El Vergel
Nomad
Posts: 197
Registered: 8-27-2003
Location: San Felipe - Puertecitos Rd., Km. 35 and Santa Mon
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Landers, CA
I got to hang out in Landers for a day and night. Landers is north of Yucca Valley. It's draw are the beautiful outdoors, some strangeness, lots of
open space and....well, pictures are worth a thousand words, so here we go!
We cruised out of the O.C. (Orange County, CA) early Saturday morning. Rigged up for what may be the final Road Trip of 2011. We found ourselves out
in the middle of nowhere. While we thought the desolation was perfect and with no one around, we settled in and did the R&R thing for a while.
About a two hour drive from home port to the camp.
Of course, little did we know, others were far ahead of us in this game. I jumped upon the hill to discover fellow campers....sharing in the vibe!
I guess the area is a popular urban escape spot. For recreation, visitors take aim at targets (bottles and cans, other things) less than 20 feet away,
to shoot firearms. For fun. As a lover (not a fighter) and a pacifist, I don't get it. But I value true openness and tolerance...so we got to listen
to gunshots most the day we were in camp.
For a fun respite, we went for a Sound Bath at the Integratron. Very cool!
Wow! I'm definitely gonna do this again. How relaxing, rejuvenating and b-tchen a feeling I got out of that!
The grounds are awesome and the structures reminded me of my construction campaign I've had in Baja...for the last 30 or so years!!!
Once out of there, we opted to see the Big, Jumbo or Giant Rock that must be a true hot spot. Evidently, this is a draw for many. Even those of us who
may have a thing for tagging, or dune buggying, or hangin' out drinking....with guns... , I like it!
I was thankful to be a very lucky man. 
After the big rock, we cruised the "runway". I believe it was built to provide a place for extraterrestial transportation methods (spaceships) to
land. 
We took in downtown Landers to fetch bebidas and snacks.
Then went back to camp to party the RV a bit The next morning we woke to
the shotgun alarm clocks and took off for a hike up "Goat Mtn."
Killer views of an awesome desert!
...then back to check out the Big, Jumbo, Giant Rock again...this time sans the crowds.
Awesome Rock! We scratched camp and headed for the homestead, but not without stopping for a date shake and lunch with leftover camp grub!
After crawlin' back to my crib in beautiful Santa Monica and chasin' a storm, the entire weekend was proven to be memorable. I will do Landers again!
A great contrast to the City of Angels!...and a wonderful way to get out of town!
Best regards, and Peace to all! Happy Holiday Season!
[Edited on 12-1-2011 by El Vergel]
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
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Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
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Thanks for this post. Great pics. I don't know what draws me to places like this. So barren and beautiful. I've been exploring the desert areas of
Arizona and Utah for the past few years.
And yes, you are a very lucky man!
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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
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Registered: 8-9-2009
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Mood: Suicide Hot line ... please hold
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Great little place to get away... thanks for sharing.. great shots..
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David K
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That was really good trip report stuff Vern! I guess you found your 'Inner Hippie' out there?! Any lost missions to go with the UFO space port?
Thank you amigo, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
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Landers is kinda cool. It gets a bit of snow in the winter and boils in the summer.
As a desert community, it's been there for quite a while. An area full of five acre homesteads that the government gave away some years back.
It's trying to catch up with the times though.......a few nice homes, rising property values and crime. Just like a vacation house in Mexico....don't
leave anything there you can't afford to lose.
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
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Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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reminds me of 4 wheeling in Yucca Valley/29 Palms. we'd get into some really outta the way places and always heard the gunshots, too! cool trip!
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DianaT
Select Nomad
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Registered: 12-17-2004
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Than you---that was great. It has been many, many years since I was in that area----we need to go. I am guessing that it is even more isolated
during the middle of the week, I hope.
Thanks for sharing what looked like a great weekend for you and your family.
[Edited on 11-24-2011 by DianaT]
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David K
Honored Nomad
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I am wondering how many Nomads came to earth, at Landers?
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
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Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
I am wondering how many Nomads came to earth, at Landers?
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I think MrBill lives in Yucca Valley. Does that count?
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ddawson
Nomad
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Location: Hilo
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Very cool post. I saw a recent episode of Anthony Bourdain in Landers and he visited the Integratron. I've been wanting to go check it out.
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durrelllrobert
Elite Nomad
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Location: Punta Banda BC
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Mood: thriving in Baja
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not BAJA nomads but....
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
I am wondering how many Nomads came to earth, at Landers?
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The fabled Giant Rock had attracted the first native nomads hundreds of years before settlements rose from the dusty ground. The
granite stone and surrounding ground had been held as holy ground by the Native Americans. It is reported that the Hopi knew of this rock and joined
other tribes across the desert to convene and celebrate the coming seasons. Shaman drew spiritual strength for the tribes through this rock. It is
also said that the magic in the rock represents the heart of Mother Earth. It is also thought to be the world's largest freestanding boulder --- at
about seven stories high and covers 5,800 square feet of ground.
Bob Durrell
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
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Location: Redding, Northern CA
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I used to fly into Giant Rock back in the '60's-----in an airplane not a flying saucer. There was a restaurant there back then and a permanent
resident-------I don't see any buildings there in these pics-------are they all gone now??
Great trip report, and photos. Love that area, and "the Rock".
Barry
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Bob H
Elite Nomad
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Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
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This is just a fantastic trip report... here's more info on this Giant Rock (that, now I must put on my bucket list)
Giant Rock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 34.332813°N 116.388723°W
The Giant Rock near Landers, CA
Giant Rock is a large freestanding boulder in the Mojave Desert near Landers, California, that covers 5,800 square feet (540 m2) of ground and is
seven stories high.
In ancient times it was considered sacred by the Native Americans of the Joshua Tree, California, area. In the 1950s it was a gathering point for UFO
believers. It is located on land which was at that time leased by George Van Tassel, a purported flying-saucer contactee and organizer of UFO
conventions.[1] Van Tassel also built the nearby Integratron and a small airport in the vicinity, which he operated from 1947 to 1975. A single large
room, which was subsequently filled in, was dug beneath the rock and resided in by a prospector named Frank Critzer during the 1930s and early 1940s.
Critzer, a friend of Van Tassel's, perished in a self-detonated dynamite explosion in this room on July 24, 1942, while being investigated by local
police.[2] Shortly after the turn of the 21st century, Giant Rock fractured in two, revealing an interior of white granite. The entire exterior
surface of the rock is now reportedly covered in graffiti.[3]
[edit] References
1.^ "Life on other planets: The house the Venusians built". The Independent, UK. May 5, 2006. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
2.^ Ed Ainsworth, Plans For 'Out of This World' Laboratory In Desert Disclosed (Los Angeles Times: June 17, 1954), pg.A1.
3.^ "Life on other planets: The house the Venusians built". The Independent, UK. May 5, 2006. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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Hook
Elite Nomad
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Location: Sonora
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Probably the most interesting, non-Baja trip report I have seen on Nomads.
I gotta ask...........is that a Big Rainbow or a Lemon Oxheart tomato on that sammy???? 
Everything else makes perfect sense.................
[Edited on 11-25-2011 by Hook]
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Bob H
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5867
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Hook
Probably the most interesting, non-Baja trip report I have seen on Nomads.
[Edited on 11-25-2011 by Hook] |
I have to agree!
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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surfer jim
Super Nomad
Posts: 1891
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: high desert
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There is something about this report that makes me want to go there.
Best part is I can start out in Victorville. Have to give it a try.
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