Joshua Tree – Good Morning, Good Evening

Monday, November 14th – Wednesday, November 16th

Joshua Tree is one of my favorite parts of the world.

I started Monday after work and drove down toward the “gardens” area. They had some lovely ocotillo there and, just north of that area, is The Cholla Garden.

Oh, how I’ve missed you fuzzy little guys! Well, not so little in this garden area. Totally worth walking through and the signs are delightful.

I only took about a million of these. The sun causes them to glow and makes my camera grumpy. — I only took about a million of these photos. The sun causes the cholla to glow and makes my camera grumpy.

My scooter warily eyes the Cholla. — My scooter warily eyes the cholla.

I could have happily hung out here for a while, but instead headed north and walked the Skull Rock loop. Slowly and a bit tenderly (dang it lava tubes!). Skull Rock is the one that looks kind of like a skull if you could peel all the other tourists off it. So, of course, you get pictures of random other rocks!

Do you like this picture? Would you like to see a million more just like it? Hooray!

Can be a bit hard to tell yucca and joshua trees apart. Yucca have the curly strings that sometimes make them look a bit fuzzy.

Sunset in Joshua Tree

The photo at the top of the page was also from this hike. Sunsets are often subtle yet lovely. And sometimes just amazing.

The next afternoon I started by driving down to Keys View.

Keys View overlooking Palm Springs — To the right we can make up the valleys of Palm Springs.

Keys View overlooking the Salton Sea — To the left, shimmering off in the distance, is the Salton Sea! An inland sea of toxic beauty.

Exploring Hidden Valley. This area is a small loop inside a valley completely encircled by rock.

Lot of rock climbing in Hidden Valley. There were a couple scaling the plinth on the right. I watched them slowly scale up, adjusting ropes and carefully choosing their path as I idly walked below.

All the clouds this day made losing the sun much easier to take.

I was driving home when the sky caught fire.

Sunset in Joshua Tree — All those moments will be lost in time.

I stood at the side of the road and watched the sky smoulder and shift. Eventually day gave up its struggle and quieted.

Later I would walk a few blocks down the road from where I was staying and join some rangers and a crowd of fellows as we slowly walked through the oasis under the supermoon’s light. The program touched on moon in local mythology and ecology and it was a lovely evening.

The next afternoon I hiked Split Rock trail.

Tiny bits of yellow green amidst the grey and brown.

A couple of folks asked what creosote looks like. It's difficult to photograph given the winds I had (especially this day), but here's a closeup including some fuzzy seeds. — A couple of folks asked what creosote looks like. It’s difficult to photograph given the winds I had (especially this day), but here’s a closeup including some fuzzy seeds. They’re a woody bush.

Wait, does someone actually find that helpful or easier to remember?

Dinner at the 29 Palms Inn, wherein I teach yet another bartender how to make a negroni.

The final days of the week I stayed out of the park and explored Wonder Valley.

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