Beauty and the Bleak.

At first glance the desert is empty and barren. The life you do find there is more precious for it.

See over 2000 more photos selected in the I love the desert! pool on flickr

The Mojave desert is place where it’s still possible to get away from civilization and enjoy solitude. The days can be brutally hot, but when the sun gets low on the horizon, the temperature begins to drop quite quickly. Some of the coldest nights I’ve ever spent have been out on the desert in the summer.

Night also brings the stars. The desert sky is huge, and without the light pollution of cities and towns, you can see the Milky Way. …

Thunderstorms out on the desert are a sight to behold. The sky becomes very dark and lightning splits the sky. The sky above you may be clear, and you may be standing in the sunlight watching a huge black mass of thunderheads pouring hail onto the desert floor a mile away. …

The desert holds many mysteries: roads that go nowhere, strange little buildings seemingly without purpose, petroglyphs and ruined settlements, odd lights in the night sky, and hermits who only wish to be left alone.

If you know what you’re looking at, you can see mountain ranges sinking into the playa as great, alluvial fans carry away the soil and rocks from their summits and lay them at their feet. It’s possible to look back in time a million years. …

That’s from something called Experience Project

In the S.W. USA “dispersed camping” is allowed on most National Wilderness land. Simply put up your tent anywhere you please.

Sir I love the freedom, Sir.

If you’re sleeping for free in a vehicle, my parents call it (for some reason) “boondoggling”.