California’s Slinkard Wilderness. Photo by Bob Wick. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 6/15/15.
The small community of Big Pine California is best known as a jumping-off point to popular trailheads in the Eastern Sierra. But just over the pass to the east of town is a dramatic desert landscape visited by few people and full of surprises — the 72,000-acre Piper Mountain Wilderness. The Piper, Sylvania and Inyo Mountains meet in this area of colorful rock formations and vast desert landscapes. One of the northernmost stands of Joshua Trees can be viewed in the northeast part of the wilderness along with sagebrush and piñon-juniper woodlands. Lucky visitors might spot a desert bighorn sheep in one of the canyons. BLM Wilderness Specialist Bob Wick shows here that perhaps the area’s best feature is its night skies. Far from any major towns or other developments, the pristine dark skies reveal seemingly countless stars and bright swath of the Milky Way in a nightly show. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 6/15/15.
California’s North Maricopa Wilderness. Photo by Bob Wick. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 6/15/15.
California’s Kingston Range Wilderness. Photo by Bob Wick. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 6/15/15.
Point Arena Stornetta, part of the California Coastal National Monument. Photo by Bob Wick. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 6/15/15.