Last post was words, this one is (mostly) pix.

Just off I-40, a shabby desert junk pile is overseen by a passing east-bound freight train and a semi going west-bound. Fortunately, these signs of “civilization” are few. Most of the desert is vast and un-cluttered by our trash.

We race another freight up Route 66. (We beat him.) These things are sometimes two miles long. It’s amazing to watch them roll by with unimaginable tons of cargo.

Out in the Preserve, motor vehicles are allowed only on limited roadways. This helps to preserve the desert’s natural state. Sand-washes are tempting as easy 4×4 paths – – but they are blocked to prevent too much depredation of the terrain. Obviously, a warning stake doesn’t dissuade everyone, but the practice of driving steel stakes into the ground every 4 feet or so seems to work well. You’d think they would just pull out of the sandy soil, but they are REALLY in there. Might be some concrete way down at the bottom, or maybe they’re just 10 feet long. Can’t tell. You should be able to click/zoom on this shot.

From a few days ago – this is a fallen Sequoia. The cut half is about 50” across, and the growth rings (closeup near the bottom of the heart-shape) are about 1/16” apart. Doing the arithmetic, the tree turns out to be around 800 years old.