Joshua Tree NP History

Today’s hikes took us on a one-mile loop hike to the Barker Dam — an ephemeral pool that was dammed to collect more water when cattle were grazed in the area. As the climate dried, cattle grazing was abandoned, but the dam remains making for a watering spot for birds and big horn sheep.

After lunch in the van, we walked a mile or so out into the desert to the Key’s stamping plant. A stamping plant is where the gold (or other precious metal) is removed from ore by crushing the ore into small bits and mixing it into a slurry with mercury so that the gold particles can be removed. In addition to the old equipment at the plant, there are a number of old cars left to rust and rot in the desert.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)