Because of the Golden Age Passport card I have as a senior, it didn't cost us anything to go into the park. We stopped at the visitor center before going through the gate and picked up a map and some other info so we would know where we were going. It didn't take long to see the unusual rock formations and landscape that this park is known for. It actually contains portions of two deserts: the Colorado Desert to the south and east, and the Mojave Desert to the west and north. At this juncture, the differences between the two are very subtle. There are, of course, Joshua trees everywhere. One thing that was fun for us was trying to use our imagination to find images within the unique rock formations, an example is below:
We both thought that the highest rock in this picture (top, center) looked like a teddy bear with a hat on. One thing became evident as we were driving along, and that is that there are lots of wild animals in the park. We spotted a couple coyotes and we got close to this one:
The other thing that became obvious to us was that this whole park is a haven for rock climbers and mountain climbers. There were small campgrounds throughout the park with tents and small campers filled with these climbers that were on vacation or on their days off. One of those areas we passed we were able to get a picture of one of these climbers:
This particular woman - and the male friend that is not in the picture - were climbing this huge rock formation without any ropes or equipment. That takes confidence!
There was an area called "Hidden Valley" in the park which was about a one mile loop trail that starts in a picnic area and winds through this area among massive boulders that were supposedly used as a hideout for cattle rustlers. We didn't take the hike, but we did use the picnic area to eat a lunch that we packed for the trip.
As we traveled along the main road in the park, we came across a side road that took us to a place called "Keys View". This is a lookout point that is at an elevation of nearly 5200 feet and looks out over the valley below. The information on our brochure pointed out the San Andreas Fault in the valley which is the short ridge you see in the middle of the picture that runs all the way across:
The picture above shows the Mount Jacinta Peak (upper right) that is in Palm Springs and we could see the entire valley from here. The picture below is taken in a different direction (southeast) from the same lookout and you can see the Salton Sea:
It was mentioned earlier that these rock formations bring out the imagination in everybody. Below are two pictures that we think are obvious images. The first one looks like a fish coming up for air or food:
This one is officially named "skull rock":
It was a very enjoyable and educational trip. We plan to return at some point to see other parts that we just didn't have time to see, and to take one or more of the hiking trails that are available throughout the park.
The trip home was interrupted by a stop at a familiar place - Cactus Flower Florist. Believe it or not, there was this shop in Yucca Valley with the same name as the one Josie worked for in Phoenix. They were aware of the Phoenix stores, but were in no way associated with them. It was the same as when we had our shop in Redmond, Wa., and there was another shop named Redmond Floral in Redmond, Or. Anyway it was a beautiful and successful shop and Josie had fun talking to the owners about that.
What an ending to a perfect day...
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