Tom's National Park Adventure

Monday- the beginning of the week. Waking up in Joshua Tree is beautiful. The sun comes up, yet you don’t get hit with direct sunlight for a couple of hours. The huge rocks and boulders give you shade so you can ease into the day. It doesn’t give you the opportunity to take good sunrise pictures, but it is a nice way to wake up.

The temperature in the park varies between a high of 97 degrees in the afternoon to a low of 62 last night. It also varies with elevation.

The lower elevations are on the eastern portion of the park. Below 3000 feet. This area of the park is located in the Colorado Desert which is part of Sonoran Desert. I would describe this desert as being dominated by scrubby looking bushes. I have learned that these are actually Creosote. Cholla cactus is also prevalent.

The western portion of the park is higher in elevation. Above 4000 feet you start to see the Mojave desert. This desert has many different types of vegetation. One of the dominant species is the one that the park is named for, the Joshua Tree. It has crazy shapes and isn’t really a tree at all! It is part of the Yuca plant family.

My nieces son Liam lives in the Los Angeles area. He is living the life of a musician / college student. One of his favorite places is Joshua tree. He is driving over and will be spending a couple of days with me. I’m very excited about having my own personal guide to the park.

I’ll write more tomorrow…..

My campsite has to one of my all time favorites because of the beautiful sunsets!

Here is another Sunset picture from Joshua Tree……