Cowboys and Constellations

Today, Chris came out to the desert and we decided to check out Pioneertown! Pioneertown was founded in the 1940s as a motion picture set and town in which people could live at the same time. What appeared on the exterior as a 19th century Old West town really housed bowling alleys, living quarters for actors, and ice cream parlors. Over fifty films and several television shows were filmed in Pioneertown in the 1940s and 50s, and although the town is no longer used as a movie set, people continue to reside there today.

When we arrived, we went to get lunch at Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace, a longtime club and landmark built within one of the original Pioneertown sets. Musicians such as Robert Plant have graced the stage at Pappy & Harriet's, and Eric Burdon is one of its regular patrons.

These glass bottles are embedded in the brickwork of an exterior wall of the building. That's the sun shining in!

Bluegrass band. And cute little girls dancing.

An old soundstage from the movie days.

Morbid much?

My new friend! I know you're (probably?) grossed out, but you shouldn't be. Also, I know Chandler will (probably?) never read this, but…I'm sorry, Chandler…the pig reminded me of you…and how much I miss you!

  

Down at the O.K. Corral

This is an acting troupe called "The Pioneertown Posse"-- they put on Old West skits on weekends on Mane Street (yes, Mane Street) in Pioneertown.

I think the desert has the most beautiful sunsets.

Outside Pappy & Harriet's

Next on our agenda was a star party! We went to the home of ambient and electronic musician Clive Wright just outside Joshua Tree National Park, where there were telescopes set up for stargazing, as well as a projector. Unfortunately, it was a pretty overcast night, so the stargazing aspect of this party was a little lacking. Fortunately, there was also the live music of Paul Bonser/Primer and Clive Wright, which was really cool.

Friends in Los Angeles!

Today I drove into Los Angeles to visit with Scott and Erik! They had flown out to San Francisco from New York a few days earlier, and then caught a quick flight down to Los Angeles, and were visiting family and touring some colleges in California.

We had good food and drinks and had a really great time just hanging out in Century City. While I love seeing friends from back home, it's hard for me when they leave -- it really makes me miss home!

“Once again there was the desert, and that only.”

Raining Like Crazy in the Desert

Skyline Kicks My Butt

This evening, Chris and I decided to do some hiking on the Skyline Trail in Palm Springs. We were aware that the tram at the top of the Skyline Trail was closed for maintenance, but, I think because maybe we're nuts, we figured that if we made it to the top, we would just turn around and hike back down. No big deal, right? We didn't get started until around 6pm or so -- it's still very hot (100+ degrees) in the desert during the day.

Mt. San Jacinto surrounded by clouds…so beautiful.

This is the "proper" start of the Skyline Trail, which begins behind the Palm Springs Museum. I'd never been here before, as the times that I have hiked Skyline in the past, we've always started at the North Lykken Trial and then met up with the Skyline Trail after a few miles.

We came across big horn sheep a few times. Every time that we saw them, there were more of them. They move incredibly fast on the steep rocky terrain of this trail!

Palm Springs at night

We climbed to the 4,300ft marker (only halfway up!) and turned around to head back down. This was so exhausting for me! I haven't really done any serious hiking in over a month and it shows. I think that, if the tram was running and we could've ridden it back down in the morning after reaching the top, I might have been more open to the idea of going up the rest of the way. But hell no. Not tonight.

Back in Twentynine Palms Again!

Another mural…this one talks about a pioneer family, the Bagleys, who arrived in Twentynine Palms in 1927 and were vital to the development of the community through their decision to open up a general store which soon became the center of the town, offering many goods and services, as well as a place for people of the community to socialize.

Back to Carlsbad…and New York…

We woke up yestserday morning in Visalia and made the final leg of our drive back to Carlsbad.

Something is on fire?

When we returned the rental car, we discovered that we had driven 3,184 miles in our two weeks with the car. Not bad! 

We went to dinner at The Australian Grill in Carlsbad and shared a lamb burger and a kangaroo burger. They were both really delicious! When we were walking back to the house, we happened upon this week's "Flick at the Fountain" -- Ghostbusters. We watched for a little while but went home to go to bed because we had an early morning ahead of us.

We got up extra early today and walked down to the beach to see the sunrise. It was beautiful and foggy and hard to tell where the water ended and the sky began, as if the two were seamlessly connected. It was very quiet and surreal.

We left Carlsbad and drove to San Diego, where we stopped for breakfast and then continued to the airport. I wished that Jordan didn't have to leave, but we did spend a fantastic three weeks together and I know I will see him again soon. I'm sure that leaving was no easy feat after three weeks experiencing so much of the beauty that the west coast has to offer.

At the airport. Bye, Jordan!

Sequoia National Park

When we were deciding on our next National Park destination and Jordan said to me, "I just want to see the biggest tree," I did not know whether we should be looking for redwoods or sequoias. So, I did some research and, it turns out, redwoods are the tallest, but sequoias are the largest by volume. So we headed to Sequoia National Park, home of the largest tree in the world! Sequoias grow only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, between altitudes of 4,500ft and 8,000ft. They are found nowhere else in the world.

This is The Sentinel, a 2,200-year old sequoia which weighs 700 tons (more than two fully loaded jumbo jets). It's definitely huge, but is actually just average in terms of sequoias.

Being that, naturally, as you look up at a tree, its apparent size diminishes and it is hard to gauge just how tall it really is (just as things that are far down the street look smaller than they really are, and become apparently larger as you approach them), it is hard to really appreciate the size of a sequoia tree. So, this cement line that goes on as far as you can see in this picture is there to demonstrate how tall The Sentinel is, only you get to understand it in terms of walking distance. I walked it -- it's really tall!!!

The bark of sequoia trees is fibrous and protects the trees from fire. Younger trees with thinner bark are more likely to perish in wildfires, while older trees are generally kept safe from fire by their thick bark. Many of the larger trees have bark that envelopes older, black bark that has previously been through fire (see photos above). The tree in the righthand photo did not make it, but the tree to the left is still going strong. Also, the photo in the middle of is of a young sequoia pinecone. Fire actually helps to dry these out and causes them to release their seeds. Fire can be a good thing in forests.

Hangin' out in a tree

General Sherman -- with a volume of 52,500 cubic feet, this is the largest tree on earth! At 275ft tall, General Sherman has grown to its maximum height, but will continue to grow in width every year (until it dies). Its current circumference at ground level is approximately 103ft. General Sherman is 3,200 years old and weighs in at 1,325 tons (almost twice the weight of The Sentinel)!!!

Part of a limb that General Sherman lost back in 2006.

No big deal

Deer!

The trees have interesting names.

Those are baby sequoias towards the bottom left and center of this photo. They start off growing tall and skinny, and then grow wide (like people)! All the trees in this photo are sequoias at various stages of growth.

Wowzers

We went to Moro Rock, where we climbed 350 steps up to an elevation of 6,725ft. The views were spectacular!

The most beautiful part of the day! Just kidding. In 'N Out Burger. You have to have to have to go when you are in California. You have to. We stayed overnight in Visalia, and it generally sucks there. Well, all the people we encountered were sucky. Sorry if you live in Visalia and don't suck, but I think you probably do.