A beautiful high desert hike started our day. Once a little cactus issue was resolved, a good time was had by all! We were in sweat shirts by the end of the hike and the dogs had a blast running with Danette and Brads dogs.
Trona Pinnacles and Searles Lake bed.
Massive run off from the Sierra Nevadas created a series of interconnected lake during the Pleistocene Ice Ages (from 1 million to 11,000 years ago). One of those huge lakes was Searles Lake which is currently the site of the Trona or tufa Pinnacles which formed underwater on the lakebed from 10,000 to 100,000 years ago. This area was our destination this afternoon. The 500 pinnacles are amazing structures up to 140 ft high and 40 feet wide. They were created by the mixture of calcium carbonate in ground water, the alkaline lake water and some algae. Today the lake bed is a major source of trona the raw material refined into soda ash: which is used to make glass, paper products, boric acid, salt cake and laundry detergents including the borax of Muleteam Borax Fame.
A wonderful day ended with a drive into another outstanding sunset and visit to the BLM Ridgecrest Wild Burro and Horse Corrals. This program manages wild burro and horse populations (to avoid overgrazing and maintain herd health) bringing excess populations in from Federal Managed Lands, vets them, and finds homes for them or they go into long term holding where they fed and cared for.
An amazing day ended with an excellent Mexican meal at a local restaurant. Many many thanks to our hosts Danette and Brad for your hospitality and allowing us to share your amazing residence and showing us the beauty of the area!!! We leave tomorrow for Twenty Nine Palms, CA and our hotel outside Joshua Tree National Park. Until then good night!
