Bill--
Marie and I go up toward Joshua Tree NP and Yucca valley quite a bit (on SR 62). That whole area is now snow-covered, 8-12 inches on the ground at present. Not unheard of, but the depth is a little unusual. That "slot canyon" that the highway climbs up toward Morongo Basin within (Big Morongo Canyon) is still kinda daunting, but it was a death alley before the state built that K-rail/Jersey wall between E/B and W/B traffic. My patrol time training ground was nearby, in Desert Hot Springs. I recall a NASTY multiple-fatal head-on collision that occurred right after midnight a few days after I began training. Pouring rain and sleet, bitterly cold, and dodging drunks that came close to hitting the CHP, us, and the fire folks on scene a few times. CHP finally just closed the road in both directions for a couple hours before we got whacked ourselves. One of the scariest nights of my career. That K-rail has saved a bunch of lives since installation.
You might recall having seen a tavern/restaurant near the top of that grade called Willie Boy's Saloon. Kind of a take-off on some local history, the last true "posse hunt" of the old Western variety took place here in 1909, involving a young adult Native American male who went by the name "Willie Boy". Willie was in love with the 14 year old daughter of a foreman at the Gilman Ranch near Banning named Lolita (first irony warning). The foreman Mike Boniface wanted someone other than a casual labor ranch hand like Willie courting his daughter, and the outcome was Willie killing Mike and abducting Lola/Lolita in what was termed a "marriage by capture". Willie and Lolita fled east from Gilman Ranch, then north up Big Morongo Canyon into the Morongo Valley. During this time, Lolita was killed by a gunshot, located, and Willie continued his flight until brought to ground after ambushing one element of the posse at Old Woman Springs, wounding a posse member. Willie was found shot to death after a mutual firefight between himself and posse members went into siege mode for a time. A cloud of flies hovering over Willie's last know location kind of announced Willie's status after a time, and he was found with the rifle across his lap that he had used to kill Mike--kill Lolita--and wound Charlie Reche the posse member. In a prophetic and ironic twist, Robert Blake played "Willie Boy" in the 1969 film made concerning the incident, which is largely a travesty of the historical record. The 60s were like that, though. A better and far more accurate account of the matter was written in 1960 by Harry Lawton--Willie Boy: A Desert Manhunt.
My great-grandfather was a peripheral participant in this event, and the Colt Bisley 32/20 x 4-3/4" and Winchester '73 carbine in 44/40 came along with him. I inherited these when my Dad passed in 1994. I shoot them frequently.