DESTINATION Generic 141 Photosets
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| Hiking | 0.50 Miles |
10 AEG |
| | Hiking | 0.50 Miles | 1 Hour | | 3.00 mph |
| 10 ft AEG | 50 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | On the 7 hour drive to a worksite in California, my neck became sore craning left and right at the mountains and oddities along the lonely highway. One in particular caused me to stop on my way back, having seen the remains of palm trees planted in what appeared to be circles next to the highway.
Desert Center, as I would soon find out, was founded in 1921 by the eccentric "Desert Steve" Ragsdale, a preacher from Arkansas, who built the town from scratch to serve motorists in the middle of nowhere. Now mostly abandoned save for the Post Office, what's left varies from well preserved to completely trashed.
I approached an older man sitting in a pickup truck in the shade of the old market, asking if I could poke around and take pictures. He turned out to be one of Ragsdale's sons, and we talked awhile about the town's fascinating history while I noticed the newspapers and magazines piled high all around him in the cab. A pale brown film covered both he and the past that surrounded him. After 73 years he still called this place home, and you could see the unhurried life in his gaze.
As we parted ways, I thanked him and remembered to ask about the palms - why where they planted in a circle?
He smiled and simply replied, "So people would ask why". |
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The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar.
It was tense. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
