March 13, 2019 Amboy Crater, Mohave National Preserve, California

60's, sunny and very windy.

Just south of Amboy are the salt mines. Huge dried lake beds of salt. Not sure what they use the trench full of water for but it looks cool.  We parked the bus at Amboy Crater, just outside of Amboy, Calif. The crater is actually a cinder cone which spewed a fine spray of lava up into the air and it hardened before it hit the ground and made a HUGE pile of the cinders. There are lava fields all around it. In the parking lot we met Susan who hiked around it with us. She is from Canada and traveling with her son in a van around the SW for the winter. They are driving a beater van, they decided to drive it till it falls apart, then take their backpacks and head home. 

Sign on the way to the crater. HEAT warning. Hiking is not recommended. In the summer the black lava absorbs the heat it is too hot to hike to the crater then. But today the temperature was only in the 60's and it was very windy, not too hot. Sand verbena and white chicory flowers. The lizard blends right in with the lava-he is hard to see. There were fields of desert golds blooming. 

Desert gold in front of the vista north. When we got closer to the crater you could see that it has vegetation growing up the side, mostly desert golds.  

You hike around the crater to the back where a huge explosion blew the side out and you can hike into it. John heading in. The inside bottom is a dry lake bed. 

I wanted to hike all the way around the crater so we kind of went cross country. John with desert golds.  

Field of desert gold. They really stand out next to the black lava. Tiny plant getting ready to bloom in the lava, An ammo can that says This is art! on the side. It is some kind of geocache thing, the surface of the lava and purple mat flowers.  

Desert gold and shadows on the side of the crater. John standing on piles of huge rocks with tiny daisies growing between them.  

Crossing the lava beside the crater. Two different surfaces of the lava, a spiny thing and the little crypanthia's back lit.  

The sun back lighting the vegetation on the crater. The plants grow in the channels the water runs in, so weird designs of the plants.  

Sand verbena,  White evening primrose, sand verbena. 

Sand verbena, white evening primrose and more. We are parked in the free BLM dispersed camping area, actually at the crater parking lot. It was nice of them to provide these nice picnic tables for our dining pleasure.  

Sunset looking east over Amboy, you can see the lights and sunset looking west. the beginning of the new masterpiece. It has kokopeli in the center with blue magnetite and red coral beads, blue magnetite bears and dyed needles.