Sunday, December 7 we leave the oranges. I must say I’ve enjoyed the color and all the roundness. I wait until Sunday because I figure if Owl Canyon is a busy place on the weekend, folks will be leaving now.
We drive by Tahachapi and the windmills on the mountains, and deeper into the California desert area, past Mohave, and finally near Barstow where I take Irwin road and make my way to the Rainbow Basin area and Owl Canyon Campground.
There are thirty-something sites and 3 of them have vehicles in them. We set up camp! We walk, we talk to one of the neighbors. So far I see nothing eye-popping about the area. No rainbow colors in this campground, but there are interesting rock formations, it’s nicely set up, only $3 a night with my senior pass, and it’s quiet. There is a nice trail I’d like to walk soon.
During the night the almost full moon shines down on us and really illuminates things. I listen for owls and coyotes but I don’t hear anything. Nothing at all….except, a strange far away slow thumping…almost like a very slow heartbeat. Honestly, that’s exactly what it reminds me of.
The neighbor I talk to tells me that it does get busy here on the week end sometimes, even Boy Scout groups come here.
Today I plan to explore Sawtooth Canyon about 30 miles from here, and stop at the Barstow BLM office for more information. My plan is to be in this area for Christmas, but there are rules about length of time one can stay at a BLM area and how far one must go away if one wants to stay in another BLM area, and how long one must stay away from an area before coming back.
Sunset. My IPad camera doesn’t quite grasp the vibrancy of the colors
Oh, the other wonderful thing about Owl Canyon is that I have internet and phone reception!
Wandering Spirit 
Owl Canyon sounds like a place I would like to visit sometime!
As part of your upcoming travels do you have any plans to visit the Mojave National Preserve?
Thanks for bringing Mojave National Preserve to my attention. I saw an information office in town today and I may go back and stop in. Don’t know if I’ll camp there though…I’ll need to look into it. From what I’m hearing the wind really kicks up in these parts come January. I hope to be in the Barstow area till after Christmas or New Years, and then move on, possibly to Joshua Tree National Park or on into Arizona. But anything could happen!
Joshua Tree N.P. could be rather cold starting now and into January. The High/Low last year in December was 71 °F /21 °F and in January 2014 it was 72 °F /29 °F. I stayed there for a week during December of 2009 and got snow, not a lot but snow none the less.
Well, that 21 and 29 degrees business doesn’t sound very good. Looks like I may need to change my plans yet again! Where are you these days Ed?
Just click on my name in these Comments and it will take you to my blog which answers the “Where are you” question. I’ll only be here another couple of days however so you need to do it again late in the afternoon on 11 December to see where I am at then. HA
The 21 and 29 degree lows are only a problem if the days are really cold as well. Sometimes in the desert it can be comfortable in the daytime and drop down quite a bit at night. If the twenties are the lows but the highs are in the 30s then I think I’d find a different place to be. That’s the nice thing about carrying your home around with you. You can move if you don’t like the weather!
Hi Reine,
So then are people finding that with Casitas, 20’s at night are ok if it gets warm during the day? Pipes don’t freeze? I’d be ok inside, my main concern is for the pipes. 🙂
Oh yes Reine, I will definitely find a different place to be of the highs are in the thirties! 🙂
Hi Ed, ok when I click on your name I did see where you are, but just so you know after a few seconds your blog gets covered with, or changed to, a whole page of apps and I can’t get you back. I’ve tried it three times now.
I have never heard from anyone else that this was happening. What browser and what operating System are you using? When you say a page of apps I really don’t know what you mean. I have so few apps on my laptop, and many of them are turned off, that those in ‘know’ would laugh. Does it look like the Start Page from Windows 8 or 8.1?
Sorry that you can not read my postings. To be honest you rarely miss anything of much importance. It is my daily notes to me that I can refer to from time to time and see if I am more /less sane now than in the past.
Hi Ed. I don’t know what it is but I just tried again two more times. I’ve never had this happen before. I did get to see that you moved. :-). Then it goes right into these game apps ads. Hard to get rid of today too. I had to completely shut down my IPad to make the app page go away.