Joshua Tree National Park

After the cooler days along the coast, the temperatures continued to rise as we drove inland. By the time we reached the desert around Joshua Tree, we were back in triple digits. It meant that our tour of Joshua Tree was more a driving tour than hiking. We did exit the car for brief periods while being mindful of the extreme heat and strong sun.

We used an audio tour to guide us. This is a great way for us to do self-guided tours while still gaining insights. The audio tour described Joshua Tree as a cartoonish park, and that it is. Visions of old Flintstones cartoons came to mind as we drove through the park. The tour also clarified that Joshua trees aren't trees. They are part of the succulent family called yuccas, a variant of asparagus. Who knew?

The plants aren't the only amazing visual at Joshua Tree. The enormous rocks within the park are fascinating. Again, a reminder of the Flintstones. The first rock we saw is called Split Rock. Papa could have crawled into the large split in the gigantic boulder. The split goes completely through the boulder with the two sections leaning against each other at the top. The middle picture (above) on the left shows another large boulder near split rock. Notice how small the two women look compared to the boulder.

One of the more interesting rock formations is Skull Rock. It is located along the main route of the park, called Park Avenue. It is visible before you get close so there is ample time to find a parking spot along the road. A few people braved the extreme heat to hike the boulders. Skull rock, on the left side of the photo above, is identifiable by the eye sockets and large mouth openings. You can almost imagine a horn or large nose.

In addition to Joshua Trees and boulders, the area is known for wildlife. One of the endangered species, the desert tortoise, is a closely-studied critter in the park. What is fascinating about these incredibly old, long-living slow-pokes is they retain water, thus requiring very little to survive. The biggest harm to them is being approached and touched. They appear to be fearful and void their water, like peeing their pants, which leaves them vulnerable to the heat. We did not see nor scare any desert tortoises. Promise.

In addition to tortoises, there are Big Horn Sheep and cactus wrens. We didn't see any sheep during the heat of the day, but cactus wrens were spotted in the trees. We tried to get out for a short hike to find more wildlife, but it was just too much. If we ever get through the area in the cooler winter months, some of the hikes would be fascinating.

Two more named rocks that impressed us with their size and unique character are pictured on the right above. Top is Inspiration Rock, amazingly tall. The bottom is called Cap Rock, for the smaller-yet-still-large boulder (about the size of a full-size van) balancing on the top of the significantly larger boulder. Based on the cars in the foreground, it is obvious how large these boulders are.

In addition to the pointing out scenery, the audio tour provided folklore stories and historical information that made the hour-and-a-half drive pass quickly. We will do more audio tours in the future while noting an important detail. It is much easier to access and download the audio tour at home on a faster network than trying to do it on the road. We sat in a restaurant having a longer-than-normal lunch while patiently waiting for the download to complete. Fortunately it did and we had a great visit at Joshua Tree.