Joshua Tree in the eye of the beholder, the eye of the adventurer. My mom and I recently visited Joshua Tree National Park down by Palm Springs. A park full of rock pillars and sculptures and very odd looking trees that slightly resemble puffy cacti slapped on the ends of a scruffy looking tree trunk. Odd but intriguing plants.

The first thing we did was visit Barker’s Dam. It was a nice little hike out to a small lake and a very old looking dam.

Reflections truly are a beautiful thing, it always makes me wonder if there is always another mirror image of every single thing on earth, and we just don’t know it. I feel like reflections give us a brief glimpse of this other world of upsides and opposites. They are beautiful, especially with the rich blues and bright red rocks contrasting. It really is one of my favorite types of landscapes to shoot.

On our way back from the dam we visited a petroglyph site which was my favorite part of the trip. It was this big monolith of a rock with a dug out little alcove in it high above the ground where nestled inside were old cave drawings from native americans. I climbed up the rock and into the alcove to get a better look at them. Being so close to these old drawings was an awe inspiring experience. To feel so near history, to something so ancient that it is hard to fathom. It was remarkable, not to mention the scenery you could see from inside there.

After that we visited the Arch Rock which was a spectacular arch of red rock in a canyon of giant boulders. It was so cool to look around at this desert rocky landscape and photography it.

OVerall Joshua Tree was a very nice national park and the petroglyphs were definitely the best part. The cacti were pretty amazing as well. Another park down for the travel buddies.