Llano Del Rio

The problem with the Socialist colony at Llano Del Rio was that it wasn’t by a Rio (river). It was during a wet year that the land was purchased and the wash coming out of Big Rock Creek was flowing with water. It didn’t take but a few years for them to realize that the dried-up desert plain they were living on wasn’t more than what it looked like, a dried-up desert plain. Certainly, there were other reasons the colony failed. Probably politics–individual, internal, external or otherwise. Ain’t it always like that though?

I was driving through the area yesterday in the morning. I had to go westward toward Palmdale for an appointment that was sure to take most of the day. There were road crews widening Highway 138 at the site of the ruins. This and that was barricaded and fenced off and dust and paving and whatnot. I had updated the web page I keep on the place a few days before and noticed I only had low-resolution photos I took in probably 1999. I thought it would be a good idea to stop on my way back and get some shots for a photo update.

My meeting went on about an hour longer than I anticipated and I was running late. The sunset light was great, golden, and a little harsh. I could have got some nice shots if I could avoid getting myself into the long shadows. I must admit, in some spots I drove a little fast, but I’d catch myself and mostly I drove safe. I like to think I’d rather get to where I’m going late, but alive rather than early and dead. Now I know the second half of that makes no sense, but when I think of it the word ‘dead’ is a keyword to me and I slow it down.

The sun had just slipped behind the mountain when I arrived. I grabbed the camera and tripod and hiked a hundred yards or so to the site of the ruins. There was some great ambient light going and I had probably about half an hour of shooting. When the sun slips behind the mountains as it does at this time of year it gives a false sunset. It stays light, but the shadows disappear. For me, the light was perfect. I couldn’t have timed it better.

Owens Valley

Features and points of interest in the Owens Valley area

I’ve been trying to eliminate my inconsistencies as a mapmaker and standardize various levels of my maps.  One of the problems over the years has been finding uniform base maps that are okey-dokey to use.  I think I’ve finally come up with something, at least for California, that I can work with.  The less symbols the easier.  I’ve decided to try working with the Owens Valley as one of my first vicinity map areas.  So far I am pleased with the result.

Interactive Owens Valley Map

Wilderness Areas Update: the Day Bob Hope Died and My Boat Motor

I believe the title may not make sense. Good.

A few of these shots in this update were taken on the way to Pahrump, Nevada, the first time Bob Hope was reported as having passed away–and I believe (if my camera was correct) that was June 28, 2003.  But Bob wasn’t dead. At least that’s what he said. It seems some over-exuberant television reporter may have put the information out without checking facts.

The wilderness areas section is being brought up to speed on the pages with photos- The major change, however, is the base map, which was fairly crude.  Now it is all kind of snazzy.  😉  Also, both the alphabetical and numerical index pages have this new interactive map embedded.  The individual wilderness area updates are mostly just enlarging the photos and doing a little clean up. A list of the updated pages follows:

Wilderness Map (alphabetical index)

Wilderness Map (numerical index)

Individual wilderness areas

A couple of years later, in 2005, I had bought a 13 foot, leaking, aluminum fishing boat. My friend Cliff, who owned a canoe and kayak rental at the Topock marina, was going to sell me his Grandfather’s 5 horsepower outboard motor.  So what I did was photograph a few of the wilderness areas along the I-40 freeway on my way out to pick it up.

I’ve heard it said that the two most memorable days in a boat owner’s mind are the day you buy your boat, and the day you sell it. Certainly, I remember the day I sold it–but I can’t recall the day I bought it. Wait … Now I can.  Anyway, I remember the day I bought that motor. That was a lot of fun.  I’ll tell you about the day I got the boat in some other update.

Feedback – 2012

From time to time I get feedback in the form of anonymous comments from visitors to my Digital Desert and Mojave Desert websites.  Most are good–a few bad apples, but I won’t drop them in this bag.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

11/1/2012 – 4:02pm – feedback: As the fourth gen to grow up in the middle of the Mojave (Las Vegas) I was thrilled to learn more about this desert I love by reading your site than I had in my previous 47 years. Thank you! One bit I’d like to add is about the desert burro. Your sources list them only in CA but they also live in So. NV. We’ve regularly seen them near the Spring Mtn./Red Rock area from the time I was little with the most recent time perhaps six or so years ago. Some are rather tame. Don’t know if it’s worth an addition, but wanted to share.

11/1/2012 – 12:15pm:-  feedback: Can’t find the snake I saw. It was a rather slender 36″ long. The first 9″, including the smallish head, was shiny black which quickly faded into a pink-purple color. It slid straight down the mountain side like it was rolling on ball-bearings. I saw this snake in the Coachella Valley.

10/20/2012 – 7:17pm – feedback: Hi Mr Feller, In my seventh grade class we are debating whether the BrightSource solar-thermal plant should be built in the Mojave, and how it affects the environment around it, specifically the endangered Desert Tortoise. I can to this website wondering if you had any information about it, and if so, which side you take on the matter. However, it appears there is little or none about it here, and I suggest that maybe you could have a section for environmental issues and the mojave in your website. However, on other topics I found your website very interesting, and I am learning a lot from it!

9/8/2012 – 5:33pm – feedback: iappreciated tyour chuckwalla comments.

8/8/2012 – 8:21pm – feedback: Hi, I read about the glossy snake on your site and we’ve seen one occasionally where we live in San Bernardino County and have observed and taken pictures of it and I have carefully identified it. The information on the Glossy Snake page suggests that sightings of the Glossy Snake should be verified and recorded. Can you suggest on the page who collects such data and where to report sightings of endangered animals?

7/24/2012 – 7:24pm – feedback: Hi there! I found your page on the Mormon Pioneers, and wanted to let you know how much I appreciated the straightforward, condensed timeline, and offer some help in clarifying a few things. You did a great job of outlining the major events in an unbiased way. On the help side of things, “Mormons” was a nickname first given by detractors, and then later adopted into general use by the church members. When that church was legally organized on April 6, 1830, in Fayette, NY, the official name was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is believed that the persecution of the Mormons in Illinois was due to the Illinois residents fearing a Mormon-controlled government (simply due to their eventually outnumbering the non-Mormon residents). Thanks so much for the good info. Have a great week!

6/29/2012 – 4:40pm – feedback: Are ALL ghost towns off limits to metal detecting in southern California?

6/13/2012 – 4:34pm – feedback: Hello! I just discovered your website with the mention of O.D. Gass. What a surprise I am having discovering all the information about him! I am his great, great grandson. I was raised by his son (my great grandfather, Fenton Gass). I am beginning to learn about my family and appreciate the things they went through. Fenton did not talk about his dad. I didn’t learn about him until my mother began to talk about him years later. All we have is one photo of him standing in front of my great grandfather’s orange orchard in Bryn Mawr. A news reporter from Las Vegas came to see my great grandfather one day and asked to see Octavious’ diary. The reporter talked my great grandfather into letting him “borrow” the diary. Reluctantly, the diary was handed over and was never seen again despite the pleadings of my great grandfather. I am trying to track down where the stolen diary might have ended up. Thank you for your time, Tom (withheld).

6/4/2012 – 8:41am – feedback: While walking the old train trail around Lake Mead my daughter found a flowering plant that was white. The whole plant was white stalks and all. The flower petals seemed to have some red or dark brown spots, like a dusting of color. I think they were a five petal plant, the way the plant opened it was very hard to tell. I have been to several different sites trying to name this plant would you help?

5/28/2012 – 10:56am – feedback: Please update your website – the phone number ###-###-#### is no longer Fish & Game, it is my personal phone number. Thanks.

5/24/2012 – 10:35am – feedback: May 18, 2012. Just survived Burdoo Canyon Road in a 4-wheel drive SUV. The impulse to travel this road was inspired by the grandeur of the place, but very wrong-headed. Often, we found ourselves hauling rocks into the “roadbed” to build up drop offs — all while watching the sun drop gradually lower. In retrospect, many many things could have gone wrong — a punctured side wall, an encounter with another vehicle or an abandoned one, a detached tie-rod, the punctured oil pan like that of the vehicle ahead of us that left a telling trail. Burdoo Canyon Road might make a good hiking trail. Maneuvering a vehicle through this natural canyon seems presumptuous. Nature bats last.

5/12/2012 – 3:15pm – feedback: hello from zone 9 in north louisiana. can you put me in touch with a plant company that i can buy desert plants from? i was born in phoenix, ari. and this spring my husband of 5o years visited out west. we loved all the different kinds of plants and would love to plant a few that would live in our zone. most places i have found sell but they are so small. i have several differet kinds and they are thriving so i know planted in certain locations in my yard they will live. please help.

5/1/2012 – 12:59pm – feedback: I am looking for historic information on train employee, passengers, and train hopper deaths between 1902 – 1918 near Barstow Ca. I had a great uncle who died in some sort of accident and is said to be buried in Barstow. I can not find any info on train deaths in that area and time. Just for S&G his name is Hilding Gottrid Svetlund of Minnesota. He was born in 1881 in Sweden. I have searched all the genealogy sites, no luck. If you have any leads I would appreciate it.

4/17/2012 – 3:47pm – feedback: Hello, I would like to know the names of trees that thrive in the desert (Ridgecrest, CA) and fixes nitrogen.

3/25/2012 – 8:47am – feedback: i did not find what i was looking for i need a big food chain OF THE DESERT!!!! ):

3/21/2012 – 1:15am – feedback: your analogy of the race track is close. I but slightly off. The rocks dont slide on top of ice but rather the slick almost like teflon wet surface after rains and high winds. When the playas surface becomes wet with just enough water to cover the surface. the surface becomes very slick with a low density wet mud. when the winds blow across the surface at these periods of wet times it becomes the perfect conditions to slowly push the rocks through the mud, leaving the tracks. I have actually seen this process in action. You explain it as if the rocks were sliding across ice, which is plausible except there wouldn’t be any tracks in the soil if the rocks slid on ice. Ice would also lock the rocks in place until thawed. It is a very interesting site to see when your standing next tom or in a dry lake bed during a storm and watching rocks move as if they have legs. its hard to see this phenomenon in death valley due to the conditions have to be perfect. but in other arid places that receive these conditions more often. you can observe this happening. Most of the time it never leaves tracks due to the the water standing longer. If you want you can email me a response. my name is Jeff. I appreciate your site and would like to thank you for the info you provide. I read a lot about geology and experience most first hand. Some day hopefully i can make it back to school and complete my degree in biology and geology.

3/19/2012 – 12:51pm – feedback: Thank You Walter for all the work you have done with this website. It has been extremely helpful during a research project on the Mojave. It is well organized and very useful. I did find it somewhat awkward that Death Valley is separate from the Mojave on several pages, so integrating the information was a challenge as I tried to relate the smaller Death Valley with the larger Mojave area. I know how much work it takes to build sites like this, just thought I would mention it if you can think of a way to link some of the information together. Thanks!!!

I’ll update this post with any more that may drift in the rest of the year as well as see how far back I’ve kept the comments.

Until then –  Walter

Romance at the Old Mill

— The mental picture commonly held of the “Old Mill,” is one of the water wheel slowly, rhythmically turning, splashing out cool, fresh water from the brook into a blue pool under the weeping willows swaying in a late spring breeze, a picnic, bottle of wine, and of course, thee & some cheese. The reality of the “Old Mill” in the desert, is much, much different as illustrated in the attached photograph.

Stampmill ruins and remnants at dawn

How a Stampmill Works

The Long Way Around – #47

The Long Way Around – #47: Granite. Granite fascinates me. There’s a lot of it exposed throughout the Mojave. If the Joshua tree is the emblematic plant/tree of the Mojave, then plutonic granite is the symbolic rock. Joshua trees, granite, and rats. Lots and lots of rats–rats everywhere–for the snakes.

About Mojave Desert Snakes

I’m not real sure what these are for sure- Mojave (crotalus scutulalus), Southern Pacific (crotalus oreganus helleri), and Speckled (crotalus mitchellii) rattlesnakes, I think. One from out of the area too I believe.

 

A Rock Garden

This image was shot in Joshua Tree National Park just moments after the sun completely set behind the horizon. I thought it seemed very surreal.  In the post processing, since it was so strange-looking, I decided to try a subliminal composition with slightly increased saturation.  It was my first attempt at doing something with this technique.  If you look closely, you may be able to see just a little bit richer color starting at the yucca at the bottom, then curling up counter-clockwise through the brush and then on to the rocks.

More about Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

Ubehebe Crater

Ubehebe (yoo-bee-hee-bee) Crater is said to be the basket that the Paiute people emerged from during creation to populate the world. Geologically, Ubebehe is a maar volcano formed by a steam explosion roughly 3,000 years ago. Geographically, the crater is located 5 miles off of Scotty’s Castle road in northern Death Valley National Park.

More about the Ubehebe Craters

Ubehebe Crater

At Least I Didn’t Get Shot …

I suppose the good news is, is that I got this photo of a shack in the little ghost town of Dolomite. I suppose the bad news is that I shot it in 2001 with a low resolution camera. Then again, some good news is that I doubled the size of it and cleaned up a few rough spots on it with my fancy software. And I suppose the bad news is, is that for all my efforts, Dolomite isn’t an authentic ghost town. I’m finding out that it was built for a movie set. It is a bit of good news that the movie was Nevada Smith starring Steve McQueen, one of my favorite movies. The bad news is that I won’t e able to reshoot it because of circumstances beyond my control at the moment. That’s good because it was on private property. It could have been worse when I was caught trespassing the first time. The owner chased me down and started giving me hell for being on his property. So it was a good thing I told him I came in a few miles over and followed the base of the mountain shooting some other ruins while I went along. It was another good thing when he laughed at my little truck and said, “I wouldn’t think you could make it through there in that.” I told him I was just taking some pictures. He told me to “Have at it.” At least I didn’t get shot.

Dolomite Ghost Town

Downtown Dolomite

The Playas

Superior Dry Lake

Playas, dry lakes, they hypnotize me. Flat and dry and scarred but still pure. Hardened earth and soft skies. An elegant monotony that locks in on whatever lobe in my brain it is that controls my fascination for seeking a niche, an edge, a flaw as my eye draws up to, in this specific case, a dark and slivered horizon. Few words. Clear and open thought. Appreciation. I clap my hands. The sound dissipates and the ever so slight vibrations go on endlessly.

Dry Lakes of the Mojave

New Dale

New Dale – New Dale wasn’t called New Dale back then, it was just called Dale even  though it was new, at least newer than Old Dale, which wasn’t called Old Dale then either, just Dale. But you see the problem with them both being called Dale then don’t you? To further complicate matters neither Old Dale or New Dale was too much worth looking at. In fact if you click on the link you’ll probably be a might disappointed because if there weren’t a title on the page you wouldn’t be able to tell if you were in New Dale or Old Dale, because New Dale doesn’t look any newer than Old Dale and Old Dale doesn’t either. BTW, nobody knows who Dale was in the first place. He moved out of Old Dale while it was still new.

New Dale Ghost Town

New Dale Ghost Town – Twentynine Palms, California Area

Barrel Cactus

Barrel Cactus – Mojave National Preserve

There are many different varieties of barrel cactus, but a couple of things pretty much hold true with all of them. First, the taller ones tend to point toward the south. This is due to the fact that for most of the year the sun is more toward the south. Second, it is not a good idea to drink the juice from the cactus when out of water. A couple of reasons for that; one, these cacti are tough, and the perspiration expended to open one of these up would exceed the available water within. Secondly, the liquid will most likely cause a horrible case of diarrhea, further depleting the body of water and accelerating dehydration.

More about Barrel Cactus