Salton Sea

Salton Sea

High and Dry

Lake Havasu City

Lake Havasu City seen from the California side of the Lake

Box Canyon

Collapsed tree in Box Canyon

A smartphones, how smart are they really, GPS error sent us into Box Canyon. The road sort of parallels I-10 and the phone had been set to take us to Slab City. We realized it was directing us wrong when it said to merge with I-10 in 19 miles and continue on for more than two thousand miles. This was to get us to a place that we knew was only a few miles away near the Salton Sea. The narrow box part of Box Canyon was an interesting place of narrow canyons and great walls and formations.

Joshua Tree National Park

Snow on Mount Gorgonio

Evening at Hidden Valley

Oak Tree at Live Oak

Juniper and Monolith

Cholla Catcus Garden

Morning near Jumbo Rocks

Sunrise at Cracked Rock

On Cracked Rock Trail

At Cracked Rock

Three shot Pano

For the last fifty years I have driven past Joshua Tree National Park on the way to and back from California and never stopped. Last year on a photo trip my friend Don from Santa Fe stopped in for a visit cut short by horrible weather. This year he wanted to do a photo and printmaking workshop there and February looked like the best weather. After 12 days there I am ready to go back as there is a lot of variety there for photography and the Salton Sea and Box Canyon are nearby.

A RV park there has great cabins with full kitchens to rent which gave us room for Platinum Printmaking and we even found a great restaurant there at the 29 Palms Inn.

Saguaro Cactus

Saguaro Cactus are slow growing but have a life of 150-200 years. It may grow only an inch or two in the first ten years of its life and does best when it has the protection of a "nurse" tree to shade it some in the first part of its life. It is common to see one growing with a Palo Verde tree protecting it and in later years of its life surrounded  by the dead tree. On a trip to Joshua Tree Park we found this Palo Verde tree surrounded by six Saguaro Cactus. They are all over ten feet tall and one of them has an arm that normally means it is over a hundred years old. Certainly beyond the call of duty for this hardy Palo Verde tree.