It was our last full day at Indian Waters and we finally made the easy 30-mile drive to Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palm, CA. It was certainly different from any other National Park we have visited so far. The wide open spaces went on for miles and miles and it all seemed very harsh and formidable. They say there is a lot of life in the desert, but it hides really well. We saw a few lizards and some birds. Apparently, there are Big Horn Sheep in the region, but I couldn't verify that.
About 20 miles into the park, you reach the Cholla Cactus Gardens. It must have been nearly 20 acres covered by this one type of cactus. When backlit by the sun, they seemed to glow. There was a quarter mile trail through the garden to get you warmed up for the longer trails later.
With a name like "Skull Rock" on the map, you have to stop for a look. I cannot say it really brought to my mind a skull - I think I would have named it "Pointy Ape Head." A nice trail led us past some strange geologic formations. It didn't show well in the pictures but there were many lines in the rocks that were just fascinating, the way they ran horizontally and vertically and up and over and all around.
Joani thought the rock formation below looked like one of the seven dwarfs' head leaning back for a nap. I think I see him as well - I think he is "Grumpy" judging by the set of his jaw.
I see "Sleepy" taking a nap.
Paper Bag Bush (aptly named)
Another 20 miles along the road, we found ourselves inside a Joshua tree forest. They never seemed to crowd each other and maintained a pretty uniform spacing.
A nice gentle climb took us to an overlook called Keys View at 5,185 feet above sea level. The view was amazing and we would have spent a lot more time there except for the 50 mph winds that were bitterly cold (we were wearing shorts and t-shirts.) You could see the Salton Sea, Indio, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Mt. San Jacinto. The most interesting of all was the big slash across the valley floor that was the San Andreas Fault.
The wind was really whipping and 20-degrees colder than the valley floor.
We took a couple of other hikes - one loop took us by Barker Dam. It created a small lake that was used to water cattle long ago. Now it attracts birds and other wildlife, but again, we saw nothing. (Clearly, we were here at the wrong time of the day or the year for wildlife.) The lake was not exactly picturesque - I am not sure we took even a single picture of the water. Another loop trail took us through Hidden Valley. It was surrounded by very unusual mountain ridges and rock formations. There were a lot of people rock climbing, so every now and then you could see people at the top of some pile of rock and wonder "how did they get up there?"
One of the few birds I did see was this bright blue bird. It looked a lot like the bird we saw at Mt. Palomar, but I still do not know what it is. This is cropped from a long telephoto shot, so it is a bit fuzzy (he did not like me getting very close.)
I see a giant garden gnome.
The sun is sinking and it was getting cold fast!
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