A Day at Joshua Tree

National Parks are all unique. They have different histories, different stories of how they were saved, different challenges in today’s world.

I was fortunate today to be introduced to one of the most unusual: the Joshua Tree National Park in California. With a half-day to myself, I stuck my toe into the vast park where the Mojave and Colorado deserts converge and was fascinated with what I saw.

What follows are photos from the northwestern edge of the park – from the village of Joshua Tree down to Key’s View, where one gets a remarkable panorama of the San Andreas Fault. Here’s a bit from the park’s brochure about what one sees in this part of Joshua Tree:

Amid the boulder stacks are pinyon pines, junipers, scrub oaks, Mojave yuccas, and Mojave prickly pear cacti….What tells you most you are truly in the Mojave Desert is the wild-armed Joshua tree. It isn’t really a tree but a species of yucca….Joshua trees can grow over 40 feet tall – at the leisurely rate of an inch a year.

Enjoy!