Joshua Tree: Hidden Valley Nature Trail

While hanging out at my brother's in Claremont, the VPo man and I decided to head out to Joshua Tree for a day.  The VPo Man would take a personal day.  When it comes to the VPo Man, it's personal.

My brother had recently been to Joshua Tree and said it's like stepping onto another planet.  As we started out after stopping at the visitor center, we noticed right away the landscape and the trees are otherworldly.

The ranger at the visitor center recommended the Hidden Valley Nature Trail which is right off the main road in the park and only a few miles from the west entrance.  My guess is that this is one of the few spots that the average visitor to the park gets out of the car and walks on its trails.  It's a great introduction to the park.

Joshua Tree is a rock climbing mecca

The otherworldly VPo Man

We really enjoyed looking at the joshua trees up close.  At first, from the car, we weren't sure if they were really trees.  Up close they certainly were.  The trunk looks as if it has normal bark.  Further up the tree the branches are needle like.  We felt a few and they are quite sharp.  Joshua trees had many uses I'm sure.  The first settlers used them for fencing.  

Here are some up close photos of the trees in its different stages of development:

A very young one.  Does not look like a tree at all.

A young one, but it's thinning out.

The lower part is starting to form bark.

Another young one.

A young tree starting to look like a tree.

They are sharp

Some fairly young trees taking shape

Spring flowers

Most of the trees had flowers

The bottom has the resemblance of a real tree.  It apparently takes a few years to develop.