Looking for U2

Background:

The story of the U2 Joshua Tree varies depending on who tells it.  It’s generally agreed that the trip the band took to America in 1985-86 was a defining moment in their career, as the resulting album propelled them to international stardom.  It appears that in the course of their travels they took to the southwest desert particularly strongly, and were just blown away by the enormity of the landscape, the wide open spaces, the silences and simply the other-worldliness feel of the earth.  Bono was inspired to write several anthems, which remain among the fan favorites to this day: “Where the Streets Have No Name”, “In God’s Country” and “Bullet the Blue Sky” to name just a few.  The Joshua Tree album was released in 1987 and became an instant classic in terms of music, yet it is equally famous for the stark black-and-white photos Dutch master Anton Corbijn took of the band members while wandering the Mojave the year before.  Most of these were shot at the location we checked out on Saturday, but the most famous one, the album cover showing the band huddled together in the foreground and a mosaic of shapes and textures in the background, was taken at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley. I don’t think that photo shoot was anything planned.  Corbijn probably saw the huge tree from the highway and just pulled over, then had the musicians stand around while he deployed his wide-angle lens.  The tree expired about 20 years later and toppled over; as such the location is almost impossible to trace from the road today, but it was inevitable someone would post the geographic coordinates online, so we just took advantage of that.  Still, it wasn’t easy to find it, having taken some good wandering on that dry plateau before finally pinpointing the exact location.  To our surprise, deep tire marks in the sand indicated that people created their own dirt road there, but this road is not marked on any map and takes some AWD driving off the main highway to find.  The location itself is nothing special and I’m sure none of the band members have given it any thought since they were there 23 years ago, but as with all things touched by god-like celebrity, it’s become an unofficial pilgrimage place for fans.  As such, we had to oblige in joining the bandwagon.  As mentioned, it took us a while and some desert trekking to locate the tree, but we got there with a couple of hours of daylight to use for an elaborate photo session of our own.  The view is grandiose to say the least: a sloping plateau is surrounded by ranges on all sides, with the Sierras prominently displayed to the northwest.  There’s a metal cylinder called the U2ube next to the dead tree in which fans have placed the most random and amazing artifacts; we spent a while looking through those and reading some really heart-warming testimonials, but since daylight was fading fast we had to get going.  I want to go back and finish reading those accounts, so another trip will occur some day in the future.

 

We headed out on a clear, sunny, warm November morning.  After about 3 hours of driving north, we pulled over at Gus’ Really Good Jerky, a run-down shack in the small town of Olancha, in the Eastern Sierra.  There are billboards for miles along Highway 395 extolling the goodness of Gus’ jerky.  Intrigued, I first stopped there on the way back from Whitney in August and got a few bags.  It really was the best the jerky I’ve ever had.  With that in mind, another stop there was mandatory.

 

Jerky of any kind you can think of hangs on the racks.  This time I chose to get beef brisket, turkey and buffalo.

 

But that’s not all!  Gus also sells honey, which I also get every time I pay him a visit.  Good, local, organic…yum!

 

Turns out Gus keeps a chicken coop out in the back.  In Romania, I grew up raising fowl, so seeing this instantly brought back memories.

 

Angela got particularly excited when Brian inserted two quarters, turned a knob and out came a handful of feed…

 

This chicken tried to see if there was more where that came from.

 

Since we were running late, it was time to hit the road again.  Gus’ high-flying flag reminded us that yeah, we’re still in America.

 

Having gotten to what the GPS said was fairly close to our destination, we pulled off to the side of the road.  The Sierras loomed majestically to the northwest.

 

Trying to see if our view matched the one in the album booklet:

 

Alright, so this is the part where we get to walk.

 

What with being November, this wasn’t a hot day at all, temperature was comfortable, yet reminders of how unforgiving the desert is were everywhere:

 

After wandering around for a while, most of times in the wrong direction (particularly me), Brian realized he had not zoomed far enough into the GPS map.  That meant that we were off course more than initially thought.  Corrective action was taken and eventually we arrived at this:

 

The famous plaque that no one knows how it was put there:

 

Well, the tree looks pretty dead in case there was any doubt…

 

We busily got down to recording our historic arrival for posterity.

 

Proof we’ve been there:

The Derby hat seemed to hold a particular appeal.

 

 

Taking a closer look at the smaller objects around the dead tree:

 

 

 

Standing on top of the tree as if I’d conquered a major obstacle… cheeze #1

 

Time to celebrate:

Brian marking the stump with beer instead of, you know…

 

Angela was “in the clear”…

 

A toast!

 

Some more of the stunning landscape.

 

 

 

Then it was time to get all creative and cheesy with the camera.

Cheeze #2:

 

#3

 

#4

 

#5

 

Thankfully, tucked away in the U2ube were original prints of the photos from Corbijn’s 1986 sessions with the band.  We felt compelled to replicate two of those, of course.

 

 

And since we brought along the fire that started it all, why not include it in the shoot as well?...

 

Off to the side, about 15-20 feet from the original, a smaller, less-interesting Joshua Tree now watches over the lonely plateau.

 

Finally, we had to look inside the U2ube and sign the register of visitors.

Angela reading some of the testimonials:

 

More artifacts, held together (appropriately?) by a Walmart bag.  That plastic lemon had something that sounded like ashes inside, and it was dedicated to the memory of someone.  Hmm… 

 

Brian recording his thoughts in the register.

 

The shadows were getting longer, so it was time to head back to the car.  One last photo together:

It was chilly enough to make Angela put on the trenchcoat.  No more comments needed.

 

Sunset over the Mojave, with the Sierras in the background.

 

Walking back to the car on lost highway.

 

The end.