Milepost 2489:  Red Rock Canyon,  Cantil, CA

Having covered more than 2,400 miles in 8 days, and since we allowed 10 days for this grueling trek from Michigan to California, today we took a day off and visited a state park named for its beautiful rock formations.  Red Rock Canyon is located in the mountains at the west edge of the Mojave Desert.  It was a long-awaited treat for me.

All across the plains and the high plateau and through the mountains I have seen amazing landscapes that I have not been able to really appreciate because we have stayed on the highway, pulling off only for rest stops, fuel stops, and for our camp each evening.  The camera has been tucked away for the most part, only an arm’s length away but inactive.

Today that all changed.  At Red Rocks I was able to realize my hope for a close geographical encounter of the first order.  And to top it off, there was nobody else around for much of the time we spent there, so my photos were not cluttered with somebody else’s stuff.

While I was scrambling around on the rocks with my camera, Kaye found a cute little niche in the rock (or was it a nook?) where she was able to get out her Kindle and read a book.

There are very few places where it is possible to actually set up camp this close to the cliffs, and I was really excited about it.  I had hoped to stay the night at a place like this, but this is a rustic campground, meaning no electricity, meaning no heat in the RV on a night when the temp was dropping into the 30’s.  No boondocking this time.

Late in the day we headed down to a civilized camp where we could plug in and be comfortable.  In my younger years I might have stayed in the mountains for the night, but my blood’s too thin for that now.

Here are a few photos of the sights at Red Rock Canyon.