On Friday, I headed east into the high desert of Southern California. I spent most of the day in Joshua Tree National Park, hiking, birding, exploring.
Of course I had to get a shot of the chair in a Joshua Tree.
I backed up to get another view, and that’s how I accidentally managed to get a photo of the red chair falling out of a Joshua tree.
I parked in the Hidden Valley picnic area and took a stroll around the rock formations.
Notice, if you will, the tiny purple flowers. Remember, this is the little Red Chair.
I hiked the trail to Barker Dam because the ranger at the visitor center told me there was a little water there and birds congregated. There was water — a tiny pool of gross, stagnant water — and there were birds too. I saw Black-chinned Sparrows, House Finches, Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Bewick’s Wren, Cactus Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Gambel’s Quail, Common Raven, Gray-headed Junco, and Phainopepla.
A sign claimed that these pictographs were real but that vandals had outlined them with paint.
How to become a tourist attraction in four easy steps.
First, acquire a small red chair.
Second, bring that chair to an area where there are a lot of tourists, such as the Keys View overlook at Joshua Tree National Park.
Third, have the courage to walk out in front of all those tourists and place the chair in an exposed position, then take photos.
Fourth, be willing to explain what you’re doing to a steady stream of people.
I could hear several people in the crowd — there were perhaps 40 people at the overlook while I was there — talking about me as I took these photos. When I walked back up to the overlook, a woman asked me the story behind the chair. Others gathered around to listen. A few minutes later, another woman called me over. She said her friend hadn’t heard my explanation, and could I explain it to him. Then, after I repositioned the chair and took some more photos, a third group corralled me and asked. Everyone was very nice and seemed to find it interesting, even when I explained that there really wasn’t any significance to what I was doing apart from the fact that I’m easily bored and easily amused.
As for the view, I’m standing on top of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, looking generally southwest across the Coachella Valley. In the photo above, the Salton Sea can be seen in the left distance. Palm Springs would be visible across the valley in the other photos if it weren’t for the haze.
I stopped again near Skull Rock and climbed around for a while.
One outcropping, in particular, seemed to scream for a rock stack, so I obliged.
I also stopped at the Oasis of Mara. The drought had dried things up and the palm trees were dying.
