While hiking in the Sierras on a trail next to the South Fork River, I noticed a patch of very, very small blue wildflowers. They were smaller than a dime and so pretty. I had my Sony Cybershot W-5 with me and placed it in macro mode and took this shot.

When I got home and downloaded it to my computer, I was amazed at the level of detail, down to the dusting of pollen on the petals, and I was in awe of nature, of our planet. There is so much out there that we never see. Little worlds within our own.

I entered this picture in a photo contest at work and it got first place and that's what really motivated me to begin pursuing photography as a more serious hobby. I know that all of you understand that feeling when others look through your eyes and share the feelings that you experienced when your took the shot.

Delphinium_gracilentum

A storm blew through the Indian Wells Valley last Thursday night bringing with it snow, snow and more snow. The snow level didn't quite make it to the valley floor, but it came close (about 3,500 feet).

I jumped in the Jeep and headed towards Walker's Pass (elevation approximately 5,200 feet). As I rose in elevation, the snow got thicker. About midway up the mountain, I ran into the snow plows and the Chains Required sign was up. I didn't have chains with me, and the road didn't appear that bad, so I just drove on. I reached Walker's Pass and it was just starting to snow again.

On the way back down to the valley, I stopped to capture Joshuas in Winter.

I glanced to the south and saw a local landmark (Robber's Roost) and couldn't believe how beautiful it was. (Robber's Roost is a cluster of rock outcroppings that rise out of the valley floor. They were used by outlaws in the old days to hide in, waiting for the stages full of silver or unsuspecting settlers to travel by.) There was a dirt road that headed in that direction, so I put the Jeep in 4 low and took off in that direction. Here are some shots from that fun excursion.

Robbers Roost 1

Robbers Roost 2

Robbers Roost 3

After visiting Burro Schmidt's Tunnel, the group decided to split up. It had been a long day. Some wanted to go home, others (like me) were still up to a little adventure.

So, a fellow offroad buddy (Rubiblue) and Charlie and I decided to wander down Mesquite Canyon. During a brief moment while we were waiting for other offroaders to pass, I glanced out of my door window and saw the moon coming over a hill. I didn't have time to get out and take a shot, so I snapped this out the window. Moon over El Pasos

Rubiblue stopped his Jeep and came back to ask if I'd like to go to Garlock Peak. Having never been there before, I was up for it! I LOVE going new places and seeing new things. So, we took a steep side road up to the top of the El Paso range. There's a cabin at the very top of this peak held down by very large guide wires (I guess it tends to be a bit windy up there). I couldn't figure out why they built it there, except for the views! Unfortunately, the sun was low in the western sky and very bright, so I couldn't take pictures in that direction, but looking north, east, and south provided breathtaking scenery. Enjoy!

east towards Garlock (That little collection of hills at the bottom - middle of picture - is the Garlock Fault.)

south, towards Koehn Lake  (That line through the middle of the picture - just above Charlie's head - is Garlock Road.)

north

northeast towards China Lake

NOTE: All of the photos referenced here were taken by me, except for the picture of Toni Seger's Cabin (before). That photo was taken by Mr. Bill Gann.

When we finished up at Bickel Camp (and after we ate lunch), we all headed to Burro Schmidt's Tunnel. It broke my heart when I pulled up to the place. Having been there before the destruction and once shortly after it started, the amount of further devastation was sickening.

I can't find my original before pictures, but here are some that are posted online.

Burro Schmidt's Cabin BEFORE: http://www.burroschmidttunnel.org/schmidtcabina.jpg
Burro Schmidt's Cabin AFTER

These pictures were taken inside the cabin. All of these artifacts are gone, either stolen or destroyed.
http://www.burroschmidttunnel.org/schmidtcabin1a.jpg
http://www.burroschmidttunnel.org/schmidtcabin2a.jpg

This is Toni Seger's cabin as it stands now. Tonis Cabin To see what it looked like at its peak, click here: http://www.burroschmidttunnel.org/bill-gann-bst-2.jpg

Even though the cabin is fenced off, while everyone else was exploring the tunnel, I snuck in and took these shots. I was in this place once, visiting the owner before she died, and while it was never the Taj Mahal, it was a home. Now? Well, judge for yourself.

Tonis Cabin 2

Tonis Cabin 3

Apparently, the cabins aren't the only items being taken or destroyed. There are rails that Burro Schmidt placed in his famous tunnel, to remove debris. These, too, are being stolen.

These signs are now posted on the fence that surrounds the site. Unfortunately, only those of us who care about such things take heed.
Please

Finally, we arrive at Bickel Camp. Walt Bickel was quite the 'collector'. He threw NOTHING away because everything can be used if you're resourceful enough, and Walt certainly was. He would take pieces of equipment found or given to him and rube goldberg them into tools that he could use for the mine. For instance, this handy dandy piece of equipment was rigged to be used as a 'pump' to draw water. Jose, the Bickel Camp Caretaker and tour guide shows the group how this thing was put together, what it was made out of, and how it works. Tour begins

This is a picture of Jose, the caretaker and tour guide. Jose

Below are a couple of examples of the types of items Walt kept around. The second picture is a piece of hardware that predates Ford Motor Co. This was produced when the company was known as Ford and Sons (or Fordsons).

Equipment

Fordson

There was a watering trough full of colorful jerry cans which had been 'color coded' to indicate content. I thought they were kind of pretty lined up this way. Jerry Cans

For more information on Bickel Camp, please visit: http://www.bickelcamp.org/

Next submission: Chapter 4. The Raping and Pillaging of History

After leaving the Dutch Cleanser mines, we meandered down EP15 and took an unnamed dirt road to a small mining area referred to as Bonanza. The only building left standing is the Bonanza Post Office . There's an alluvial fan deposit not far from here where people with metal detectors frequent. According to Charlie, someone recently found a one ounce gold nugget, not a shabby return (with today's gold prices) for spending a nice day in the desert sun. Here's a picture of the Group at Bonanza exploring the area. As you can see by the rocks in the foreground, this area is also steeped in volcanic history.

There were a couple of interesting women who joined us on this trip. When I see interesting people like this, I always wonder what their 'story' is, their background. But I'm fairly shy, so I will very rarely approach people. I noticed this woman out by herself, checking things out. I wonder what she was thinking? Desert Dweller .

I noticed these strange buds on the creosote bushes and thought that they were rather unusual and pretty. Flora

Next submission: Chapter 3. Bickel Camp.

 Charlie our tour guide for the day, took us out Red Rock Road. This road heads south out of Inyokern, CA and skirts Black Mountain on the west side. This road eventually leads into EP15, the dirt road that winds through the heart of the El Pasos and will take us on to our other destinations for the day.

Our first stop was along Red Rock Road where Charlie gave a brief talk on the historical significance of Black Mountain to the Native Americans of the region. It is considered sacred and has been the site of many tribal ceremonies. I wish that I could have gotten a photograph of Black Mountain, but on this day the sun was quite bright and directly over the mountain.

Our second stop was at the Dutch Cleanser Mines. Here's a picture of the
group preparing to wander around and explore the area. These mines contain very fine pumice which is used primarily in kitchen cleaning products. In fact, it is so fine that I ruined a point and shoot camera there a few years back. Even though I was very careful about the dust, it still managed to get inside the camera and corrupt the CCD (which could not be cleaned without a trip to the factory).

These mines are HUGE. Many of the openings are large enough to drive a large truck into and they seem to worm together, and go on forever inside the mountain. They're extremely interesting.

This is one of the many views from the mines. This area is near Red Rock Canyon State Park and it's pretty obvious how the area got it's name.

Next Chapter - On The Way to Bickle Camp

I spent all day Saturday on a tour (the tour guide is a coworker) wandering the El Pasos, in California. I've been to most of the places we visited before, but it had been awhile. We visited the Dutch Cleanser Mines, Bonanza, Bickel Camp, Burro Schmidt's Tunnel, Lee Canyon, and Garlock Peak (I hadn't been here before, so that was new and exciting).

I took 261 photos that day and I'm still sorting through them and will share them a few at a time over the next few days. But, I wanted to get SOMETHING out here to you guys, so here are two.

These bottles were sitting at Bickel Camp and I thought that they were just plain pretty. As you will see in following posts, the people inhabiting this mine site over the past few decades ate a lot of beans and drank a lot of wine! Now that's good livin'!

Green Bottles 1

Green Bottles 2

One day, while leaving the gym on base, I noticed a group of aviators across the street milling around the All Faith Chapel. I grabbed my camera and started walking slowly toward them. Eventually a group of them decided to take off and I managed to get this shot of the lead and his wingman.

It's so hard to choose, but I do think that this has to be my favorites. I took it on a cold morning in November 2007, when I was feeling very alone and uncertain. I thought that the cloud formations were 'interesting' and didn't really 'see' them until I downloaded them at which time they reminded me of angels, spirits  coming in on the western breeze to let me know that I wasn't alone and that everything would be okay.

Not quite a year ago, I was hired to take pictures for a new beauty salon that was opening in my home town. The name of the establishment is "Turning Heads".

The proprietor asked a few of her clients to come in and 'pose'. She also wanted unusual photos, artsy, eye catching. With that in mind, I modified most of the photos quite a bit, so they aren't 'pure'. Below are four of the best.

Leopard Nails_color and Leopard Nails_bw show the difference between a color version and a black and white. (The color version is on display in the shop. I prefer that, myself, because it shows the color in the nails which was, after all, the whole point!)

Fan Lady and Lady in Red are the prominant artwork, printed in 20 x 30 poster size and they came out wonderfully. No loss of quality at all. I was very proud of myself and the owner is thrilled.

I haven't been able to get out and take photos lately, so I'm falling back on some old shots. Hope you don't mind.

This picture was taken on Highway 178 near Onyx, CA. I love the Joshua Trees. We don't have them on the desert floor (where I live), but once you hit about 4,000 feet heading up the Southern Sierras towards Lake Isabella, you start to run into thousands of them.

Joshual Bloom

A little over a year ago, I was hired to take engagement photos and wedding shots for a friend's daughter.

Here's one example.

The rest can be viewed here, if you're interested:
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=28&user_id=18695&event=69535&album=69536

Looking through these bottles
I feel a sense of wisdom

What they must have endured
To survive undamaged

I have much to learn
From these memories of the past

That fragility endures
And beauty intensifies with time

These tiny little Purple and White Wildflowers grow all over the foothills of the Sierras in the spring. The little blooms are smaller than a dime and it's amazing how thick they can get. We call theses belly huggers because you have to lay on the ground to get to them.