The Wagonteamster Channel has it’s first video production - Journey To the Valley Of the Wild Horses

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10/18/12, S. Haiwee Reservoir, CA (Coord.  N. 36 deg, 23.608 min; W. 117 deg, 58.423 min)

As I continue my southward trek, I’m now encountering several species of desert plants, normally seen in the lower deserts of the Southwest. It was a relatively short day, of travel as the lads and I decided to call it quits, fifteen miles further down the road.

I’ve now moved to a latitude similar to that of Las Vegas, NV. With the current altitude of 3600 feet above sea level, Joshua Trees began to appear in the landscape. They are a welcome change from a sea of sagebrush and salt bush.

South of Owens Lake is the town of Olanche.  Spotting some nice shady cottonwood trees and some green grass alongside the road, I pulled the lads over for an early lunch.  Later, at a gas station in town, I finally flushed the last of the super-chlorinated water from the wagon water tank that I put in it while in Independence, CA.

As I continued south out of town, the landscape began to appear more like a desert.  The Sierra Nevada Mountains are lower and not near as rugged as the peaks farther north. I also spotted my second desert plant, creosote brush. This hardy desert plant dominates the flora in the lower deserts of the Southwest.

Creosote brush is now competing with Salt Bush and Sagebrush as a ground cover.

I had a great idea for a camping spot tonight, but things didn’t exactly go as planned.  About 3:30 pm, the lads and I were starting to get a little pooped, so I looked for a place to pull off for the evening. The GPS showed a road leading back to the Haiwee Reservoir, so I thought it might be a chance to once again camp near some water. After navigating my way around a cattle guard that required me to unhitch the team and roll the wagon across, I started down the road.

About 1/2 mile down the road and still a 1/2 mile short of the Reservoir, I found that the road turned private and had a locked bar across it. Retracing my steps halfway back to the highway, I made camp alongside the back road and called it quits for the night.

With an adequate supply of wagon water, a bale of alfalfa and a place to lay down, the Amigos could have cared less whether I made the Reservoir or not.  They were just happy for some good feed and rest.

In retrospect, things worked out okay.

Tomorrow morning, I have to re-negotiate my way around the cattle guard before I continue my journey southward. Oh well, at least I have a morning chore to get my blood flowing.