Just Joshing!

Joshua Tree!  Another of America's treasures, and I got to enjoy it again last weekend.  I hadn't been for a couple years, so when I had a free weekend, I jumped at the chance!

The beginning of the trip was a little rough, literally.  At about 4:00pm, the car shuddered a little. What the....?  I looked at my dash and noticed the "Check Engine" light had gone on.  Oh, no!  I immediately pulled off the freeway to Middle of Nowhere, California. I asked around for a mechanic, and was pointed to a garage with really friendly folks.

By the time I got there, it was 30 minutes before closing, and they were full o' cars to tend to. But when they heard my predicament, Phillip came out to help right away.  A sensor that relies on oil pressure had been triggered. Phillip checked the oil: nothing showing. He asked about when I had my oil changed. Just a couple months ago. Any leaks? Not that I know of.

He put oil in, and it took 3 and a half quarts. Its capacity is 4 and a half quarts. He put it on the rack. No leaks. Conclusion: at my last oil "change," no oil had been replaced!

Thank goodness the consequences weren't worse!  And amazing that it lasted this long! I've been driving all over the Southwest with no oil!

Relieved, I hit the road again, and had spent only an hour getting the car repaired. The sun was setting as I zoomed into Twentynine Palms, so I headed on into the park. 

I pulled into a campground to wait till dark so I could star-gaze for a few minutes. A group of four young men retured to their campground, made a fire, and turned on--what else?--U2's Joshua Tree. Perfect! I listened to my favey album from my favey band and gazed up for a while, thoroughly enjoying my first evening.

The following morning, I headed back. Two roadrunners and a jack-rabbit later, I was hiking.

I walked around Skull Rock, through the Hidden Valley, up Ryan Mountain, over to Arch Rock, passed by Cap Rock and trekked to Forty-Nine Palms Oasis. I figured I hiked about 9-10 miles all told.  I was TIRED by the end!

I used my very cool Urbanspoon app to find a wonderful Thai restaurant in the nearby town of Joshua Tree.  Wonderful, yummy dinner! My day was complete!

Here are pictures!

Look carefull in the middle: Mr. Roadrunner!

I love the tenacity of life!

Live Oak picnic area. Here grows a big oak tree in the middle of the desert! It bore lots of huge acorns, which the birds loved.

The bigger they come, the harder they fall.

Forty-Nine Palms Oasis

A pool at the Oasis

The Fiftieth Palm trying hard!

A fire burned the trunks of these palms but they are healthy.

Climbers enjoy these rocks!

Made it! The elevation gain was 1100 feet. Nice hike!

I love the dikes through the monzogranite.

What are you waiting for? Get on Interstate 10 and get to Joshua Tree!

Joshua Tree National Park

I had a wonderful time Joshua Tree National Park on Saturday. After dropping Kevin off at LAX on Friday afternoon, I braved the Friday evening LA traffic and headed east to Joshua Tree. I got in kind of late, so I checked into Motel 6 and crashed. The next day I headed into the park for a day of nature!

Joshua Tree is one of my favorite places on the planet. I love the desert! The flora and fauna are wonderful, and the geology of this spot is soooo cool! And the weather: soooo hot! The high was 109ºF that day.

I took a couple hikes and a geology motor tour, plus just stopped whereever I felt like it to take in the views.

I have a lot of pictures to share, so I'm posting only a few here, and you can go to my album to see more.

Just after I entered the park, a roadrunner crossed my path. Cool! Later on, a jackrabbit bounded into the road, made a quick left and bounded off again. So athletic!

I also saw these critters:

I didn't see a Bighorn Sheep, but I saw some of its poop!


A typical rock pile:

A few wildflowers still bloomed.

Bladderpod (above and below)

Here is a picture of Malapai Hill. These peaks are made from basalt, different from the monzogranite and gneiss of the area. There are a couple theories. Either a shallow intrusion of magma rose up, or there were a couple of lava-spilling cinder cones that have since eroded away.



Here are a couple pictures that show the dikes within surrounding rock.

This is a view from Keys View, looking southwest. Here you can see the San Andres Fault. It runs along those hills in the mid-ground.


Here is a link to more photos:

Joshua Tree June 2009