Mohave National Reserve

Between I-15 (to Las Vegas) and I-40 (to Los Angeles), lies a lonely dry desert called the Mohave. We had driven past this before but never stopped, so this year, we decided to see what was at the end of the road - after 20 miles of lonely road, and the end of the pavement, we came to Hole-in-the-Wall Campground. With only a few campers, it was quiet and and the stars at night were wonderful! We hiked the Rings Trail and had to pull ourselves our of a narrow dead end canyon by holding onto rings inbedded in the rock. It was fun!
In the afternoon, we drove 30 miles of dirt road through forests of Joshua Trees, free range cattle on the road, and views of Cima Dome - an almost perfect rounded dome with several cinder cones. We saw many jeeps beginning a weekend adventure on the old Mohave Trail available only for 4 x 4s. Finally, near the end of the day when the shadows are long, we climbed the Kelso Dunes and heard the "singing sands". The sun goes down early here in the west side of the Pacific Time Zone - by 5pm it is dark.