2016 was just a total joke of a year and I was glad it was over, 2017 has been much better and full of adventures.
January started off recuperating from an sudden illness that happened in mid-December and during this time I started planning a trip up to Vancouver, WA the end of February to visit family and purchase my new adventure vehicle, a 2017 Subaru Outback.
As a trip I have taken on my motorcycle before I wished to explore the El Paso Mountain area at a slower pace and take my larger camera with me. This happened a few weeks ago and I had such a fun time exploring I will return again as there are so many additional sights that I could not visit in one day.
The trails took me from Red Rock Canyon State Park through the El Paso Mountains finally exiting close to the old gold mining town of Garlock. This west to east trail can be traveled in either direction and has many side trails leading to other areas.
Park Map
At the end of May I decided to head out to Joshua Tree National Park to visit the Old Dale Mining District on BLM land that is located just outside the northeast portion of the park. Joshua Tree National Park is an environmental melting pot where 2 desert ecosystems meet, the Mojave Desert to the north and west and the Colorado Desert to the south and east. The Mojave Desert ecosystem consists of boulder stacks with pinyon pines, junipers and scrub oaks and the famous joshua tree. The Colorado Desert ecosystem in contrast consists of creosote, spidery ocotillo and jumping cholla cactus. Jumping cactus or teddy bear cactus got its name from the fact it tends to stick to anything within its range and is very painful to remove from the skin.
TVP Journeys 
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