Geo: 34.1347, -116.312After spending Thursday night in Azusa, CA, enroute to Joshua Tree NP we drove on to the park by way of Interstate 15. Between Banning, CA, and Palm Springs, CA there is a valley with very strong winds and many, many windmills taking advantage of all that free energy. Stopped at a California Welcome Center in Yuca Valley and got some advice from a ranger there about hikes. Drove on to the park and hiked the Queen Mine trail, a trail to the ruins of a series of abandoned gold mines. One information sign indicated that over 4,000 ounces of gold had been extracted from the mines. Lots of old mine entrances were all around the mountains there. All had been blocked off with screens to prevent entry and injury to sightseers. PHOTO_ID_
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