Jumping Off and Jumping Cactus

Our trip to Los Angeles was uneventful, which is how you want your flights to be.  Met by our lovely niece who has been a California resident since starting college there in 2003.  Our first day was run by adrenaline and lasted almost 21 hours.  We ran into LA city the first night for a sampling of beer by Angel City Brewing and then Mexican food and some vendor shopping and on to Santa Monica to see the Pacific at night and walk the Pier.  It was very windy and quite chilly.  Need to rethink all those summer clothes I packed.  The next morning was to be a hiking trip to Big Bear Mt. but when we woke up the temperature at Big Bear was 34 and raining.  It was also raining quite hard in Los Angeles so a quick change of itinerary led us south towards Palm Springs, the Mohave Desert and a promise of sunshine.  The rain did stop as we neared Palm Springs.  The most amazing sight we saw at this point, besides the sun, was the "forest" of windmills.  These enormous 3-bladed structures line the flat lands and the mountains for miles.  I have never seen anything quite like it. Our final destination was Joshua Tree National Park where the high Mohave Desert meets the low Colorado Desert. It is almost 800,000 acres of changing landscape but most notably covered by the Joshua Tree, a cross between a tree and a cactus and it grows best at the elevation of the park, which is between 3,000-5,000 ft.  The road in the park passes by gigantic granite boulders that form small and large playgrounds for rock climbers.  They sometimes seems to defy science as they perch precariously on top of each other.  Our first adventure was a small loop around a trail where we saw the desert in bloom and climbers on the boulders. Our next adventure within the park was a much more strenuous hike up Ryan Mountain.  The steep, 1.5 mile each way trail was truly invigorating!  Just what Bob and I enjoy.  It was very windy and cool but since the temperatures in this area can climb to 100 in the summer, it was a welcome climate.  We made it to the top, 5,247 ft. elevation in around an hour.  Going back down, while all downhill, took less time but hiking downhill has its own challenges.  We then drove out of the park, which takes almost an hour.  The vegetation on the way out are the Cholla cactus.  An extremely beautiful cacti also known as "jumping cactus" and with good reason.  Although they do not actually jump, the plants have an annoying tendency to attach themselves to you with even the slightest touch.  We toured the Cholla Garden where the warnings are severe about staying on the marked trail.  We did not disobey those rules.  It was almost 3 hours before we would be back in the suburb of Corona and my niece's lovely dog, Lovey.  Bob drove home since Kate had been driving us everywhere and he struggled with the high winds on the highway.  A quick dinner on the grill and it was bedtime for an early rise on Monday when we would get driven back to the airport to pick up our rental car.  More to follow.....