Trips around California
Joshua Tree National Park
I went with a group to Joshua Tree, where we did two somewhat long trails. We started off doing the Lost Palms Oasis Trail, which is in the southeastern portion of the park. It's a nice trail that leads down to one of Joshua Tree's oases, where there's a group of fan palms. Beautiful scenery both on the trail and at the oasis.
Afterwards, we decided to do a bit of off-trail hiking and did a loop in the northwestern portion of the park that's kind of a trail but not really. It was extraordinarily remote, and without GPS we probably would've gotten rather lost. But, it also let us see some gorgeous sites and to see Joshua Tree during sunset.
We also managed to see some wildflowers on the way, and stopped at the Chollo Cactus Garden. All in all, an amazing trip.
Santa Rita Hills
Today I went on a wine tour organized by Caltech's Graduate Student Council, where one of the stops was the Lafond Winery in the Santa Rita Hills, about 45 minutes past Santa Barbara. Apart from good wine, it also had beautiful views.
Joshua Tree National Park
I just got back from a visit to Joshua Tree National Park. It's about two-and-a-half hours from Pasadena, mostly through the LA basin. Joshua Tree itself is very fascinating - the park is much more about the geology and plant life in the desert than wildlife or scenic views (at least not in the conventional sense). There is supposedly some wildlife, but for whatever reason I didn't see anything except a few birds (mostly crows or crow-like birds).
However, the landscape is just completely different than anything I've ever seen with strange rock formations that complement the even weirder Joshua tree. In fact one of the major "attractions" is the Geology Tour Road - an 18 mile dirt road through various geologic formations for which 4WD is recommended (although my car never needed it).
Photography there wasn't easy - I'm still not quite sure of how to photograph it and the lack of good sunlight or a good sunset didn't help. In addition, I didn't find the supposedly amazing wildflowers until fairly late in the day. However, I wasn't too impressed with them, but that may have just been the lack of light.
Sequoia National Park
On this weekend, I went with my parents to Sequoia National Park. Apart from seeing a bobcat our first night there (unfortunately, it was the one time I forgot my camera in the hotel room), we also saw a few black bears and a grey fox, along with the huge sequoia trees everywhere. Some nice photographs as well.
Day 9: Utah to California
Please see the first post on this trip for important details about this post.
The last day saw us leave Utah and head through some amazing areas in southwestern Utah. Nevada and California were rather boring desert compared to Utah, and even Las Vegas was not that impressive. We finally reached Pasadena not too late in the day, and began the process of moving in.
