An Interesting Hike in Wonderland Wash

The other day, a group of us took a nice hike up the Wonderland Wash and made some wonderful discoveries, thanks to our guide Mark Wheeler. He knows the Park like the back of his hand, and he can identify almost every plant in sight, Latin names first. On this trip, he showed us some rocks in which the early settlers had used to store some of their food stuffs. He also guided us to a huge boulder off the trail (which we had walked past many times in the past) and when you ducked in and under the entrance, contained Petroglyphs made by early Native Americans. He also showed us a rock and cement dam built in the wash which would help contain water after the rains. Further on, he led us past the famous 'Three Freaks' rock formations, which the climbers have fondly named and in to a side canyon where we were able to see the famous 'Grant's Arch'.  A great hike indeed. Hopefully, I can remember where all these special things are, so I can take others there in the future.

Wonderland Ranch

The Cave For Storing Food

What does it mean?!

The Three Freaks

Grant's Arch

Spin's New Show at JTAG Joshua Tree Art Gallery

A Nice Walk Along the Maze Trail

This has become one of our real favorites, a nice loping hike over hill and dale to a crest where you get a great view of the valley below and then down into the Maze itself, which winds around in different directions. It feel confusing at first, but just keep going, you'll end up in the wash which intersects the Window Rock Trail. This is a good place to turn around and head back the way you came, otherwise you end up walking in sight of the road. There are plenty of good lunch spots right in the Maze, so pack a nice lunch and enjoy!

Spin's New Show 'The Cottonwood Series' at JTAG

Nature is timeless.

Whenever I walk amongst the Cottonwood trees at Covington Park, I think of how they might have looked in the past, how a photographer in the 1900’s might have seen them and decided to publish a book of his pictures. These pages are the remnants of that book, the binding having deteriorated and fallen away long ago, just the single, found pages remain. A testament to the timeless beauty he found there.

Drew Reese

An Exciting Discovery at Twin Tanks

We drove out to Twin Tanks the other day and as we were loaping along with no real destination in mind, we saw these two quartz boulders in the distance and thought...'Let's go see what that's all about'. When we got there, there were huge quartz boulders strewn all about and lo' and behold, there was one of the famous 'Twin Tanks' down below. This is where the early cattlemen would build small dams to try and capture as much water as possible for their cattle during the year. There was still some water in the dam from the recent rains. We moved up the wash to see what else we could see and ran in to a dry waterfall that we saw off the trail. Upon closer inspection, we found these great petroglyphs. What a find. We meandered further up the wash, but nothing more was to be found that day. Twin Tanks is a great area to explore. It's easy hiking and there are many interesting rock formations, gullies and canyons to discover. You can easily spend the whole day out there just exploring to your heart's content

Mesa

Quartz Boulders

Quartz View Point

Petroglyphs

Molten Forms

Fall Colors Arrive at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is the only place around here where we can get our 'Fall Colors' fix. It's such an amazing place, with a constant water source, a marsh area, little streams and open fields. Did I mention the birding? Yes, it's a great place not only to take a walk, but the birding is some of the best around. People from all over the country come to 'bird' here. Come on down some Wednesday or Saturday morning around 8 a.m. and you'll meet great people and see more birds than you ever would on your own.

Patriarch 

Transition

Still Life

Green and Gold

Burnt Limbs

Key's Ranch-Vintage

We got to take a special tour of the Key's Ranch the other day, sponsored by the Mojave Desert Land Trust and the Park Service, what a treat. If you've never done the tour, make a reservation for it the next time you're out here, you'll love it. Bill Keys and his family were the most successful homesteaders here at the time and lived on the ranch until 1972. While cruising around the property, I stumbled upon this old, out-of-date, roll of color film in a wood pile...

The House

The Willys

Fence of Branches

The Truck

Windmill

Wagons

Wheel

Stoves

After The Summer Rains, 'The Flood Series'

We had quite a few Thunderstorms in August and early September this year, which I was hoping would lead to some nice winter rains... nothing so far... start your rain chant! So... the other day we took an early morning hike over at Barker Dam hoping to see some Bighorns, but no luck. While heading back to the car, we walked up a wash where you could see the effects of the summer rains, resulting in some beautiful patterns in the sand. I started snapping away and came away with some nice shots. You can see more on my website: www.drewreesephoto.com

Shoals

Squid

Riffles

Footprint

Hooray! Joshua Tree National Park is Open.

We're all very excited to be able to hike and bike and climb to our heart's content, especially now, because the weather is fantastic. Y'all come on down!

Barker Dam View

Hiking the 955

Since we can't hike in Joshua Tree National Park, during the 'Shutdown', we had to find an alternative. Thank heaven for the Mojave Desert Land Trust, which saved a piece of land on Quail Mountain, known affectionately as the '955'... acres that is. They saved it from development, so the rest of us could hike there, nice folks. We got up early and hiked up to this one spot, where, if we've had enough rain during the winter, you can view a waterfall. Because of the good rains we had during the summer, there is plenty of Brittlebush, fields of small yellow flowers and lots of green buds, just waitin' for more rain. Here's some pics from the hike done in a  'moody' style.

Rocky View

Rock Pile

Brittlebush

Whiteness

Lichen

Yucca Ribbons

Barker Dam in Black and White

We went over to Barker Dam the other day. Went early... crack o' dawn... hope'n to see some of them elusive Big Horns. Everyone around these parts said they'd seen a bunch early in the morning, so we figured... what they heck...let's go! Well... long story short... no Bucks, no Big Horns, shucks! But got these pictures  of 'stuff' that was there. To me, real interestin' like. Next time.

Yes, Mother, there is water in the dam.

Floating Rock

Bill Keys added more height to the original dam

Stand off

Big Foot Joshua Tree

Cloud Chasing

We've had quite a bit of rain this summer, which possibly, portends a good Spring. Keep your fingers crossed. So, we went out the other afternoon chasing clouds and came away with these three shots.

Thundercloud 

Speeding Clouds

Temple of The Clouds

Amboy, A Place Like No Other

Drove through Amboy, California the other day, stopped for the usual 'rest stop', took a picture, chatted with the fella behind the counter, "Nice weather today... Uh huh... Where y'all headed?... Santa Fe... Uh huh...", bought a T-Shirt and headed on our way. Always a pleasure.

I gave it a little 'vintage glass negative found in the attic' treatment,