waking up on 5 mile road, Needles, California. Just across the border from Arizona early dawn reflections, still have a lot of hours driving ahead of me let's go, taking the 95 sun's not quite up yet, but how pretty arid landscape no one around prickly looking towards Sheephole Valley wilderness & Joshua Tree National Park pretty, with Umpah and Mopah peaks in the background near Turtle mountainspre dawn colours can be the best especially in the desert pretty pretty Whipple Mountains layers lots of exploring to do Turtle mountain Rice Midland road The Rice Shoe Tree now, this was totally unexpected just there on the side of the road must have been a gas station or something a while back running right along a railway line Iron Mountain pumping plant Joshua Tree national park sort of like the Nullarbor must get so hot out here in Summer along the Palms Highway and a big front approaching Iron Mountain looks like a bit of wind in it as well going right across, west east over Joshua Tree Mojave Desert the 62 part of the Coxcombs mountain, Joshua Tree, again, rock rich country Sheephole valley wilderness and that front moving across Coxcombs Rock Rich Mojave desert, and pretty impressive front moving across and heading towards the sunless side Impressive salt lake near 21 palms Highway 62 ok, so , salt farming in the foreground and snow capped mountain in the background, and you now salt and snow don't mix salt mining in Wonder Valley salt Joshua Tree The salt lake , seen from the Sheephole Mountain pass at the top of Amboy road looking towards Gadz Joshua Tree, looking towards San Bernardino after a late breakfast at Joshau Tree I push on, and I recognize this shape from my plane ride over here last week, check out this photo and see if you can recognize the shapeJohnson Valley and oh my, I saw this as well from the plane ride over last week, but now it has grown The King of Hammertown, It's what I thought was an annual event but it appears they have events on every week end, check out the photo from my flight last weekand this one is huge, as I drove out of here, there was a constant stream of SUV's with trailers carrying dune buggies etcpeople camping all over the place, not just in Hammertown beautiful granite rocks by the way reminds me a bit of Goulburn except without the sheep grazingContinue on towards Los Angeles on the " Old Womens Springs " road..ok ?now up the 18, Silver peak looking don to Lucerne and Johnson valley Eagle flying over Baldwin lake Big Bear Mountain with more snow forecast, and big Bear being only 2 hours drive from Los Angeles, I'm seriously thinking about going ski-ing for a few days take of Big Bear Airport looks good from here and appears to be hardly anyone on the mountain view from Running Springs over Redlands place will have a view Highgrove they will have a view too ok, last hour of driving never seen it so green what a journey, well worth ithere's a satellite photo showing that big band of cloud moving across California