The Universe

The Park is certainly amazing, but then the sun goes down and you look up at the sky... [A composite of 60 25-second exposures at f/4.5 and ISO 3200]

The Earlier Universe

Though processed and posted later, this was the first of the two star trails I shot that night. [60 25-second exposures at f/5.6 and ISO 3200] Kind of impressed with the strict adherence to the flight patterns, but unsure what the horizontal line of red dots represents, especially the gap in the middle. It didn't go dark and I didn't skip an image. It just jumped forward (right/east) from one image to the next. A short hyperspace jump though, if confirmed, would corroborate my theory that the other streaks aren't airplane lights but a Tholian web being covered up by the Men In Black.

Flowering Cactus

Bloom on the cholla cactus in the Cholla Garden.

Organized Rocks

Gotta love it when Mother Nature keeps things organized. Outhouse left in for scale.

Really Old Graffiti

Almost missed these petroglyphs on the trail to the Barker Dam, but karma rewarded me for helping another visitor translate a sign.

Worth Bagley Stone, kinda sorta

According to a nearby plaque, the original Worth Bagly stone was damaged by vandals in 2014 and moved to the park museum. This plaque, with the original (and accurate) inscription marks the place the stone sat for years after being erected by Keys upon his release from San Quentin.

"Classic" auto

Most places would call it trash and tow it, but here it's an historic artifact alongside the Wall Street Stamp Mill, a former gold mine.

Shadow Selfie

Early morning light gives me a tall and skinny shadow. I can live with that.

Moonset

Got the setting Moon between the leaves (fronds?) of the park's namesake joshua trees.

Stars

A single from the star-trail composites made from that night. This is a single 25-second exposure looking roughly northeast, with the constellations Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda visible.

Just a bit of Taurus

One of the later singles from the night's star-trail composites, this 25-second exposure still includes Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda, and but now includes part of Taurus rising above the horizon.

Just, Wow

Still have trouble with the fact that these are natural and not from Disney or Lucasfilm.

Baby Joshua Trees

Nice little cluster for an early morning shot.

Skull Rock

While I was alone here this morning, my previous two stops had it swarming with tourists doing skull-selfies. For scale, there's gap of about eight feet between this front rocks and the bottom of the skull. Standing in front of the feature at 6'1 I still don't come up to the top of the nose hole.

My Little Friend

He stalked me for a while near the Jumbo Rocks area.

Tree From A Crack In The Rock

"Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way." Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Been seeing these since I got here, but damn they're fast. Barely got this with the 300mm telephoto before he jackrabbited away.

Marines

Marines finishing a morning run as I was heading out on the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail.

First glimpse

My first view of the trees of the oasis from the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail. This was an early hike and the sun is just coming over the mountain behind the oasis.

Shangri-La

The Fortynine Palms Oasis, a natural oasis on the northern edge of Joshua Tree National Park. For scale, note the trail and sign in the lower right corner of the image.

Green Desert

Landmark palms of the Fortynine Palms Oasis on the northern edge of the Joshua Tree National Park.