Short Hike in the Mohave Desert

I've driven over this 200 mile section of I-40 between Barstow and Needles, California a dozen times over the past few months (half of them asleep in the back), but when I've been awake I've admired a particular notch the road passes through for it's easy access to a couple of nearby peaks.
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While driving through yesterday, I had plenty of time on my clock so I stopped for an hour and bagged one of the peaks.

A few weeks ago, on this same stretch of road I spent an hour stopped on the highway watching a truck trailer burn from about a half mile back. Fortunately the driver disconnected the tractor before it got too bad.

Looks like carrots to me. Apparently one of the back brakes was dragging and got so hot it lit the tire on fire, which caught the entire tractor on fire.