Who can resist heading out on a fancifully named road? How about Christmas Tree Pass? What if it’s recommended that you drive a 4 x 4 and you own a big brawny (who snickered?) Honda CRV named Smiley?
Of course you would.
It wasn’t 100% agreed but since the steering wheel was on my side we went up the road anyway. Rough, dusty and rutted but Smiley grinned and bore it. Actually Smiley had no choice – he has a permanent grin.
Not so herself when I’m having rally moments on the back roads.
We climbed the canyon in the middle background of this picture as far as we could but it became too steep:
We returned to wonder at the glyphs and recorded a few that didn't include some (modern) idiot's inintials:
Then we set off to the right of Grapevine Canyon and found a delightful wash between some very dissimilar rock formations.
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| Yes - I am standing up straight |
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| Who walked here? |
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| Try to make it look easy Honey. No problem - it was easy. |
More desert blooms appeared:
This was a moderate hike with all sorts of plant life to dress up the place. And a little wildlife as well:
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| Finally fast enough to catch a shot of one of these guys |
Since we were already 2 miles into a 12 mile road I felt we were committed to finish it. Norene said that I should be committed which I took to be agreement. Because of this we finally found the reason for the road’s name. No cgi here:
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| These decorations appear every year even though the authorities take them down. |
If you focus on the centre of this picture you can see the developing wings Norene spotted…
And almost at the crest of the pass we encountered real trees.
Come back here? Absolutely! As a matter of fact – in a couple of days….
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