Wow, what a day! Drove from Barstow to the Kelso Dunes and took a ramble for a couple of hours. The picture below proves I was there, but making it very far into this vast massif of dunes was, I must admit, beyond us (knees, general old age, limited water supply, and rapidly rising temperatures - both climatically and metabolistically). There is no word for the place other than spectacular.
The Kelso dunes are among those around the world that sing, boom, and hum, the mysterious granular orchestra which is much-studied but not really understood (conflicting views on this remakable phenomenon will probably be the subject of a future post). Our great triumph was to clamber well up the first great rampart of sand to fresh and essentially unvegetated dunes, find a slip face down which small avalanches were flowing, and hurtle down it - great booming noises arose from the sand! This was only the second time I'd heard this, and a first for my wife. I would describe the sounds as like those of a tuba (perhaps since I used to play one) or a bass bassoon, absolutely bizarre and wonderful.
For anyone visiting the dunes, a short drive afterwards to the old Kelso railroad depot, once a major stop on the Union Pacific Railroad, is a must. With a fascinating history, the place has been lovingly and inspiringly restored - and, in addition to the superb exhibits (including a recording of dunes spontaneously booming) there is a great soda counter which serves the most refreshing iced tea in the world. And don't miss the shop. Stocked with an extraordinary selection of books on the natural history of the region, it's run by Julia Cronk, the Area Manager for the Mohave National Preserve and a retired grader driver (folk to whom we owe a great deal - see my "Rippled Roads" post). Julia describes how she never had a chance to fully enjoy her lifelong love of books until she set up the shop - and her dedication really shows.
And, to end the way our walk in the dunes ended - we startled a jackrabbit which, after briefly freezing, took off across the sand. My desperate attempt to track it with my camera turned out to be successful.
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