to shoot two sunsets and one sunrise at this location a couple days ago. The wildflower display was intense and the air was thick with the perfume of the sand verbena (purple flowers on the left). The crater is a volcanic cone which may have ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/53 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 ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/51 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 ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/49 As the subject of the shot isn't outright apparent, well; Red Rock Canyon is the result of the grinding together of two geomorphic regions, the Mojave Desert and Great Basin. This uplifting takes place along the Garlock fault, which is what is known as a left lateral strike-slip fault. This means ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/47 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. There are thousands of carvings throughout the canyon. No one knows what they mean or why they are there.  For some reason this ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/45 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. Vasquez, the 'Gentleman', ... http://desertgazette.com/blog/archives/43