Red Rock Canyon |
A very slow start. I didn't need to be out of the park until noon, my overnight package was not going to arrive in Mojave until 3:00, and, as you can see, the total mileage to Red Rock wasn't all that far. I added water to 1/2 a tank since there isn't an easy way to fill tanks at Red Rock (threadless faucets) - I do have a water thief, but it really takes two people to make it work.
I arrived at the Mojave Post Office at 12:05, and discovered they shut down for lunch 12:00 - 1:00. I was pretty sure the package had arrived since the USPS tracking said it did even though I was a couple of hours early. Since I had a good Verizon signal,I parked across from the post office, fired up the Jetpack & sat in the truck reading web pages & forums for an hour. They opened right on schedule, and after a bit of searching, found the package. Lots of checking IDs, signing, etc, but I was on my way in about 10 minutes.
The drive from Mojave to Red Rock state park was uneventful (although the drive from Bakersfield to Mojave hit 5000'; I was down to 8.5MPG by the top. Here at the park the altitude is around 2500' and I'm back up to my usual non interstate MPG of around 10.
The actual red rocks are at the entrance to the park so I stopped to photograph a couple. The formations in the campground are not red, but they make a beautiful background to the sites along the back of the loop. I'm in site 28 this trip (I stayed in site 39 in April 2014, and site 10 in February, 2017. The background is a bit nicer in those two sites, however neither has much afternoon shade, something I appreciate since it is currently 87°F. My other visits were in the Winter & Spring where sun was more important. It is still going to get cold tonight; 49°F is predicted.
After depositing my envelope in the "pay here" slot (I've been here 3 different times at different seasons, and have never seen a ranger or found the visitor center open), I fired up the AT&T Mobley modem, and was pleasantly surprised to find a usable internet signal. it is -94dBm with an amplifier, but it did let me post the images I took earlier. As usual, more photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.
Dinner will be a grilled chicken sausage & snap peas.
Hopefully, until tomorrow! -
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