Joshua trees are a kind of yucca
(say you-cuh) plant. They are desert plants, but occur at high altitudes. They were named by Mormon pioneers who were travelling northwards looking for a place where they could establish settlements and follow their religion in peace. When they saw the strange shapes of these trees they were reminded of a bible story about Joshua who raised his arms to the heavens to pray.
In this national park there are two kinds of desert. In the lower parts there is Colorado type desert: low tussocks of grass and low shrubs. As it gets higher, this kind of desert merges with yucca desert which takes over: small plants, yuccas and joshua trees. We started with Colorado type desert, and the rocks looked like piles of rubble. These gave way to huge boulders piled up.
At a place called Keys Point there was an overview of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains, and we could see the San Andreas fault, even though there was quite heavy haze in the distance. The San Andreas Fault is a line of weakness in the earth's crust that runs through much of California.
As we descended to leave the park, the Joshua trees stopped abruptly and the Colorado type desert reappeared, this time with a cactus called cholla
(say choy-ya), attractive but not to be touched. The silvery bristles that look fluffy are each tipped with a minute prickle. If you touch the plant or even brush against it as you walk past, the spines spear your clothing, shoes or skin. They hang on tight and a whole section of the plant comes off and stays with you. When it finally drops to the ground, it easily grows into new plants, which gives the cholla its nickname 'jumping cholla'.
We drove onto San Diego, our last destination.
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