There's an astonishing little pass between Anza and Joshua

Wadi

Approching the park

Definitively in the Park :-)

They look really cool, these Joshua Trees. They got their name from religious settlers- who initially tried to set up a turkey farm here, but eventually got convinced that it is too hot.

Did I already mention that we saw a REAL roadrunner here??

Cactus field

The park is on a huge plateau that gets incredible hot in summer. But in winter time, it is a paradies for hikers and rock climbers (I would skip the latter, as there are about 30 different types of snakes here)

Despite the heat, we did a little hike. It was really a little one, followed by a huge intake of water.

You can drive up to a lookout (1600m) and glimpse to Palm Springs (a very green spot consisting of gulf courses and luxury houses) or you could watch out for Salton Lake (only visible early morning, when the smog from LA did not yet arrive)

We looked out for desert mountains and got inspired to drive up to Yosemite :-)

Wicked plants allover

These stones resisted the huge erosion that formed the plateau and the valleys