I just can't get there from here, new neighbours, birthday wishes....

Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA

 

 

 

A nice night for sleeping and we both slept well, I think the hike up Pilot Knob may have contributed a bit to that wonderful sleep. 

 

 

  The first sunset of 2020, taken January 1st,  here in southeastern California.

 

We decided to go for separate walks this morning, Riley left first while I stayed behind to have something I haven't eaten for a very long time, eggs and toast.  I just had a craving this morning.

 

 

 It was just so yellow in the western sky.

 

 

I started out heading toward the power lines and met up with Riley just as she was heading home from her walk. She continued home and I kept my feet going toward the big black Cargo Muchacho Mountains. 

 

 

A truly amazing sunset on the first night of the new year, don't you think?

These sunset photos are exactly as they came out of the camera, I did nothing to them. 

 

 

I have been meaning to check out a strip of tailings that I can see each time go back toward the power lines and today  I thought I would do that. It was a really good idea and I headed off cross country in the most direct route I could take. Coming upon a very deep wash I realized I had tried this before and like before couldn't find a place to cross the wash. Alas, I had to turn around and head back home. Close but yet so far. Next time I'll take the truck and start from a different point, one that is too far for me to walk to from the Igloo. 

 

 

 Almost looks like ripples in the sky.

The last shot of dazzling colour before it starts to fade...

 

 

 

 And so ends the first sunset of 2020 here in the southeast corner of California.

 

 

I walked a bit over 4 miles in less than two hours but it wasn't easy walking. This particular area is filled with a lot of rough ground, large stones, dips, washes, troughs, large stones or did I mention that already? 

 

 

 

 I wonder if we need a lawn maintenance company to trim the grass?

 I did not know the inside of an Ocotillo root was hollow.

 But as you can see, this one is certainly hollow.

 

 

Back home Riley and I pulled our chairs out and enjoyed some sun while reading. The wind was a bit chilly and continued to get stronger and stronger as the time went on. Before we headed inside however a cute black Jeep made it's way toward us and behind it came a big motor home, The Stinger Bee. Deb & Tom from Celebrating the Dance arrived and set up not far away. We knew they were coming from our visit yesterday and are happy to have them as neighbours. 

 

 

 Do you see that lighter coloured line back there? That's my goal for today.

 I used the zoom lens today and so it looks much closer than it really is. It was over two miles to the wash that I couldn't cross and I still was a distance from being able to reach the lighter stones.

 

 

The strong winds had us bringing in the big slide as the awing was taking a beating in the wind. About an hour later we had once again put the slide back out and the winds died down as the afternoon continued. 

 

 

It is deceptively close with this lens. 

 

 

Interesting how those little nubs are all so straight, isn't it? 

 

 

With the wind at their backs, Deb & Tom blew in for a visit/happy hour and before we knew it the sun was down and sunset was over without a photo being snapped of the visit or the sunset. The time flew by as I knew it would, a few laughs, a few stories and some wonderful conversation. It was a nice afternoon. 

 

 

Again with the lens, it's deceptive. The coastal mountains and the Imperial Dunes in the background you've often seen in my photos but usually the photo is taken from the general area of the Igloo. In this photo the Igloo is between the Dunes and the power lines. When leaving the Igloo and walking to that power line it's about a mile. I am probably a half mile past the power lines and about 1 1/2 miles from the Igloo. 

I am still a long way from the mountains. I would love to find a path that would get me higher up into those mountains but today I won't even make it to the bottom of them. 

 

A birthday wish for my nephew Jason. He turns a big 30 today. Jason & his lovely bride Leah were mentioned last January in my blog when they travelled to British Columbia for a month long sledding holiday. An event they will repeat this year I believe. Happy Birthday Jason. 

 

 

 Standing on the edge of a very deep wash I can see where I want to get to but just can't find a way through the wash. So I had to turn around and head back home. 

 It's hard to get a good photo of the wash as the sides and bottom are covered with growth in most places and very steep everywhere.

I want very much to hike back there and have a look around just because I want to know what's back there. Another day I guess, or maybe next year. My time here is getting short and I haven't too many days remaining to do this hike. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the visit. 

 

 

 Pretty deep and steep.

No way I could climb down or up that stuff. 

 

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

 

 Like a beckoning finger it stills call to me even though I'm almost home. Thanks to the long lens I can almost touch it , almost but not quite.

My last photo of the day. 

 

 

Deb

 

 

 

High atop a mountain, nice visit with friends....

Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA

Happy New Year to everyone out there reading this little post. I hope you all had an enjoyable night and day, ringing in the new year in which ever way suited you best. Us, we slept while it came in to being. 

 

 It was skinny footing but it wasn't too bad, up or down.

 We didn't go that way. 

 Interesting rocks, I see a pig snout, what do you see? 

A nice warmish start to the night but it cooled off a bit just before dawn and I was happy to pull the duvet up higher. 

To the left of center, off in the distance is the Cargo Muchacho Mountains, and in the middle, just a slight bump on the horizon is Picacho Peak. 

More of the Cargo Muchacho Mountains off in the top of the photo, the CHP station on I-8 West, and the little church on the hill at Felicity, CA. 
 
We had plans today (yesterday's plans moved to today due to wind) to meet with Jerry again, but this time for a hike. Yes folks we hiked up Pilot Knob Mountain way over there close to the Pilot Knob BLM pay area. It took us about 10 minutes to reach Jerry & Elva's home dirt (as George would say) and after a quick chat with Elva, Riley, Jerry and I headed off to hike. 

Riley and Jerry having a rest. 

Yep, straight ahead and up is where we went from the rest spot. 

 
It was a pretty rough trail for a while but we all managed to get our feet heading in the right direction, which would be UP and off we went. Jerry is an excellent guide, not too fast, not too slow, and stops often. Jerry is a trail blazer, not a path follower, although I think he may find the 'path' much easier in the future. 

Looking off sort of southwest to the Imperial Sand Dunes a bit farther away. Those beautiful tan hills you often see in my photos are now visible in this one as well. Can you see them? 

Pilot Knob Campground and Pilot Knob BLM (pay area) in this photo. The little church on the hill off to the right. 

 Fuzzy, sorry, I didn't have my long lens. That is Jerry & Elva's home on wheels, Miss Elva's Jeep and the Dogsled down there.


The views, as we kept climbing just kept getting better and better. I think you may enjoy the photos of today's hike. We had a wonderful view of the Cargo Muchacho Mountains, we could also see Picacho Peak off in the distance. 

 This is off to the north east in the approximate direction of Winterhaven, CA, and the Q Casino.

A bit of glare from the sun but I wanted to show you the cross. That was the destination for our climb. 

 
Views included the CHP station, as well as the Agricultural Inspection Station,  the RV resort of Pilot Knob, the small church at Felicity, as well as the Imperial Dunes and the wall/fence between USA and Mexico. 

 
 
Riley is resting in the shade beside that big rock. 


 

Can you see her down there resting? 


About three quarters of the way to the top Riley was happy to sit and relax while Jerry and I continued to the cross on the very top of Pilot Knob. She settled into a comfy spot in the shade and enjoyed those views in front of her. Jerry and I continued on, heading for the higher reaches and more dazzling views. 

 Pilot Knob Rv Resort, but way off in the distance you can see the Imperial Dunes and off to the left side some faint white dots before the dunes, those are all rigs on Ogilby Road at Sidewinder BLM pay area.

 

West view, Pilot Knob RV Resort is the green space. 

 
Jerry will agree, I think that we made the climb a bit harder than we had to but it was still interesting and fun. We scurried, climbed, hiked, and scrambled in a place or two but finally found a nice easy way across the ridge at the top. The cross, our final destination was easy to reach once we found the PATH.  

The Imperial Sand Dunes, that small thin dark line is the wall between US and Mexico. Way off, when you cross those blue looking mountains to get to the Pacific Ocean. 

 The Imperial Dunes in Mexico, although they may not be called that, it gives a reference for me.

The views were wonderful. Truly worth the climb. From this height we looked down into Mexico, the town of Algodones which lies just across the border, a few glimpses of the Colorado River as well. We could see the All American Canal as it wound it's way along the wall, the green or dark fields in perfect sections in the state of Arizona, the hint of Yuma off in the distance, as well as Winterhaven. Looking off in a easterly direction we could see the casino Q, past that we could see the tall white silos (? maybe they were silos) at Indian Hill too. Looking more to the north we could also see the views I mentioned above in California, the ones we could see from lower down. Now they seemed to look smaller as the vastness of the area became more noticeable. 

The closer green fields are in Mexico, the ones past that thin green line which indicates the Colorado River are in the USA.  

 

 That would be looking approximately north toward the Cargo Muchacho Mountains, with Picacho Peak on the right and the Imperial Dunes would be on the left.

 
Truly some amazing views from the top and it was well worth the climb. Jerry and I found an easier way down to where Riley was waiting and in no time at all we had collected her and started down the mountain side. 

Algodones, Mexico. The whitish smear is smoke from a fire burning over there. 

 Look at the barren land below, between that nice green and the barren land runs the wall, and also the All American Canal.
 
We noticed a couple climbing up a very steep section, totally off the path, climbing some very steep boulders and waited until they reached the firmness of the beaten path. Jerry offered them some tips on reaching the cross and soon we all headed off in our own directions. By the time we'd reached the bottom, they had reached the top. 

 Yep, that's Jerry over there looking out over Mexico. Behind him is the state of California but also Arizona as we are but a few miles from the state line. 

Algodones, MX, the smoke has gone now. 


We thanked Jerry for the excellent time, wonderful guide that he is, he seemed pretty happy to have been asked for the tour. We had a fantastic time and enjoyed the climb and the views. Thanks Jerry. Thanks Elva for lending us a guide once more, we appreciate it. 

 Some one had walled off a small area and left some clothing behind.

Riley is down on the shady side of that big rock. 
 
 
Back home as we headed toward the Igloo I noticed a black jeep sitting off to one side, and mentioned to Riley, I think we know that jeep. Sure enough, we did know the jeep or at least the folks in the Jeep. Deb and Tom's smiling faces greeted us as we pulled up beside them.  We knew they would be in the area today but thought it would be earlier. I can say we were most happy to see them and happy to have them come back to the Igloo for a bit of a chat. I think I kept them talking longer than they wished to talk as I know they had some chores they wanted to do. It was wonderful to chat and I'm sure we'll be catching up with a few more visits. 

The Imperial Dunes and the Coastal Mountains of Mexico.  Again the names be different but it's a reference for me.
 
A talk to my dad, and many text messages to those folks up north to wish them all a Happy New Year,  some lunch, some reading, photo editing and the writing of this post took up the rest of our day.  Of course I also managed some wonderful sunset photos but I'll post them tomorrow. 

In the upper part of the photo you can see a bit of the Colorado River in Mexico, all of those buildings are also in Mexico. The helicopter is in US airspace flying right along the All American Canal (the blue water you can see just over the edge of the mountain, and along the Wall between California and Mexico. 

Can you see the wall in the lower left and right of the photo?   

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the views, and thanks again Jerry for the tour. 

Interstate 8 down there, Picacho Peak off toward the left of the photo. 

I left my name on the yellow rock to prove I was here. The rocks are located on a corner post near the cross.
 

 Nope, we didn't take that road either.

Tour guide Jerry Shannon atop Pilot Knob Mountain. 
 If you look behind Jerry on that piece of cement you will see the yellow rock from above. 



Until next time... take care, be safe, 

That tiny thin brown line is the Wall in the Imperial Sand Dunes. 


 

 Nope, that is not Jerry and I but the folks we met on the path that climbed up the side over boulders to reach the path. We are now all the way to the bottom.

 
Deb