Day 35 – May 8

After breakfast we headed out for Anza Borrega National Park. Jane and Ike were running a bit late so Sean and Carla and Diane and I headed out knowing that our frequent photo stops would allow them to catch up. We had to back track a bit east to get to the main park entry and then headed south through the park. Most national parks have a specific reason for being created be it geologic, vegetation, historic etc. in the case of Joshua Tree it was geologic, although a substantial private land donation helped to prompt the government of 1935 to establish the park.

The geological feature of Joshua Tree is a unique formation of granite rocks. Large vertical and horizontal cracks that formed in the subterranean granite allowed water to flow through rounding the rocks to give the impression of a series of interlocking rocks piled on one another. This is a rock climbers paradise.

Joshua Tree’s rocks

After several photo stops and one stop to climb one of the smaller rock piles to get a better view of the desert we were becoming concerned that Jane and Ike had not caught up. However at a traffic hold up for road work they finally joined us.

We arrived at the Anza Borrega Park before dark and although the temperatures were not dropping as they had the night before there were gale force winds blowing down the canyon. Sean estimated them at 16 knots but I think gale force sounds more impressive. Due to the wind we had supper in the BRT. A tasty meal of roasted chicken, potatoes and salad.

An Anza Borrega breeze

The wind dropped later that night and we sat out with Jane and Ike watching the stars. Although there is more light pollution here than at Big Bend, with the absence of a moon we were still treated to a stellar show.