Things have changed on our 'home front'. After watching the morning news today, we decided to extend our stay in the area of Joshua Tree NP, because there is a weather advisory out starting tomorrow morning at 5:00 and lasting through Saturday. A huge front is coming in and we don't drive the motor home when it's that windy. They are expecting 50mph winds in the area that we wanted to visit next. We made the necessary cancellation at Pahrump, NV, but did make it for the same time starting on Sunday. They were very cordial to do so. Then we made sure we could stay where we are. We don't mind, as we still have some things to do in Joshua Tree NP, and this will give us that opportunity. We had a wonderful day today, by doing a 6.6 mile loop hike to the Lost Horse Mine. The mine was discovered by Johnny Lang when he went looking for his lost horse. He filed a claim in 1893 and began mining the gold. The 10-stamp mill was erected in 1895 and 9,000 ounces of gold was processed here until 1908 when the vein played out. It was an excellent trail and it made us huff and puff a bit with the elevation climbs, but it was good for us. We realized that we started the hike in the wrong direction (counterclockwise), which to us, was the right way to go. Others made the same mistake, and after finishing the hike, we would do it the same way again. We kept hopscotching with a younger couple and they told us that they saw an adult Desert Tortoise about a half mile back. We stopped to look at the mine, and they went ahead. Lo and behold, they saw another one! I told them that they were tortoise magnets! He actually, hurried back to tell us that she was keeping an eye on the tortoise so we could see it. They were such sweet young people! They were from Grand Rapids, MI. We decided to call it a day, as we were tired and we want to do a hike again tomorrow. We did stop at the visitor center to tell them that we had seen the tortoise and they told us that they are coming out now for water from the recent rains, and also to eat the many flowers that are blooming. That's another thing. We saw so many flowers again today on the trail, and we just think we hit this at the right time. We are hearing that the flowers are gone in Death Valley, but we don't mind. We are seeing so many here!
This is the sunny picture I promised you of the San Andreas Fault.
We talked at length with this young couple from Germany. They want to see the blooming Saguaros and are going to Tucson to the Saguaro National Park. I was happy to tell them of the Chiricahuas, also.
This is a fireplace/chimney and all that remains from an old homestead.
These are gorgeous Bluebells that, we have only seen at a filled in mine site.
This is the Lost Horse Mine Site, and the 10-stamp mill.
Jim is inspecting the remains of an old cabin.
One of many geckos that we see along the hiking trails.
This is the young Desert Tortoise that we were so fortunate to see. They are on the endangered species list.
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