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Ridgecrest
If you're interested in petroglyphs, some of them dating back 3,000 years,
you'll find over 100,000 ancient rock art drawings in Little Petroglyph
Canyon on the China Lake Naval Weapons Center. One catch: most of the
base is off limits to visitors. Fortunately, MA-TURANGO MUSEUM (100 E
Flores Avenue; 760/375-6900) offers special docent-led tours up the canyon.
Scraped into the dark desert "varnish" of sunburnt rocks, the
art work fairly dances in the shimmering desert sun. Other attractions
near Ridgecrest include Fossil Falls, a now-dry, water-sculpted chasm
that once linked several massive lakes of the Pleistocene epoch; Pinnacles
National Natural Landmark, tufa spires created by geothermal springs in
the depths of now-dry Searles Lake; the Randsburg and Johannesburg mining
districts, where a few antique shops nestle in the midst of hundreds of
abandoned mines; and the deeply eroded, color-banded cliffs and canyons
of Red Rock Canyon State Park. For information on all these areas, contact
Ridgecrest Visitors Bureau (760/375-8202 or 800/847-4830).
STAR WATCHING: THE AGELESS DESERT PASTIME
;.. Desert travelers, especially in the remote Mojave Desert region
where "light pollution" from cities is virtually nonexistent,
often forget to bring one simple item that makes any desert trip
more enjoyable: a star chart. Out here you'il see stars as you
may never have seen them before so many that you may have trouble
recognizing even familiar, simple constellations as they swim
through a truly milky Milky Way.
Many charts show horizon latitude; this can vary in North America,
from latitude 30° at St. Augustine, Florida, for example,
to latitude 50° for Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. for the
Mojave, you'll want to reference latitude 35°. Otherwise you'll
be looking for stars, especially in the southernmost and northernmost
regions of the sky, that may be below your horizon. Most of the
sky, however, is the same. Some experienced desert travelers bring
a folding chaise longue or lightweight cot so they can lie on
their backs and watch the show. Look for planets traveling through
the zodiac constellations along a line known as the ecliptic (shown
on star charts). But note that you won't find planets themselves
on any star charts because they wander. Five are usually visible
to the naked eye: Venus (the brightest, on the western horizon
at sunset or the eastern horizon at sunrise), Jupiter, Mars, Saturn,
and Mercury.
Although summer heat is intense, some star watchers enjoy the
desert night sky most in the month of August, the time ofthe Perseid
meteors—so named because they occur in the regon of sky
occupied by the constellation Perseus (near Cassiopeia) after
midnight. These showers can get intense, with little zips of light
crossing the velvet black ness so frequently you'll soon quit
exclaiming, "Look, there's a shooting star!" Set your
alarm clock and enjoy the show.
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Baby
