Travelogue

Herb had a list of quirky desert stuff for us to explore today in the Mojave Desert area near Joshua Tree. I think he found them in Atlas Obscura.

Desert Christ Park

Desert Christ ParkThe first stop on his agenda was Desert Christ Park, located on the grounds of the Evangelical Living Hope Church, overlooking the desert town of Yucca Valley.

The idea for this park was conceived in 1951, when a sculptor named Antone Martone, came up with the idea of creating statues out of steel-reinforced concrete. His dream was to place a 10 foot, 5-ton 'resurrected Christ' on the rim of the Grand Canyon. However, when the Grand Canyon wouldn’t accept this gift (because of issues over separation of church and state), he renamed it “the unwanted Christ” and looked for someone to take it. That’s when the Reverend Eddie Garver, entered the picture and offered up his property on the hill above Yucca Valley to display it. Since that first “unwanted Christ,” more than 40 bright-white sculptures portraying the life and teachings of Christ have been added to the property.

Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum

Noah Purifoy Desert Art MuseumContinuing our Mojave Desert art tour, we drove about 20 minutes, some of it on dirt roads, to the Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum in the town of Joshua Tree, where we were greeted by an enthusiastic old woman -- we assumed the caretaker of the property -- who said that she had known Noah before he died in 2004. Wow! That is 17 years of dedication to preserve Purifoy’s works and artistic vision.

Purifoy lived and worked on this 10-acre property from 1989 until his death, creating dozens of assemblage sculptures and installations. He often expressed opinions on social events through his art; being a black artist, social injustice was often a theme.

Noah Purifoy Desert Art MuseumWe spent an interesting and enjoyable hour wandering around, and sometimes into, these large-scale sculptures, or assemblage pieces as he called them, made from junked materials such as burnt wood, castoff metals, old rubber tires, chairs, and bikes, toilets, broken computer keyboards, and apparently whatever else he could get his hands on. I guess, one man’s junk is another man’s art.

Many of the assemblages were in disrepair, which was part of his intention - to display them in their natural environment and let nature take their course on them.I have to admit that although I really liked most of the pieces, there were a few that, in my humble opinion, seemed like something I might come across in the corner of a junkyard, or maybe they were just further along in the process of decay.

In any case, they were very much a part of their surrounding desert environment, which very much added to their impact and our experience interacting with them.

Giant Rock

Giant RockThe last item on Herb’s quirky Mojave agenda was not man-made, but rather a rock - not just any rock though, but a seven story high one covering 6,000 square feet, claimed by many to be the largest freestanding boulder in the world.

Over the years, the rock has attracted scientists studying its electromagnetic forces (a vortex), UFO believers, who believe that the vortex is a portal for celestial spirits, and Native Americans who consider it to be sacred. We came because it is a big rock, like the ones our sons like to climb.

What made the rock even more interesting was the arc-shaped piece in front of it that had split off from the main rock in 2000 revealing a white granite interior. Some say the break occurred due to a bonfire that burned next to the rock, but according to Hopi Prophecy if it split in the middle, mankind would be doomed, but if it split to either side, mankind would have a chance to survive. Whew! Kind of ironic visiting this place during the pandemic.

Herb was feeling pretty smug, having successfully delivered a day full of fun and quirky attractions, but it was not over yet.

Our next destination, and hopefully camping spot, was Rainbow Basin, just north of the town of Barstow.