Joshua Tree (not the U2 album)

After leaving Palm Springs we headed over to Joshua Tree National Park, about 45 minutes away. The week before I had watched a documentary about Gram Parsons, who apparently died in Joshua Tree (in fact, you can still sleep in the room where it happened--seems a little bit weird that they advertise it, but that's just me). I hadn't realized how much of a hippie town it is, a cluster of vegetarian, health food, and vintage shops in the middle of nowhere. (It was Thanksgiving when we went, so nothing was open, but it was all there on the main road.)

There's one main road going through the park, with various points of interest and hiking trails along the way. We took a one-mile loop trail to Barkers Dam, which was constructed in 1900 by cattlemen. I wanted to walk out on the ledge like this man but was too nervous. It's really narrow, and I'm not that graceful.

Not sure what this is--a water trough?. It's very Georgia O'Keeffe.

This place is called Skull Rock.

We decided to drive to Key's View, which is located on the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, and affords views of the Coachella Valley and the San Andreas Fault. It was so windy that this woman's knit hat was blown right off of her head and into the valley. I felt like I was going to blow away myself.

The view.

We had hoped to drive to the Salton Sea and Salvation Mountain afterward, but didn't leave early enough, and it was already growing dark by the time we left the park. Maybe next time!