PalmsandMtns

Surviving in a Post-Gold Fever World

Ibex Spring Ghost Camp, Death Valley, CA. It will likely be just you and the palm trees in this isolated southeast corner of Death Valley. The Saratoga Hills, Ibex Dunes and Black Mountains serve as backdrop for the walk across barren desert on the old Ibex Spring mining road. Deep washes vie with surviving bits…

Disciple Shells

Go Big Or Stay in the City

Goldwell Open Air Museum, Rhyolite, NV. There are ghosts everywhere. The hooded sculptures of the Goldwell Open Air Museum shade the landscape from one end of the desert floor while the mostly abandoned mining town of Rhyolite crumbles stoically next door. Belgian artists built the Goldwell Open Air Museum in the 1980’s. The desert is…

Second Lake and Temple Crag

Glaciers to Soothe the Soul

John Muir Wildnerness, North Fork Big Pine Canyon. I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but it is HOT in Los Angeles. Summer is a long time coming here, the marine layer in June, that cool layer of fog that rests over the city, keeps us lulled in chilly spring. July brings fireworks…