Saturday, November 24, 2012

Day TWO Exploring the Mojave National Preserve.

This morning we first go to Kelso Depot Train Station.

Located 34 miles southeast of Baker, Kelso Depot began operation in 1924 and served as train station, restaurant, and employee housing on the Los Angeles and Salt Lake route of the Union Pacific Railroad. Today, it is Mojave National Preserve's primary information center and museum.

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Kelso Depot has been a town in the past.

The Jail

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Post Office

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Jail again.

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Then off to the KELSO DUNES.

About 42 miles southeast of Baker (7 miles south of Kelso Depot), then 3 miles west on a graded dirt road, Kelso Dunes were created over the course of 25,000 years by winds carrying sand grains from the dried Soda Lake and Mojave River Sink. Nearly 700 feet high and covering a 45-square-mile area, they are among the tallest and most extensive dune fields in the United States.

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Then off to Cinder Cones & Lava Flows

About 16 miles southeast of Baker, Kelbaker Road traverses a 25,600-acre area of lava flows and volcanic cinder cones thought to range in age form 10,000 to 7 million years old. In 1973, the area was designated as Cinder Cones National Natural Landmark.

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Then a short drive to Baker, California home of the worlds largest thermometer.

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Cima Dome & Joshua Tree Forest
Self-guiding trail

The near-perfect symmetry of Cima Dome rises 1,500 feet above the surrounding desert and provides ideal habitat for the world's largest concentration of Joshua trees. Although the top of the dome is located west of Cima Road near the Teutonia Peak Trailhead, this unusual geologic feature is perhaps best seen from a distance.

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Back to the campground in Hole-in-the-Wall campground.

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