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A Mojave Desert Image Diary
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A Mojave Desert Image Diary

Photos from the fringe

Jonathan P. Thompson
Jan 14
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Note: For best photo-viewing results, please visit this post at LandDesk.org. The images in this email are compressed to avoid clogging up the inter-tubes, which renders them a bit fuzzy.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.

The Mojave Desert is a weird and wondrous place—if such a large expanse even can be considered a “place” at all. The sheer vastness warps a Mojave wanderer’s sense of time and space; one could spend an entire lifetime attempting to reach a distant range on the horizon. The desert provides sanctuary to misfits and eccentrics. It lures, it deceives, it fosters dreams and crushes them, too.

I spent the last several days in the Mojave, mostly nestled up against the San Gabriel Mountains on the desert’s southwestern edge in unincorporated Los Angeles County. I think of the area, which includes the cities of Palmdale and Victorville, as Los Angeles’ backside, but not in a derogatory way. It’s L.A.’s sacrifice zone, a land of gravel pits and transmission lines, cement factories and power plants, sprawling subdivisions and prisons, and anthropoid Joshua trees waving their crazy arms at the blazing sunset. But it also provides a refuge from L.A. and its outrageous housing prices, crowds, car-focused culture, and $15 fried egg sandwiches. When I’m in that part of the desert, strolling among the cacti and mesquite, I fail to wrap my mind around the fact that 13 million people live just the other side of a small mountain range.

Our time visiting the area finished, I drove back across the Mojave to St. George, Utah, stopping along the way to capture images of what I saw. This is a diary of the trip.

Sunrise near Llano, California. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Seedpod on Holcomb Ridge, Llano, California. T-Rex in Littlerock, California.
A fishing area on the California Aqueduct near Pearblossom, California. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Land scorched by the 2020 Bobcat Fire, which began on the edge of greater Los Angeles and burned all the way over the San Gabriel Mountains before reaching its way into the desert. It burned 115,000 acres. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
A tree burned in the Bobcat Fire. Valyermo, California. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Detritus seen between Lake Los Angeles and El Mirage, California. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch just off of Route 66, Oro Grande, California. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Royal Hawaiian Motel. Baker, California. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, Ivanpah, California. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Along the Joshua Tree Highway between Nipton and Searchlight, Nevada. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Lake Mead’s stark bathtub ring is growing. As of Jan. 14, the lake’s surface level was 1,066 feet, about 150 feet lower than in 2001. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Jonathan P. Thompson photo.

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Read more about off-grid living in the Mojave, solar power developments, and more:

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An announcement: Woah. What?! This dispatch marks the one-year anniversary of the Land Desk’s launch. That’s right, the Land Desk is now a one-year-old. Over the last 12 months we’ve posted nearly 150 dispatches on myriad topics relating to the lands, communities, and cultures of the Western U.S., and will continue to do the same over the next 12 months. Your support has made it all possible and I hope you’ll continue to be part of the…
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4 months ago · 5 likes · 4 comments · Jonathan P. Thompson

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John Buckley
Jan 14

Nice road trip pics. Keep posting these as you make them.

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