It was another lovely Spring weekend memory made with my Patrick. This time we packed up my gas-efficient Scion and headed out to the Southern California desert park of Joshua Tree. Only 2 hours away, I try to go every spring as I love desert, dry heat, hiking and camping. Patrick had never been and this is the best time of year to go, so it was a no-brainer.During a most-enjoyable drive up P entertained me for once (hahaha) with some stories of his youth in the Navy. I love it when he tells me stories, as I am very good at it myself and it runs in my family and culture. Story-telling runs in his Irish culture as well, but P doesn't have E's "gift to gab". :)
We stopped off first in Palm Springs – also a first for my man. The weather was perfect – warm, about 88 degrees – but not too hot. We parked, and strolled around the main street, stopping in galleries and boutiques that caught our fancy. It was such a charming afternoon there! One interesting thing we both noted was how gay-friendly (“Frisco!!”) the town had become. They even had a “Hamburger Mary’s” bar there – it was HUGE in Hillcrest, San Diego. Being the Gay Man’s Best Girl Friend that I am, this accelerated my good mood to an even better level.
Eventually we made it into the Park – after making us drive the long way around it to the 29 Palms Northern entrance – oopps! It was late afternoon – the best time to take pictures. Patrick is becoming increasingly involved in his photography and this trip was definitely an invitation to partake in it.
Joshua Tree Park is interesting. One is able to enter at one entrance and drive completely through to the opposite side. In doing so, you can see and enjoy the different ecosystems and plant growth according to the elevation. We started out in flat lands with many Joshua Trees and then enjoyed the famous Jumbo Rocks in the middle of the park – which have a red sheen at sunset – (but there was too much cloud-coverage that day). Many rock-climbers flock to the rocks nowadays – I couldn’t believe how many were scrambling up those HUGE boulders like spiders. Very cool.
Eventually we ascended some hills where it definitely got cooler and I had to break out my jacket. After enjoying the view (but not the strong, cold winds) – we headed back down again to see a different desert terrain with blooming, tall Ocatillo bushes. All very stark but lovely.
Early the next morning we got up early to embark on one of the several hikes. We chose to do the short 2.5 hour loop to Mastedon Peak. Along the way we got to enjoy 2 natural oasis’ and an abandoned gold mine. The weather had cooled – perfect for hiking. I think Patrick took about 500 pictures! We will definitely head back again in the Fall.
Click below for my short photo gallery slideshow!
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| Joshua Tree 2007 |
5 comments:
E - It looks like you are becoming quite a photographer too. I've been impressed w/ your shots. Are you taking lessons from P?
- D
p.s. can you please create a link from your picasa album back to your blog?
Hey, D - are you back in town? how was mammoth?
As far as my pics - I am not learning to use photoshop like P is, and his big digital camera and new lenses are certainly better than my compact, normal camera - that said: I think I've always had a decent eye for subject matter, cropping and colors. We are both definitely really enjoying fine-tuning our little 'hobby' :)
anon- I KNOW!! it is a pain that my picassa web album page doesn't go right back to my blog. I can certainly say that I am not computer-savvy enough to figure out how to do it, but I will question Patrick to see if he can... thanks for the suggestion :)
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