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More of Don's
photo series.


Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park, in the distance

Heading west from Temecula, California, you climb and climb up a beautiful mountain road. At the summit there is a viewpoint. What you see from the viewpoint is the Coachella Valley, spread out before you. In the mountains you see in the distance lies Joshua Tree National Park, a desert park featuring scenery, rock climbing, hiking, wildlife, and cactus. And of course Joshua Trees.

Teddy Bear Cholla

I'm not going to attempt to name all the cactus for you. But I will say there are lots of them, and lots of different kinds. I think this is a Teddy Bear Cholla (pronounced "hoya").

Some kind of cactus

I also saw two coyote, but they saw me first so I didn't get photos.

The Joshua tree isn't a tree, of course; it's a yucca.

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree detail

Keyes View looks back onto the first photo of this series: Coachella Valley lies below, and the mountains in the background are the ones I was in in the first photo. (That may not be precisely true; there are lots of mountain ranges and valleys around here, but it is symbolically true at least.)

The view from Keys View, Joshua Tree National Park

Cactus Don, aka Prickly Pete

Some fellow tourists wanted their picture taken. They looked like a nice couple, maybe on their honeymoon. so I was glad to do it, and let them take one of me as well.

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