[travel] Joshua Tree National Park

Because I was going to be so close to Joshua Tree National Park, I rented a car to drive over and check it out. I went in the south Cottonwood entrance from I-10:

I stopped by the visitor center to pick up some souvenirs and a national parks passport book. Joshua Tree was my first stamp!

I stopped at the cholla cactus garden:

This lizard was very nice and posed for pictures for me:

I think it's a desert side-blotched lizard.

Eventually I made it far enough north in the park to start seeing Joshua Trees:

Not sure what kind of cactus this is:

This is a mojave yucca. These were everywhere:

Mounds of smooth rock outcrops were near the road. People were climbing all over these:

More trees.

The tips of the green poofs are needle sharp.

Here's a crow on a young Joshua Tree:

I stopped at Barker Dam to walk a quick 1 mile loop around. 

Since I didn't have much time, I was power walking as fast as possible. I started a little white-tailed antelope squirrel:

 I stopped and it came a bit closer:

So cute. 

Finally a couple panoramic shots. This is from the Cottonwood area of the park, where the view was more flat and expansive:

This is from the north-western area of the park, where there were more rocky areas and Joshua Trees.

I loved this park. It wasn't crowded and it was really beautiful. I saw plants and animals I've never seen before. The passport book for national parks and places will be fun to fill with stamps. It's not only for the big parks- there are a couple places close to me where I can get stamps (Billings Farm, Saint-Gaudens).