{"id":6984,"date":"2023-10-14T23:22:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T03:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/steveandmarleneontheroad.com\/?p=6984"},"modified":"2024-02-03T02:06:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T06:06:37","slug":"october-14-2023-trip-12-day-13-joshua-tree-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steveandmarleneontheroad.com\/?p=6984","title":{"rendered":"October 14, 2023 : Trip 12, Day 13 – Joshua Tree National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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We saw Joshua Trees on our way to Hidden Valley.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hidden Valley is a small area that is surrounded naturally by rocky ridges. Most of the ways into the valley are up and over steep ridges. The entrance we used is a narrow path through some boulders. Inside Hidden Valley, we saw lots of Joshua Trees, some flowers, and lots of rocky ridges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The trail lead us around the perimeter of the valley. The valley really is surrounded by ridges and filled with Joshua Trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We were hiking during the time of the eclipse. We tried using our camera to take pictures. We did not get the result we expected. Instead, we got an artifact on the photo that showed the progress of the eclipse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our second hike was the Barker Dam Nature Trail. It is another rocky trail through the desert of Joshua Tree National Park. We went by the old abandoned Barker Dam. It is still a solid structure but it is no longer used. Further down the trail, we found petroglyphs in a cave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We saw a large number of Joshua Trees. Many of them were very large and probably quite old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Even though the Barker Dam area is desert, we found a large collection of colorful plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As we drove over dirt roads toward Skull Rock, we saw even more Joshua Trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We took some pictures of Skull Rock before we went on the hike. It took a long time to get a picture with no one in front of Skull Rock. We got the picture after a man next to us asked if people could clear the front for us so he could take a similar photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Skull Rock Trail is a loop trail over the rocks in the area. There are narrow places, steep sections, and some rock scrambles. At least one place required us to slide through a very narrow passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here are some plants and a butterfly we saw on the hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The number of Joshua Trees in the area in incredible. We saw some more larger trees on on drive to Keys View.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Keys View is a high overlook. You can see the surrounding mountains and the Salton Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After we left Keys View, we headed to Camarillo, California. We saw some more Joshua Trees on our way out of the park. We saw some wind turbines when we got closer to the coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We enjoyed our desert hikes in Joshua Tree National Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We saw Joshua Trees on our way to Hidden Valley. Hidden Valley is a small area that is surrounded naturally by rocky ridges. Most of the ways into the valley are up and over steep ridges. The entrance we used is a narrow path through some boulders. Inside Hidden Valley, we saw lots of Joshua […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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