On Tuesday and Wednesday this past week, I camped in Jawbone Canyon and rode my motorbike around there and the adjacent Red Rock Canyon State Park. I was just expecting to explore the dirt/sand roads and trails, but there were so many wildflowers in bloom that I must have spent almost as much time with the bike on its kickstand, and me looking for good photo shots. Here are some of them...
While in Jawbone Canyon, you can't help miss the two pipes that make up the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Here's one of them.
Here's a closer view to give you an idea of the size.
Here's my campsite.
I rode up Last Chance Canyon to get into Red Rock Cyn SP. There was lots of phacelia in bloom at the side of the road.
There were also these purple flowers.
Looking up Last Chance Canyon. It's very sandy but gradually improves as you go up.
Go around a bend and this is what you see.
I guess that is how the park gets its name.
There are lots of small yellow flowers. Everywhere, almost.
It's hard to take close-ups because it's windy and the little things are whipping around like crazy. But a few worked out well enough.
I only saw a few cactus in bloom.
I saw California poppies in only a very small area, and then only a few of them.
Another phacelia. They were all over the place, too.
Phacelia close-up.
Red Rock Canyon State Park has a lot of mining and other resource history. One particularly interesting place is the Burro-Schmidt Tunnel. Here I am parked outside the entrance.
Here's what the plaque says that you can see in the previous photo.
This plaque omits one important fact, that Schmidt had no sense of direction. His tunnel came out in the middle of a very steep slope, nearly a cliff, far from the bottom! If you're in the area, it's well worth a visit. Except for the first few feet, it's high enough for most people to easily walk to the end, about a mile I think. I'm 6'2" and had to duck only a few times. It's in very good shape and gets a lot of visitors. But you'll need flashlights!
Finally, I saw this old building and rode up to take a look. Next to it is a tunnel.
Here's the first few feet of the tunnel. This is as far in as I went. It was only about 4' high.
That's the best of my photos, but if you want some more, you can find them here:
http://www.venturacountytrails.org/R...nSP/_Page.html
Although I didn't visit it on this trip, the Old Dutch Cleanser Mine is really worth seeing as well.
- Steve