all images © James Tung, 2001-2008
Here's a link to the homepage of the national park.
I was there for just the day with my cousin Vincent. We arrived at the Twentynine Palms entrance in the cool desert morning, and basically drove around the park all day, and occasionally took a closer of the more interesting stuff by foot. The longest hike we did that day was a 1.6-mile climb of the Ryan Mountain. The western half of the park (part of Mojave Desert) has Joshua trees, jumbo rocks, and more vegetation (we even saw a coyote). The eastern half is more desolate and is part of the Colorado Desert.
We were soon confronted with these rocks shortly after entering the park, and there are many others like them throughout the western half of the park, with climbers plastered on the surfaces of a few.
on rock near entrance |
same rock |
near bottom of Ryan Mountain |
We climbed the Ryan Mountain Trail fairly early in the morning, before it was too hot.
on top of Ryan Mountain |
halfway from top |
halfway from top |
Scattered throughout the Mojave half of the park, there are fields of this stuff toward the middle of the half. Want to know where it grows and how it got its name? Go to this link.
on top of Ryan Mountain |
near bottom of Ryan Mountain |
some Joshua tree field |
As we drove through the transition zone from the Mojave to the Colorado Desert, we passed by the cholla cactus garden. Read this page for a painful description of what happens if you happen to touch one.
up close |
cholla cacti field |
don't try this |
On both sides of I-10 are these wind turbines. The site for the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Energy Program contains loads of information about these gadgets.
wind turbines in smog |
wind turbines |
(we were stuck in traffic) |
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all images © James Tung, 2001-2008