Joshua National Park 1/15/2015

On the road again Thursday Jan. 15. Phil visited with the guys who asked for beer. Ended they didn't drink them. One guy from northern CA. The other from Dartmouth came for residency interview at UCLA. So many interesting people we meet.
We got our campsite at Jumbo Rocks then explored the Barker Dam trail.

 Years ago the rancher put in a dam so they had a water supply for their cattle.  You can see the different bands of color denoting water level when the water was dammed.

Barker Dam wall.

 Petroglyphs.

 Manzanita bush (red bark) called little apple bush.   Interesting to see all the different types of desert plants. I'm getting so I can name some of them.

 Close up of a rock climber.

 Can you find the climber?

Hidden Valley was the next trail. Just before FDR enacted protection of this land the brothers dynamited to open the hidden valley.

 Another rock climber.  He's atop.  When we arrived we saw a lot of Park vehicles including a Search and Rescue vehicle. When finished our hike saw a guy in official looking gear. He was a volunteer and they were doing a monthly training. He said rock climbers are so educated nowadays that they usually are not called out for rock climbers. But people who think they can hike or climb some rocks and get in dangerous situations.

On the Cap Rock trail we met a couple from MN. They thought we were from the Midwest because Phil had on a Menard's shirt

Key View (elevation 5,185 ft.) overlooking the valley of mountains, desert and cities).

When we got back we enjoyed another campfire and the quiet of the Park.