Sunday, April 10, 2016
We had quite a bit of rain again last night, but it showed clearing by mid-morning, so we struck off for the park again.  We aren't far from the north entrance at Twentynine Palms, so it doesn't take us long to get there.  The park is 558,000 acres and it is quite diverse.  We traveled to the south entrance today and drove through a barren area called Pinto Basin. It was named after the early settlers, who were of a different culture, as artifacts of pottery shards and primitive tools were discovered there.  They are on exhibit at the visitor center, so we have to check that out. We drove in another area that we hadn't been and will do a hike there when we can depend on the weather.  An earthcache took us to the grave of John Lang, who was buried where he was found.  He was born in the Midwest in the mid-1850's and moved to California.  I'm not sure which story to believe, but he was known as a rancher, cattle rustler, prospector, and outlaw.  Maybe he was all of them!  In this area, we noticed so many wildflowers, so I will post some of them.  They were very abundant in this area.  The rain we've had will only help the display to continue. We drove to the end of that road where we walked up a paved sidewalk to view the San Andreas Fault. My pictures are dark due to the cloud cover, so we will go back on a sunny day and then I'll post my best picture.  It was a breathtaking view.  San Andreas Fault is known as California's sleeping giant.  It marks a boundary between two of Earth's tectonic plates.  It is responsible for the biggest earthquakes in California, with up to at least 8.1 magnitude.  I hope it doesn't decide to move while we are here!

 These are Datura or Moon Flowers that we see along the roadside leading to and in the park.  I will gather some of the seeds, but nothing can be taken from the park.  I used to have these when we had a house and they are insect free and beautiful. They bloom at night and stay open until mid-morning.

 

This is the grave of John Lang.  

 

  These are the California Evening Primrose.  The flower can be three inches across.

 The Desert Dandelions were so plentiful here, that it was like a carpet.  They are much unlike the Dandelion of the Midwest.

 Here is a combination of Sand Verbena and Canterbury Bells.

 This shows the heavy clouds we had to deal with today, but it didn't dampen our pleasure.  This is Cap Rock, and it is popular with the young people to climb.

We had driven past this area and saw this guy walking away from us, drumming on the rocks.  He had a camera crew, so we assume it was for some promotion.  We should have turned around.

We had never seen this flower before and I was informed that it is called Prince's Plume.  If you look closely, there is a bee in it gathering nectar.  It was quite showy.