If you're going to go to the desert, best go when it is REALLY hot and then you get the complete desert experience. The first day we were there it peaked at 99 deg fahrenheit; the second day it was a mere 97 deg fahrenheit. As my brain starts to melt at 90 deg fahrenheit (sorry for the 'old style' units by the way, but that's what they use out here) I was not at my most mentally alert. I did manage to take some photos (see below), however, as well as doing a few gentle walks and scaring myself silly when I saw the sign that said 'Warning! aggressive africanized bees have been found in this area.'
What's great about Joshua Tree National park is - just about everything. The landscape is amazing, thanks to the monzogranite outcrops sculpted over millions of years to form eccentric hills and boulder piles. The flora is also wonderful - dominated by the Joshua Tree which is in fact a giant yucca masquerading as a tree. And as for the animal life - we saw chipmunks, jack rabbits and even a coyote. It felt as though we had sneaked into a Disney cartoon.
Joshua Tree in front of monzogranite boulder pile. Nice hey?
The aptly named 'Skull rock'.
View over the San Andreas fault - which is the straight ridge line in the middle of the plain - looking west towards the Santa Rosa mountains. The haze is the plume of pollution from Los Angeles.
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