Exploring Joshua Tree National Park in California
This was my first time exploring this region of California and what a treat it was.
Joshua Tree National Park is located in the California 'low desert.' The land spans 794,000 acres and is home to various desert creatures and a favorite location for rock climbers and scrambler's.
You have the option to hike along general well marked trails that offer brief insights and facts about the history of the park.
In the photo to the left you can see a close up of two rock climbers summit this large bolder.
Joshua Tree's human history commenced sometime after the last ice age with the arrival of the Pinto people, hunter-gatherers who may have been part of the Southwest's earliest cultures. They lived in Pinto Basin, which though inhospitably arid today, had a wet climate and was crossed by a sluggish river some 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. Nomadic groups of Indians seasonally inhabited the region when harvests of pinyon nuts, mesquite beans, acorns, and cactus fruit offered sustenance. Bedrock mortars—holes ground into solid rock and used to pulverize seeds during food preparation—are scattered throughout the Wonderland of Rocks area south of the Indian Cove camping site.
A flurry of late 19th-century gold-mining ventures left ruins; some are accessible by hiking trails, or unmaintained roads suited only to four-wheel-drive vehicles and mountain bikes.- National Geographic
When in California be sure to pay a visit to this beautiful National park. Best times to visit are during the fall/winter seasons.
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