Kelso Dunes Sept 25-26

 

Another quick solo getaway out to the Mojave, I leave the photos to do most of the talking. I had great clouds, a bright full moon, and a quiet night. Eventually the temperatures cooled to pleasant.

In the morning I hiked barefoot to the top of the tallest point in the Kelso dunefield, a more strenuous exercise than I anticipated. I enjoyed the wide variety of tracks along the way including sidewinders. I enjoyed the vast views while catching my breath at the summit as well as triggering some sand avalanches and getting the sand to bark with big jumps. Going down was effortless. 

I got a few nice views of crags as I drove past the Granite Mountains along the Kelbaker Road. It was a quick trip but some nice sights.

Bristol Mountains Sept 15-16

 

Craving a quick desert escape despite punishing heat, I packed Spartan to go visit a rock collecting site I was last at when I was 18. It was also a chance to stretch my new Subaru's offroad muscles a bit. I left pavement in the afternoon near Ludlow, drove north towards Broadwell Dry Lake, then turned east on a pleasantly graded powerline/pipeline road. There wasn't a lick of shade but distant puffy clouds. Eventually the road turned very sandy, having me test the deep snow/mud Xmode, which helped but also was less responsive than I expected. Sections were two-rutted in deep sand such that I could not stop and had to maintain speed to avoid getting stuck; it reminded me of the old Disneyland Autopia ride where the track was essentially driving me and the steering wheel served no purpose. Thankfully the sand abated and the road improved. I was treated to nice views of the Kelso Dunes once I breached the saddle and began a gradual descent into the broad basin. It was a punishing 104F when I stepped out of the car and began my hike up the wash to the old strawberry onyx mine that I used to love collecting at with my dad when I was a kid.

Arriving at the mine camp, I was delighted to see the unusual flat-roofed mining shack was not only still standing, but actually had been repaired since my previous visit when I was 18. It is a novel design, made of stacked railroad ties with a chickenwire-concrete roof. I had very little recollection of the onyx collecting area itself, so enjoyed walking over the nearby hillside looking at the discarded rocks and outcrops. It is still a mysterious deposit with a roughly 2 acre deposit of layered carbonate tilted about 25 degrees to the southwest, seemingly bounded by pyroclastic volcanic rocks on all sides. My best guess from a cursory look is some sort of surficial hydrothermal deposit with an algae/cyanobacteria component based on some of the rock textures. Anyway I was mostly distracted by the beautiful banded strawberry onyx, which was focused in two bands. It was nice to see there was plenty of material scattered around to enjoy.

Note same corner as photo below

Self-processed and printed B&W from when I was 18

I caught a beautiful sunset from the top of the onyx hill looking northeast towards the Kelso Dunes (frontispiece). After dark I was delighted to look around the onyx area with a UV light, discovering at least a half-dozen scorpions in the process. A subset of the honey-colored onyx had a vivid emerald green fluorescence that was fun to look for. It seemed I could potentially have been the first person that thought to search this site for UV rocks. I killed a good chunk of the night just looking around and enjoying the cooler nighttime temperatures before cowboy camping in the nearby wash.

In the morning I looked around a bit more and then headed out before the heat of the day set in. It was a quick but rewarding escape with a nice combo of nostalgia, a light solo adventure, and some neat rocks. A bit premature but had me excited to do some more desert exploring this winter.

Flanks of the Kern Sept 4-7

 

Recently I have had reason to spend some time in the greater Kern River area, prompting me to revisit some locations I had not been in nearly two decades and to search out some new interesting things to do in the area. Since I typically go to the Kern during boating season, I found the river particularly low and slow-moving and instead looked more to the flanks of the river.

In the headwaters of the Tule River just west of the Kern is the Alder Creek Sequoia Grove, well off most people's radar but with some impressive trees on a steep hillside. The area partially burned in the 2020 Castle Fire (among others) but the core of the grove remains a verdant island of giants. Notably the Stagg Tree here is apparently the fifth largest tree in the world and is estimated at about 3000 years old.

Poppy Lake in 2020 Castle Fire

Stagg Tree (5th largest tree in the world)

Alder Creek Grove (and below)

Dome Rock is a short dirt road detour off of CA-107 that offers expansive views over the Kern including the Needles. Nearby a short hike leads to Nobe Young Falls, which has a neat shaded alcove behind it, perfect for a picnic.

The Needles from Dome Rock

Nobe Young Falls

Heather and I hiked 2 miles out to the site of the Needles Fire Lookout, which has become a very popular hike it seems. I have fond nostalgic memories of the lookout on a June 2008 climbing trip with Jeff and Richard. After climbing some of the walls of the Needles, we stopped by the lookout. Beyond the amazing view and remarkable strapped-to-a-rock construction, we were greeted by a cheerful volunteer living in the lookout (watching for fires) baking fresh cookies on the wood-burning stove. Unfortunately the lookout was completely destroyed by an accident involving that same stove in 2011, leaving behind a stairway to nowhere. The hike did not have quite the same appeal as before between the many people on the trail and the lack of the lookout, but the views were still great including views of the backside of Mt Whitney and the backside of Farewell Gap in Mineral King. I was grateful I got to see it before.

Needles from lookout site

Needles Lookout site (2026). Mt Whitney at left skyline

Needles Lookout in 2008 (before 2011 fire)

Heather and I also did an interesting drive on a neglected Forest Service Road 23S16 south of Johnsondale. Despite being paved, it was overgrown to the point of being barely one-lane, with many logs nearly blocking the road. For being Labor Day, we saw nearly no one on this forgotten road traversing interesting chapparal and scraggily forest. We stopped briefly to check out Indian Rock labeled roadside on the topo, which indeed had several old mortar grinding pits in the granite slab there. We took a detour near Baker Point to what I previously identified as a digging, stumbling across a very cool rose quartz claim. Though limited in area (60ft x 30ft), the colors and patterns were spectacular.

We hiked about a mile out to Baker Point Lookout, one of the few remaining fire lookouts in the area (frontispiece and below). Looking a little weather-worn and neglected, it was nonetheless interesting to look inside and to enjoy the views from its surrounding catwalk including of Lake Isabella, Kernville, and Mt Whitney again.

Baker Point Lookout (and below)

Continuing on we drove more of 24S16 past meadowlands, then down the dirt road of 24S15. On the way I stopped to check out the Tip Top Mine, which turned out to be an old quartz lode gold occurrence. All in all this Greenhorn Mountain area was more interesting than I expected and I look forward to checking it out further in the future, particularly to see another fire lookout and some potentially interesting marble outcrops.

Dry Meadow