This is the first time I have ever seen Joshua Trees in bloom!
These trees were recently designated an endangered species by The California Fish & Game Commission.
They are vulnerable because they exist in a limited area in The Southwestern US and Baja California. Their range is mostly contained by the boundaries of the Mojave Desert. This habitat is under pressure from development and climate change.
Joshua Trees are pollinated by Yucca Moths. Desert habitat is sensitive and species are interdependent.
Interestingly, in the distant past, Joshua’s were pollinated by Giant Sloths!
Humans have lived in The Mojave Desert for about 12,000 years.
Pictographs, cryptic messages from the past, can be found throughout this region.
After we explore the remarkable museum and it’s ghostly sculptures by ourselves for as long as we want (there is no one here to bother us), we mosey on down the road to Rhyolite, Nevada, a gold mining ghost town that boomed and busted between 1904 to 1920.
At it’s peak in 1908, Rhyolite had a population of 8,000. By 1920, when the gold had petered out, the population stood at 14.
The post office, the bank, the store, the school, all were abandoned.
Can you imagine living in a desert that reached the hottest temperature on earth with no AC?
One home, built in 1905, was constructed almost entirely of 50,000 beer bottles. It is one of the most well preserved buildings in the ghost town.
You can see the bottle details in this section of wall. You could sing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” in this house, and actually be counting! For more on this unusual home see : http://www.nbmog.org/bottlehouse.html
Cheers to you from the fun to explore and always mysterious Mojave ~
Red Rock Canyon State Park is located in Southern California in the Mojave Desert. The canyon is composed of sandstone cliffs thousand’s of feet high, resting on ancient limestone and topped with volcanic rock. Check out these amazing formations! They reminded me of The Valley of the Kings in Egypt. (Click to enlarge).
The formations are approximately 14 million years old. The park is full of fossilized dinosaurs including elephants, extinct rhinos, three-toed horses, saber-tooth tigers and much more. It contains the richest concentrations of fossilized flora and fauna in Western North America. It is still being excavated by the Museum of Natural History.
Check out the people climbing in one area of the park. I included them so you could how massive these structures are!
The canyon sits on top of what was once an ancient inland lake. It is composed of sedimentary and igneous rock layers.
The vibrant red colors in the rock are from leeching iron oxide.
Red Rock Canyon was lifted by three seismic faults which pushed ancient rock to the surface. Wind, rain and sand erosion carved the beautiful structures in the sandstone.
This area was used as a trade route by Native Americans for thousands of years and is home to delicate desert flora and fauna.
Winter is a great time to visit! It is empty and not too hot. Cheers to you from the pristine and empty Red Rock Canyon!
Please Click to Enlarge for Optimal Viewing! These are the air sacks and flowers of the unusual Paperbag Bush or Flower Sage.
This beautiful plant creates multi-colored air sacks that contain nuts. Purple flowers extend from the air sacs creating a reamarkably beautiful sight!
Just arrived at Joshua Tree National Park and I had to fire you a few preliminary shots! (Please click to enlarge!)
The geological formations here formed over 100 million years ago. The outcrops of rock are called Monadnocks.
Joshua Trees are native to the south-western United States and live mainly in the Mojave Desert where the National Park is located.
The geological formations in the park are some of the most interesting in California.
I have lived within a three hours drive of this place all my life and have never been here. Obviously, having gotten my first look today, I can not imagine why I never came here before! It is gorgeous!!
Joshua Trees scientific name is Yucca Brevifolia and it is a member of the Yucca family.
They are blooming now and I’ll show you this beautiful sight soon. There are lots of plants here I have never seen before and I will show them to you soon too!
I named this formation the dinosaurs spine because this is just what it looks like to me!
Cheers & more to you soon from this amazing place! I am jazzed to be here!
