Joshua Tree National Park

Today we went to Joshua Tree National Park which is east down I10, to the east and north of Palm Springs.  We had a lovely afternoon, doing a tour of the park.  I just love Joshua trees and have MANY photos of them but I will just give you one so you can see how lovely they are.

The pices on the ends look like borttle cleaners.  They come in many sizes and weird shapes from a foot to 40 feet tall (100 years old).  The legend says that the Mormon settlers named the tree Joshua because they thought the trees looked as if its branches were raised upward in supplication.  It is believed that below freezing temperatures cause damage to the growing end of a stalk which stimulates flowering and branching.

The park also features a wonderful array of strange rock formations which came about when molten liquid oozed upward and cooled.  As ground water worked down through fractures, some hard mineral grains were transformed into soft clay.  Rectangular stones gradually were weathered to spheres of hard rock surrounded by this soft clay. Think of pouring water over an ice cube.

Flash floods of the more recent era washed away the protective ground, leaving huge boulders exposed which settled on one another. (Information from the Joshua Tree Guide of the National park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior)

 

 

 

 

The landscape was very rugged in most of the park.  You would not want to get caught out there without  water on a hot summer day - or a warm October day for that matter.

Somehow, plants and animals live in this environemnt.  We saw a roadrunner (no cliffs or anvils evident - for the cartoon fans), and some small gopher-like little fellows.  The bushes are quite nice.  One type we recognized as a form of cholla that we were familiar with from Arizona.

 

This one grew near the Intepretive Centre.  Others we saw were just out as part of the range.

Is this the beginning of a tumble weed?

I'll have to get a book about desert plants.  The one I have from Arizona is mostly about cacti.

The work on our motorhome is progressing. Yesterday there was a gaping hole full of wire spaghetti where the TV used to be.  Today, there is a cabinet. We hope they will be done at the end of the week at the latest.

We are enjoying the company of the other Alfa owners though.  There are new people every day to add new stories.  And stories are what I like.