Joshua Tree National Park

Saturday March 30 was a busy day in Joshua Tree National Park. 1st stop was the southern visitor center to get Junior Ranger booklets. We proceeded down to Cottonwood Spring and had a short walk to the water trickle & very tall palm trees.

Next we drove quite a ways up & down and around through the Mojave desert nothingness to Live Oak picnic area. There was various scene changes of cactus and agave and brushy patches, but brown and bland as seen speeding by in a vehicle.

More fun rocks to climb on, over, and around! These boulders were a little different than City of Rocks, NM because there were straight lines running through at various places. One spot even looked similar to teeth with perpendicular lines and a dividing horizontal strain.

We were going to hike the Skull Rock Trail, but unknowingly pulled off the side of the road directly at it and began walking backwards on the trail. It seemed the scenery was diminishing in interest, so I asked a woman coming the other direction and she was walking from a parking lot. Oops! 

copying some other (teenager) tourists' pose

Skull Rock

The Joshua Tree is a member of the agave family. American Indians used to use the tough leaves to make baskets & sandals, and eat the flower buds & seeds. After the 1st 5 years, the tree grows 1/2 inch per year.

Joshua Tree blooms (do not smell pleasant)

Our last stop was Hidden Canyon where cattle herds were kept safe from rustlers. The entrance was dynamited out so we can hike around. Shannon & Riley trekked way back to get the RV while the girls explored crevices, and climbed more boulders. We struggled maneuvering our lengthy rig in the park and it was very crowded. We are starting to see more tourists and families now. We barely made it to the west entrance visitor center for Annie and Caroline to receive their ranger badges. Motored on to Victorville, Home Depot (where Walmart was supposed to be according to GPS) and spent the night.