Monday, March 28, 2016

What are THESE?!

We arrived in Joshua Tree National Park in the afternoon, soon enough to go for a hike. I stayed home, but everyone else went. So we're looking around at the visitors center, and we have no IDEA what a Joshua tree looks like. We figured out that the campground there is full, and that there is some BLM overflow, just a few minutes away. We also learned that a Joshua tree is a kind of yucca, but we would know them when we saw them. The next day, we learned that that is very, very true. The trees look a bit like some thing out of a Dr. Seuss book, but you'll have to see for yourself.
 Here are some we saw while climbing rocks. Fun Fact: Mormon pioneers thought the branches looked like Joshua with his arms raised, leading them into the promised land.
 Most of the valleys of the park are covered in them. Fun Fact: The largest tree is about 42 feet tall, and has over 35 branches.
The is the biggest one we saw, not the largest in the park. Fun Fact: The trees are estimated to live over 150 years old.

2 comments:

  1. We have visited the park a couple of times. We especially enjoyed the view from Keys View down into the Coachella Valley to the San Bernadino Mts.

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  2. Your next stop should be at the Pie Capital, the town of Julian in the San Diego Mts. They have phenomenal apple pies there.

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What do you think, where should we go next?