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It was about a 45 minute drive
from Palm Springs. I think this is the "western entrance" just a
few miles from the town of Joshua Tree off Hiway 62.
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Our first little "nature walk".
Really just a small parking lot with some paths among the rocks.
We stopped here because it was empty. As soon we stopped, everyone
pulled in behind us. Oh well.
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Utili-kilt
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There had been lots of rain,
but not much was in bloom. There was a lot of green amongst the
dead and brown, but not a lot of color.
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The most fascinatimg thing for
me, was the rocks. These pictures don't do it justice, but these
outcropping of rocks in the middle of this flat valley floor...
it just amazes me. I'm so easily impressed.
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Look! Rocks over there!
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Rocks!
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Notice the bushes are dead looking,
but there is green growth.
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I must have recently rained.
There were lizards on this rock as I approached it.
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Hey! This is wet.
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I never saw a sign, but I'm pretty
sure that Gregg and I are standing between two Joshua trees.
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Gregg and tree.
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Me in the shade.
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They tasted ok, but more bones
than you'd find in fish... and they are sharp!
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More rocks. On the way to Barker
Lake. Notice the rock right above Gregg's head is balancing.
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Barker Lake is behind a man made
dam (which we didn't see).
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This was a less than a mile walk
and virtually flat.
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Rocks. Man in kilt.
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Rocks. Man with big belly in
kilt.
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Rocks. Man in kilt and pack.
(Gregg insists on carrying everything.)
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The trail actually had water
running down it. We could hear water trickling down the rocks.
This winter had been one of the wettest in many, many years.
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Gregg sees a red cactus in the
rocks.
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The red cactus.
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This is a spur road up to the
highest point in the park, over 4800 feet.
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There was a coyote on the road.
All the cars were stopped to look at it. Gregg asked these people
"did your dog get off his leash?". They were from New York and thought
he was rabid or had been hit.
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But he was just begging for food.
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At the top of the Keys View Road.
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Looking to the Southwest towards
Palm Springs.
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Way off in the distance, you
can see the Salton Sea.
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Gregg used to run the High Adventure
Hiking Program for the Boy Scouts in the Olympic Mountains. Now
he walks on paved trails with me.
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Art shot.
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Good Bye.
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There was a arroyo just before
the main hiway.
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It was recently flooded.
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