Friday - Saturday - Sunday

On the road and in Joshua Tree National Park and lots of interesting "stuff".

  

This is part of what we're calling a badlands area after we left the Anza-Borrega SP and were headed toward the Saltan Sea.

Okay, Joshua Tree.  We were not really ready for this place.  it is all rocks.  ROCKS.

As you can see from the above photo, our camping site is in the rocks.  But not only that, this place is a mecca for rock climbers.  Right across the camp road from us is a large rock and since we arrived there have been folks climbing it.  Big kids (adults) and little kids all in harnesses and mostly with helmets climbng with the use of ropes (at times).

The climbiing has continued from Friday into Saturady (all day) we suspect Sunday as well.   Below is just a sample of what we got to see.

And there have been birds as well.

And we have done two hikes.  One to the 29 Palms Oasis and the other was right in the campground Indian Cove Nature Trail.  Photos from both below.

And we saw some wildflowers too.  We don't know what we saw, so they will remain unnammed unless you know and can tell us!

We are having fun and this is a wonderful park.  There is no water in the park (bring your own in) and there are no flush toilets nor showers.  It is refreshing in that we all "smell" the same!

There are lots and lots of Boy Scouts and other groups here.  It is busy this weekend but  we suspect that tomorrow night it will be quiet again.

Sunday

We are currently taking a break form one hike and will soon take another short hike.  The sky is clear blue and there is a light breeze with the air temps in the low 70's.  It is, in other words, beautiful although some rain would really help the area.

We can now say we've seen Big Horn Sheep!  We drove into the northern part of the park and then to an overlook, Keyes View, where we could see the San Andreas fault!  Just as we were going to head out to the area we wanted to hike, David and Paul yelled at Dee to stop the truck and park as they could see four big horn sheep up on the ridge behind us.  So we had to take some time to watch and photograph them.  Those photos will come later.

We have also seen a Scrub Jay as well.  We've seen them in the air and from a distance but never up close and this one was very accommodating and let us stop about 12 feet away and take photos.

So we are having fun and enjoying the scenery very much.  This is a park we would certainly return to if given the opportunity.

These are Joshua Trees for which this park is named.