Joshua Tree National Park

On our way to Clyde's 50th High School

reunion in Beaumont, California we

spent a couple of days at Joshua Tree

National Monument. We were very glad

we took the time. Joshua Tree is truly a

remarkable place. I'm so glad our forefathers

saw the unique beauty and saved it for us to see!

As I catch up on our blogs (it is now 2011

and this took place in the fall of 2010),

I am not able to post his b&w images yet. He

has developed the film, but hasn't had time to

print anything. When he does, I'll post those

and let you know.

Heading into the park with the weird

shaped Joshua Trees surrounding us.

Our first stop was at the Cholla cactus.

The light was perfect and everywhere we

turned it seemed there was another photo!

The view looking out over the Cholla

cactus seemed to go on forever. Beautiful!

Clyde photographing the Cholla cactus

The early morning light on the

Cholla cactus was beautiful

Clyde heading out toward the

unreal landscape of Joshua Tree.

The shapes and forms provided us with

unlimited photographic opportunities.

GREAT place for photographers!

Our first stop among the wonderful

abstract shapes and forms of the landscape.

Clyde and me with our equipment

Clyde checking out how the orange

filter will work on the scene.

Hiking past a Joshua Tree toward those

wonderful soft looking round boulders.

So many fall flowers in bloom!

I think this is a stink bug. It's the only

critter we saw while photographing.

OUCH!

Great shapes...

Fall colors covered the desert

A pink and turquoise cactus.

AMAZING!

It seemed that everywhere we

looked there were wonderful

shapes to photograph.

Off in the distance we saw this large tree.

It reminded us of the trees back home so

we were drawn to it. Felt good to be in

the cool shade of something green.

The simple shapes and muted hues

contrasted beautifully with the flowers

and textures of the plants

It was a bit windy...Clyde often had to wait

quite a while for the gusts of wind to calm

down before he could take a photo

Yucca bloom

Seed pods of the Yucca

It was great to enjoy a uniquely different

landscape than the jungles of south Florida.

Joshua Tree is a lot like living in a Dr. Suess book!