Joshua Tree NP Rocks!

On 2/27-3/1 (days 17, 18, and 19) we visited the vast (800,000 acres - about the size of Rhode Island) Joshua Tree National Park. The park is named after the unique Joshua Tree. It’s a member of the Yucca family, but grows a full trunk like a typical tree, then sprouts Yucca branches. It looks like something Dr. Seuss would draw. They can live 150-200 years. A few of the trees were just starting to bloom (white blooms on tips). They have a symbiotic relationship with a small moth that uses the blooms to lay eggs, but in the process pollinates the trees.

Joshua Trees

Another interesting thing about this park is it is a desert transition zone. On our trip we first visited the Chihuahuan Desert (Big Bend area), then the Sonoran Desert (southern Arizona), then the Colorado Desert (lower elevations of AZ and CA). In this park, we transition to the Mojave Desert. 

Probably the most interesting thing about Joshua Tree NP (certainly for Elena) is the rocks. The giant boulders of intrusive igneous monzogranite granite formed a couple of hundred million years ago. As they moved up through a water table and eventually came to the surface (the surface actually eroded down to them) they fractured and obtained their rounded tops. In a few areas, there are Gneiss rocks that are about 1.7 billion years old. The campground we stayed in is called Jumbo Rocks, and it’s perfectly named. Our camper van was tucked right into some big rocks.

We did a number of hikes in the park. The first was to Arch Rock. There is a lesser known spur trail that leads to Heart Rock, and we took it as well. The east side of the rock has a bit more heart shape, so we took pics from both sides - sunny, and backlit.

Arch Rock

Heart Rock (from both sides); Elena under a Joshua Tree; Paul rocks

Several good trails departed from our campground. In fact, 2/28 (day 18) was the first day we didn’t drive a single mile. We took a great geology hike with ranger Christina Martinez. I took a nice bike ride around the area. And we took many hikes - Skull Rock and Split Rock are two of the hikes we took. Like finding shapes in clouds, people like to assign known shapes to rocks too. The four below are whale, skull, face, and rock eating rock.

Whale, Skull, Face, and Rock Eating Rock

On our final day, we did some additional hikes. We hiked Hall of Horrors, and drove out to Keys View to look at the famous San Andreas Fault, less than 10 miles away. We hiked to the man-made Barker Dam, which is holding very little water now. Average rainfall here has dropped from about 10" per year in the 1800s to just a few inches now. We also visited the Black Rock section of the park.

San Andreas Fault near Palm Springs, CA

Once again we had great weather. We’re at about 3,500 foot elevation and the lows were in the mid 40s with the high around 65 with bright sunshine.

 

- Paul