OUR NEXT ADVENTURE
  • Home
  • Blog
  • RV Parks we have visited
  • Map of our travels
    • About >
      • Contact
  • Statistics
the Honeymoon continues...

Our Blog of our activities as we travel...

Joshua Tree National Park

10/10/2018

0 Comments

 
We are staying in the Black Rock Campground on the north side of the national park.  The campground road stops just inside the park so we have to drive out and enter the park at the north entrance farther down the road.

The plants and geology is so different here.  At different points in the park we are at different types of desert.  Elevation makes a lot of difference on the plants that live at each level. As we drove we could see the change in what plants were growing at each level.
Picture
Picture
We hiked to Barker Dam.  It is one of only a couple of areas where water flows enough to make a small pond if a dam was built.  The pond almost dries up during the dry season of the year but is completely full at other times.
This is a "Beavertail" cactus. 
Picture
Not only are there interesting cactus but a few flowers were hiding between the boulders.
Picture
A little while later we reached the dam.
Soon after the dam, we were able to see petroglyphs.
In the recent past people decided to trace or paint over the glyphs.  The goal was to make them easy to see but the problem is the actual glyphs are now covered and only the paint can be seen.

Speak on being seen.  Can you see the animal in this picture?  It was well hidden when not moving.
Picture
Picture
Being well hidden is great when you are the prefered dinner choice of hawks.

The mountains here are in several stages of change.  Some are covered in gravel and sand.  Others start to show the underlying rock structures.  And then there are those that have been completely exposed.  It is interesting knowing that the park changes over time and areas that are covered today will be exposed in the future.
Of course we selected a really pretty spot for lunch.  Why not?
Picture
Picture
We drove up to the highest accessible point in the park, Keys View, at 5,185 feet.  There were great views of the valleys below and  it was a very nice place to have lunch.

The chipmunks were determined that we would feed them.  I am sure this is from experience with others who visit this part of the park.  If we sat still they would come right up to us which was a little unnerving.
We headed back down and then stopped at several impressive formations.
Picture
It is obvious how "Hanging rock" got its name.  At any time that bolder could slide off and the site would have to get renamed.  The boulder is the size of a small house and weighs many tons.  Look close and you can see to people sitting to the right.
Picture
There are interesting plants and a few animals that showed themselves.
The last hike of the day was through the Hidden Valley.  This had been used for corralling cattle.  The narrow opening into a grassy valley that was surrounded by rock was perfect to keep the animals from roaming.  Today there is very little grass in what was a 55 acre meadow. 
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    We are a couple who have started on a new adventure...

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • RV Parks we have visited
  • Map of our travels
    • About >
      • Contact
  • Statistics