I'm not sure where I heard about it or perhaps I read something in a magazine, e.g., AARP, but since we were already "in the neighborhood," why not stop by? I'm referring to Trona Pinnacles, a "unique geological feature" located about 170 miles north of Desert Hot Springs and 28 miles east of Ridgecrest in the Mojave Desert. While we've been all around this area, we'd never been to Trona or Ridgecrest. Because it's BLM land, dispersed camping is allowed and I thought it would be grand to camp below one of those tufa spires.
We found it easily. At the entry, a sign read that the 5-mile-long dirt/gravel road is generally accessible to passenger vehicles (if you're willing to drive on a washboard), but after a rain, the road may be impassable, even to four-wheel drive vehicles. Rain had fallen two weeks earlier; we figured we were safe.
With Smartie in tow, Tergel started down what used to be a dirt road, transformed into a dried mud (like cement) track, with deep, irregular ruts. We made it possibly a quarter mile before crying Uncle! Then we had to turn around and make our way back toward the entrance. Truly, that was an awful experience for Tergel, Smartie and us. Nearer the entrance we found level ground and, since camping was allowed, we decided to stay where we were. Too bad we were still five miles away from the pinnacles. And we said, ain't no way we're walking that far! Well, at least we could see them.
Tergel sits all by herself with the pinnacles in the distance and train cars parked on a siding. (Can you see her?) We'd taken Smartie for a spin so we could check out the ghost town of Trona. Not much to see there. The town is still functioning, but only barely. A huge chemical complex closed down years ago, and we all know what happens then. A new outfit is pulling sodium and potassium minerals out of Searles dry lake, but Trona is floundering.
This train was moving toward Trona (at a snail's pace),
going to pick up some raw material? Flashy cars.
We went for a walk to the siding with the rail cars,
looking, examining, supposing ....
Toward dusk, I climbed a ridge behind Tergel and found a treasure trove of wildflowers. The bottom two are Brown-eyed Primrose and Desert Five-Spot.
I took this picture of the pinnacles from atop the ridge. Isn't it fantastic? I'm glad we stopped here even if we couldn't get any closer.
In 2016, the BLM designated Trona Pinnacles as part of the California Desert National Conservation Lands due to the area’s significant scientific and ecological values; this means that the area will be managed to protect those values and will be permanently protected from development. Good. (They could work on that road, however!)
This pic is from Wiki. As you see, people were closer to the spires.
There's Tergel/Smartie (and my shadow where I stood on the ridge). Being camped here was extra-special, and with no one else around the silence was pervasive and so welcome. Aside from the pinnacles, the area isn't particularly scenic, but we appreciated both the vastness and the tiny wildflowers at our feet. I didn't fret that we couldn't camp at the base of a monolith tufa, nope. Just happy. Period.
And the sky! We saw the breath-taking full moon rise above yonder mountain -- what a sight! We didn't expect this which made it even better. For sure, we wouldn't see many stars nor the Milky Way, not with the super bright moon filling the sky. Alone as we were, there wasn't any need to close our windshield curtains. We watched the moon climb in the sky. I got up once in the night to look around, and it was like daylight out there. So quiet.
The next morning was cool and sunny, blue skies all 'round. Whoa, I looked out our dinette window and saw this black smoke. We didn't hear anything, but China Lake Naval Weapons Station is beyond the hills. The smoke continued and spread eastward in the sky. It looked like a plane had crashed, but, like I said, we heard nothing. Just about the time you think you're alone in the world, bang, a reminder you're not.
We left the site after breakfast, heading for Tehachapi (the -ugh- wind tunnel) and eventually I-5. It didn't take us long to reach Hwy 58, the road to Tehachapi. Meanwhile, we were treated to mountains and flats blanketed with blooms, the yellow you see on the peak above.
And here!
Yellows and purples and masses of white,
but hard to get a great photo at 60mph!
I'd also hoped to stop at Red Rock Canyon, but the entrance came upon us too quickly and we missed the turn in. Nowhere to turn around! Well, okay, two for two: we came, we saw, we almost conquered!
From the road, the place looked stupendous. Maybe next time.
We moved on, with a headwind in our face, through Tehachapi, down to Bakersfield and on to the Baker Museum in Coalinga, a Harvest Host site we used a couple of years ago. After a delicious meal at Los Reyes Mexican Grill, we enjoyed a peaceful night at the museum. No dinosaurs disturbed us. We shared our site with one other camper, a lady from Oregon named Eileen. Always lovely to meet fellow travelers, especially when they become friends!
On toward home the next morning, we endured a vicious headwind, the kind where you feel like you may as well simply pour gasoline straight onto the road. ** sigh **. We made it home late Thursday afternoon in one piece, glad to see the homestead still standing, having sustained no damage from the snowstorm.
Five weeks away, loved it all.
