http://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm
But the most exciting thing of all is that buzzing around the ocotillo was this beautiful Costa's hummingbird.
I had decided to essentially make a big loop, driving to one of the northern entrances to the park, go through the park, and exit the southern exit. That way if I decided to go down to the Salton Sea I would already be on that edge.
As I drove out of town I got to get up close and personal with some of the wind farms that you see all over this area. Lots of wind, therefore wind farms! Seeing them afar is much differnt than seeing them up close. Those things are huge!
As I got close to the entrance to the National Park I decided to stop to get gas, water, and some food. There are no facilities in the park. They aren't kidding about the wind up there, it nearly blew me over!
The drive through the park was beautiful. I had not realized that the Joshua Trees only grow in the northern part of the park, so thank goodness I decided to make a loop rather than enter and exit from the south.
Lots of pullouts to take pictures, and I did.
This doesn't really capture the forests of Joshua Trees. Eerie and beautiful in their own right.
And then you come across these sweeps of what looks completely barren, with hills and mountains in the misty distance, and you can't help but think of what it must have been like to cross something like this on horseback or on horseback. How unforgiving it would be to the unprepared.
Some of the rocky, rugged hillsides have the remains of old silver mining operations. See those little buildings?
Naturally I need to stop at the cholla garden. These cacti are so beautiful, and look so soft and fuzzy, but I am very wary and cautious to keep my distance!
In the southern part of the park there are no Joshua Trees, and the terrain is different. I take a short walk to some springs.
I had somehow missed the Ocotillo patch, so when I spotted a patch I stopped to take a picture of it and some other blooming flowers.
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