Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park doesn't create the same emotional impact as other National Parks.  Joshua Tree is another Park under the Dept of Interior selected for its unique qualities.  I'll attempt to convey those qualities in my photographs and commentary.  In my desert travels in the Southwest I have encountered Joshua Trees in unexpected locations.  It would appear they grow and thrive at between 3,000 and 4,000 feet in elevation.  The Park has that ideal combination of climate and elevation that enables the trees to thrive.  The rocks are a bonus.

The Park is all about the trees and the rocks.

Silhouettes of Joshua Trees against a bright sky.  My attempt at being artsy.

 

The Park is a Meca for rock climbers.  Here are some young people using a foam pad to break their falls.

If you look closely there is a wire anchored to the top of the rock and a man climbing into a harness.

I hope this climber is attached to a rope.

Notice the two climbers at the top of this rock.  I wonder what it would be like to be in this kind of shape?

Shot taken in town.  Turns out the best specimens I saw all day.

Kind of a "Kilroy Was Here" moment.

Joshua Trees bloom every 2-3 years.  I was really lucky to visit the Park at exactly the right time between January and early March.  The blooms reminded me more of cauliflower than normal flowers.  The leaves are spines like on a Yucca.

The Park has mile after mile of Joshua Tree groves like this.  Combined with the rocks and mountainous terrain it was pretty surreal given there is no other place like this on earth.

Romeo and I after a lazy day in Joshua Tree National Park.  Stacked like a child's building blocks the rocks are a product of 200 million years of erosion.

Wind turbine generators require average wind speeds of at least 21 km/h (13 mph). The largest of these windmills stands 150 feet tall with blades half the length of a football field. The compartments at the top containing the generator, hub and gearbox weigh 30,000 to 45,000 pounds.

A wind turbine's cost can range upwards to $300,000 and can produce 300 kilowatts - the amount of electricity used by a typical household in a month. Almost all of the currently installed wind electric generation capacity is in California. The high-tech megatowers are engineered in cooperation with NASA and nursed by federal and state subsidies. This wind farm on the San Gorgonio Mountain Pass in the San Bernadino Mountains contains more than 4000 separate windmills and provides enough electricity to power Palm Springs and the entire Coachella Valley.

When viewed from the end of a row the windmills create a unique aesthetic.  The effect is lost in a still picture, but when seen in motion it appears to the eye as a rotating monster cactus.  It's almost hypnotizing.