170 miles later, we have driven through the Mojave Preserve, which encompasses most of the Mojave Desert. Our first stop was the Kelso Dunes. The highest of the dunes is about 650 feet tall. What makes them unique is that they are “singing” dunes. When you run down the steep slopes, the dunes make a sound similar to a small airplane flying overhead.
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| people skiing down the dune |
After hiking for a half hour and still feeling miles away from even the bottom of the large dunes, I gave up and took out my camera. We could see people walking along the top ridge. As we watched, they “threw” themselves over the side and skied down the slope. That’s the best way to make the singing sound, so I am just as happy I didn’t hike all the way up- there’s no way I would have thrown myself over the edge. No more broken bones for me, thanks. Paul was able to produce the sound to a lesser degree on a smaller hill, but I didn’t hear it.
We stopped at the visitor’s center before driving through the rest of the park. They had a diner type restaurant there, so we each got a piece of home made pie (a la mode, of course).
This area has been formed and influenced by past volcanic activity and one of the unique results was an accessible lava tube. A lava tube is created when lava cools slowly as it streams across the land. The top of the lava flow cools faster than the lava beneath it, and when the lower lava continues to flow, it leaves behind a tunnel, called a lava tube. There’s a ladder to climb down in order to gain access to the tunnel itself.
We walked the short distance to the end of the tube, where we could see holes in the lava that allowed the sunlight to stream down into the tunnel.
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| end of the lava tube |
We had to drive 5 miles down a dirt road to get to it, but it was worth the trip.
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| Aiken Mine |
After exploring to our heart’s content, we continued down Aiken Mine Rd. until we came to the abandoned Aiken Mine. It’s really more of a rock quarry, and had clearly been abandoned years ago.
It was now getting late in the day and our plan of hiking a few short trails wasn’t going to happen. Instead, we drove on through, enjoying the unique landscape of the Mojave Desert.
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| Cinder Cones-a steep conical hill formed above volcanic vents |
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| unusual shapes dot the landscape |
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| some of the lava is full of air bubbles, making it very light. |
