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April 2007: Exploring Joshua Tree National Park |
Joshua Tree National Park encompasses two distinct areas. The southern half is at lower elevation and is characteristic of the Colorado Desert. This Cholla cactus is pretty indicative of the terrain - hot, dry and prickly. |
The northern half of the park is in the higher Mojave Desert, and is where the Joshua Trees are. These funky desert plants grow in an endless variety of contorted shapes. |
This yellow-rumped warbler was flitting among the bushes in the park - likely hunting some small insect. |
The evening light helps one concentrate on the bizarre shapes of the trees. |
Sometimes, there isn't much to explain. |
These Joshua Trees lining a park road were some of the largest I'd seen. At times, they were almost thick enough to make me forget it was the desert. |
Each time a Joshua Tree blooms, it creates another branch - count the number of "points" on a tree, and you'll know how many blooms it's had. Young trees grow straight up until they have their first bloom. |
This is a view south from a rim along the park. Mt San Jacinto looms on the horizon, with Palm Springs under the haze below. |
This is what you'd call a digital double exposure. It's not possible to capture the rising moon and the trees in one frame. The trees are so much darker, they require a longer exposure (making the moon appear like a white blob). So, I had to splice-together two exposures to form this photo. The resulting image is representative of what this scene looked like to the naked eye. |
Where is it? Joshua Tree National Park is located in south-central California, just northeast of Palm Springs. |
Before you go... This is a large park, and keep in mind that the north and south halves are quite distinct. If you want to see the trees, visit the north part. |
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