Northern California High Desert

As the sun began to fall in the sky and the heat began to edge away we made camp. At an elevation of 4600ft the country around us see’s very little rain even though 30 miles away lush forests with plenty of water can be found. This is the high desert country of Northern California. To someone with no experience the country seems bearin, empty and dead. With a day time temprature of 90+ and nights falling to around 30 degrees it is shocking to feel.

The setting sun leaves a beautiful sky. The temp has already fallen to 60 degrees by 9pm as we silently finish our dinner and prepare for bed. Bugs of all kinds appear, moths and dragon flies are all around us, and while moving some equipment boxes we find a scorpion. About the size of a casino chip these are not deadly but they can deliver a sting worse than a bee or wasp. We incidently came across a few during our trip. Thank god none found a home in my sleeping bag or shoes, as many of the old western books tell about. Cowboys used to shake out their boots before putting them on in the mornings. Coyotes serinade us through out the night.

8am finds us a few miles from our camp, center left in this image in the yellow grass. We had spotted some antelope on the hilside I now stand on. Unfortunatly the closest we could get was 800 yards from them. The antelope are fast and have ears and eye sight that is amazing. Easily covering a 1/2 mile in meer seconds they can disappear very fast. they seem to prefer the lower areas of hillsides where the bitter brush is under them and they can run up hill.

Sharing this land with the antelope among other things are the wild burrow and the mustang. Although I missed my opportunity to get images of the wild mustang, these wild donkeys could be found at several places off the beaten path.

These wild animals are neat to watch but do not try to get to close, mostly scared they will keep their distance, but once in a while they will stand their ground. This image taken with a 300mm lens was almost not enough. As animals of the desert they are able to live with it, finding water that most humans never could. and in this land water is a presious comodity.

The next day found us a little damp, An unusual storm blew through with a little moisture and a pleasant over cast day. Loading up on the ATV’s we set out in a new direction and stumbled across some historic areas. The image above shows a panormaic view from our camp 

This sign hidden deep in the bitter brush shows a time and place long forgotten. The old wagon road we followed rough and unused in many years.

Old home steads can be seen in the area. some only ruins and some newer. All have lost it’s people in one manor or another. This one looks to have been lived in and rebuilt a few times although it is empty now,

an old flag torn by the elements still sits here, possibly some body camping as this place can be seen and accessed by a main NFS road near here. The area around the house is green as small springs keep the vegitation watered.

I am not sure exactly what this next image is. a kiln or smoker maybe but if so why the fence?

Our last day we decided to pack up and go west as the saying goes. About 15-20 miles from where we camped we unloaded the ATV’s and set out again. Just a short drive and we are in a place covered in water. The hills yellow and dry but the flats are filled with springs and ranchers in the area have utilized these for cattle and even alfalfa fields. Streams that come out of the ground producing enough water for a city block year round. a totally amazing thing to see in such a dry country. Here, a desert oasis, the large pond is self fed and provides wild animals with water year round

Along this lake are many tracks of animals big and small. Coyote and antelope are often seen here as well as many water foul. Shortly after we returned to the truck and got ready to find some shade so we could have lunch.

At one time this was a railroad depot and the heart of a small town at the edge of the image you can see the rail bed that used to run between Alturas and Susanville. It now serves purpose as a road but as we found out the hard way, there are still bits and peices of the old tracks in it. We happened to pick up a spike in the tire. After putting on the spare we decided we had had enough and headed home.

The last image I took was taken while I was driving and taken through the window. California State Correctional Facility - High Desert State Prison

Not a place any of us would want to be housed in for sure.