Joshua Tree National Park seemed like a must-visit on my drive through the Southwest, and it didn’t disappoint. It gave me a true taste of what I envisioned the Mojave Deserts of Southern California to be like.
Driving over the hills surrounding the park and into the forests of Joshua trees was truly unique. I am a fan of plants, particularly desert plants/succulents, and this place was teeming with them. Between the gorgeous Joshua trees and the various species of spiky cactuses (“cacti” and “cactuses” both being grammatically correct ways to reference more than one cactus, FYI) Joshua Tree is very much like a large, wild botanical garden. Nothing better displayed this abundance of wildlife than the Hidden Valley Nature Trail, which was laden with signage describing various plants and animals that are common within the area and blurbs on the history of the park.
The weather was gorgeous and warm, a nice change from the higher elevations I had been exploring shortly before. The sunset was about as good as I imagined it’d be. My only regret was setting up behind an eastern-facing mountain in the park, meaning I didn’t really get to capture any beautiful golden light hitting a western-facing slope. Once the sun was below the mountain line, I was shooting in complete shadow and had no choice but to end the day and drive back to town for some tacos and beer. Such a hard life mine is.
