Keys Ranch

Thursday, May 13, I took John out to the access point for the trail and he resumed his hike.  It is very windy along this stretch of desert, and it is interesting to see dozens of wind turbines churning out electricity in the desert, with the backdrop of 10,000 feet mountains.  I took a different scenic route back to the campsite and stopped at the visitor center and signed up for a tour of the Keys Ranch for tomorrow.  I then went back to the campsite, reorganized the van (a daily ritual) had dinner and read late. 

On Friday, I spent the morning just hanging out at the campsite, enjoying the scenery, reading and thinking.  I had lunch and went to the Keys Ranch tour.  The Keys family had arrived in the area in about 1910 and lived in what is now Joshua Tree National Park up until the 1960's, and had ranched, done some prospecting for gold, and did whatever they could to survive.  I guess Bill Keys was quite the character, having taken up with swindlers, cattle rustlers, and other n'er do wells, until he met and married his wife, a city girl who (with Bill) had 7 children and made a home out there out of practically nothing.  A great little 1 1/2 hour tour by a wonderful ranger who is a retired biology teacher from Colorado Springs, who knew the names of every little plant and flower on the property (and where to be especially careful of snakes).  Appreciated that.