View Obscura

Story and Photos By Ken Hulsey The incredible geological wonder known as Mormon Rocks in Cajon Pass is one of our family's favorite hiking spots. Travelers on Interstate 15 to and from Los Angeles can't miss these mysterious rock formations just off the highway. The area offers numerous hiking trails and the rocks themselves are easy to climb, even for a middle-aged hiker like myself. It's a wonderful place to explore the outdoors and capture stunning nature photography, as evidenced by the photos in this post.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about living in the California high desert and working in the Inland Empire was traveling through Cajon Pass every day. Back in those days I loved taking pictures of the desert landscape and the amazing clouds that would form overhead. The incredible exposed sandstone formations of Mormon Rocks were always a great place to get some fascinating photos, while the rarely used section of the old Route 66 nearby also provided an interesting location for some nostalgic images. On this day the cirrus clouds over Cajon Pass were just too amazing to pass up so I pulled my car off Interstate 15 and traveled onto the old highway. It's hard to believe that this lonely stretch of poorly maintained roadway was once the most famous highway in America stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles. I have fond memories of traveling through this area as a child on summer vacations and other family excursions across country.  Nearly as famous as historic old Route 66...