Joshua Tree

Because my daughter Megan (see the blog of mab) would be in Riverside for her 10th High School Reunion, and had Saturday morning and afternoon free, we planned on loading the saddlebags with our cameras and heading for Route 2, the Angelus Crest Highway, which opened up a week previously after four years of closure, making it possible to ride from Wrightwood to La Canada through the Angelus Mountains. The weather didn't cooperate with our plan for the mountain ride, however. It would be overcast and somewhat cool according to the forecast, and would probably rain in that area.

The weather in the Joshua Tree area looked much better. The day's temperature would peak at 85 Farenheit and the sky would be clear east of the San Gorgonio Pass. In addition, the ever-present winds in the pass would not rise above 12 miles per hour during the day. We quickly changed our route plan and rode toward the desert.

As usual for this time of year (last weekend of May) there was a "marine layer" shrouding the Inland Empire in the morning, a cloud laying on the land that creates an overcast sky, which typically burns off in the afternoon. We rode out of the overcast by the time we were in the San Gorgonio Pass and the sky became progressively clearer as we approached Joshua Tree, the town north of the National Monument.

The photographs in this post were all made with a Nikon D200 and within the borders of the Joshua Tree National Monument. I chose them from aproximately 160 that I made that day. I believe they give a feel for the terrain and features of the area. Click on any photograph to view a larger version.

A dead Joshua tree.

Close view of a Cholla cactus.