Back to the Desert (Now with Pics)

[Est]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Here are a few more shots before bedtime tonight.


Mojave Mound Cactus flower. Echinovereus triglochidiatus.

A series of Beavertail Cactus shots. Previously shown are unopened buds, here are a few with an open bud. The first one isn't too great, but I wanted to take a shot of all of the critters in the flower.

Gooding's Verbena / Southwestern Verbena. Verbena gooddingii

Wallace's Woolly Daisy. Eriophyllum wallecei. This was one of the few plants that was growing in an area that had suffered heavily from a fire ~1.5 years ago. Unfortunately, most plants where we were aren't fire resistant (fire isn't part of their ecology) while some invasive, fire tolerant species are happy as can be. Was still cool to see these little flowers a-growin' here.

Paperbag bush / Bladder Sage. Salazaria mexicana. These guys are pretty cool, actually. In this shot you can see the flowers as well as some of the "paperbag" structures that are beginning to form. The paperbags detatch from the plant and get blown around in the wind, distributing seeds.

And unknown insect. Probably some sort of beetle. I'll see if I can ask my teacher to find out. Maybe one of you guys is knowledgeable in this sort of thing and can set me straight.

Lastly, a shot of the University of California Natural Reserve camp that we stayed at. Inside was a kitchen, a sleeping area, a dining area, and a closet or two.

I, myself, decided to sleep outside. No need for a tent, hardly any need for a sleeping bag! It was great to see the moon, the stars, and really get out and around under a nighttime setting.

An interesting little fact is that this year is cracking up to be the driest year since 1994 which was the driest year since 1894. Unfortunately, that meant that we missed out on a lot of flowers, but we did get to see the results of some interesting survival mechanisms. For instance, we saw many shrubs that had some of their bark and flesh stripped off by rodents trying to get moisture.

There's still a few more pictures left which I should get to post soon. Let me know if you've got requests for anything more in particular.

 

[PlantAKiss]

Beautiful flowers. I love the close ups but do you have more wide shots so we can see the local terrain?

Look at them rocks!

I guess you didn't find any fulgerites. Darn it!

 

[Est]

Alas, no fulgurites, but I do have a number of wide shots. Since my camera is so small it doesn't do quite as well as a larger camera for shots with so much "stuff" going on in them. Most of the pics posted have been between 30-50% reduced (in terms of resolution.)

First off is an interesting rock formation just outside of camp. Don't see to many giant people-shaped rock formations... at least I haven't.

A shot of the Granite Mountains. Plants really like growing in all of the little cracks that they can.

Mountains opposite to the ones at our camp.

This shot shows the relationship between the camp and the Granites better. I did a lot of good rock climbing. In some of the caves we found native artwork (from the Chemehueve people) and some people found pottery shards. I know that if I was trying to escape the heat of the day that I'd retreat to a cave, too.

One of the many places we visited was Hole In The Wall. This was a site that millions of years ago had a frontrow seat to a volcanic eruption. Ash and other volcanic debris trapped air, trees, critters and encased everything. Air bubbles combined in to larger pockets which have been exposed due to erosion over time. Some of the lower ones can be climed in to.

Still a few more pics to come, it's getting a bit late for me though. I'll be sure to double check if there's any more worthwhile landscape/broader shots.