A Hike to Samuelson's Rocks

We enjoyed another beautiful day in sunny southern California.  Our tour directors offered us a trip to view Samuelson's Rocks, and after hearing their briefing, we were game for it!  Our 1.5 mile walk was through the Joshua Tree National Park, which is a delightful spot.  Here is one of the wonderful Joshua Trees:

according to stories that I have been told, it is named thus because it reminded early settlers of Joshua lifting his arms up to the heavens in prayer.  You may be able to spot a snow capped mountain in the distance.

The Joshua Trees are dying, and no one seems to know the cause for this.  

We walked through a lot of scrub, and Molly was good enough to warn me not to brush up against, or step on, any of the Cholla Cactus:

You can hear more about this terrible stuff here.  Not fun, huh?


I loved the bleached and dried wildflowers as well as the many species of cactus that were all around us as we headed towards our destination.  

Samuelson's Rocks are located in a somewhat hilly area, where many large rocks seem to have been piled one on top of another.  Of course, Mother Nature did that, and then Mr. Samuelson must have decided this was a suitable spot to spend some of his days.  You can read more about him here and if you are interested in even more, you can further google him for some interesting reading.  It's a fascinating place and I will share just a few of my rock photos.

here's a detail shot:

We all wandered around, looking for more rocks decorated with Mr. Samuelson's beliefs, and found a few

I really liked these bedsprings, but doubt that I'd be brave enough to spend a night under the stars in this remote part of the world!

After a pleasant but somewhat warmer walk back to the car, we drove on through Joshua Tree, passing the Cholla Cactus Gardens and the lovely Ocotillo Patch.  The latter are just beginning to bloom, and their lovely red flowers were brilliant against their green foundations and the blue sky.  


We made the obligatory ("history demands it") stop for a late lunch, which included both a sandwich and a very delicious, filling, and I'm sure calorie laden date shake.  YUMMMMM

The drive home is one of my favorites: through the wonderful land of windmills

PEACE