well off the beathen path

Lavatube, Mojave National Preserve Originally uploaded by Mastery of Maps I knew it. There had to be cool underground features like these lava tubes & caves out there. Jesse & I searched but did not find. Been out to Mojave Preserve six times. We'll hafta keep looking. Vast spans of Mojave desert encompass historic mines, buildings, railroads, mountain peaks, boulders, joshua trees, pinyon pine forests, caverns and caves, lava tubes, sands dunes, dirt roads and a new, totally restored Kelso train depot - out in the huge triangle of land, east of Barstow . Near Interstate 40, Interstate 15 & the Nevada state line. Way out there in the middle of freakin nowhere near Kelso, Cima & Kelbaker Rd. For best results arrive in day light hours when first visiting this unfamiliar desert region. It's easy to get lost without light or without a GPS. Maps are only as good as the ones you brought and how bright your dome light is in the car. Don't rely on c

View from Grandma's Originally uploaded by prentz This photo is near the small town of Orleans California , deep in the Klamath River Gorge in NorCal. Pam takes such nice shots of this area. The images from this region keep calling me. A serious Northern California road trip is needed.

The Big Catch Originally uploaded by danamight Autumn on the June Lake Loop starts momentarily. Cooler temps mean leaves are turning tonight. The Eastern Sierra is heavenly at this time of year, from Onion Valley to Hope Valley.

Testing out the new Google's Picasa slide show feature on what else but some beautiful California lake photos. Some of which I could barely locate on Google Maps. There is a cool "location" tag so the photographer can pinpoint exactly where the shot was taken. What is funny to me is often the lake, nor the dirt road to access it, is even on the interactive maps. Just goes to show you MapQuest, Yahoo & Google Maps are not always accurate. Best to buy a real map from Total Escape, if you really wanna get there!

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words & I truly believe that people are visual beings - that love to look at photos. Since Total Escape has been traveling & documenting California for well over a decade & my lil Nikon Coolpix just died, after much use & abuse, I decided to organize my thousands images online for your sheer enjoyment & education. Over the next few months, I will be uploading tons of awesome California camping destinations, featuring Total Escape Adventures guided trips & some of the research road trips too. Look for the links in the descriptions to lead you back to Total Escape, where you can locate these hidden spots & buy the maps to get your asses out there. And Flickr is such a great online application, so you should get your own free account too. Check out the backroads of California thru cyberspace. http://www.flickr.com/photos/danamite