On top of the world

The smell of wetted dust and wetted sagebrush in a desert thunderstorm is a fragrance more packed with associations than the most romantic of flowers. — Wallace Stegner, The Sound of Mountain Water

Keys View is a popular destination with Joshua Tree National Park that’s perched on the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains. When you hike to the top of Keys View, you get a clear view of the Coachella Valley, the San Andreas Fault, as well as seeing the Salton Sea. According to park rangers, when air was less polluted, you could even see a glimpse of Mexico from that little area.

This was my second visit to Keys View and it still gave me chills like the first visit did. It’s so surreal being on top of that mountain and seeing everything below. Being on top of Keys View is probably (for me, at least) the closest thing I’ll get to feeling like I’m on top of the world.