Our visit to Joshua Tree was part of a trip to the "Desert Parks of California", and included stops a Death Valley, The East Mojave National Preserve, and California's big State Park of Anza Borrego.  Of the four,   Joshua Tree was the most spectacular (at least to us).

We'd decided to go after reading a "New York Times" article and April seemed like a good month, so off we went. "National Geographic's Guide to the National Parks", described "Keys View" as "the park's premier vantage point for motorists", so we marked it on the map, and decided that sunset would be a good time to get there.  Located at the end of a six mile spur off the main park road, it's well worth the ride.

We got there just as the good light was beginning and went through at least a roll and a half of film, shooting frame after frame as the sun approached the horizon and dropped below it.

Horizontals, verticals, with the tree, without the tree.  You name it, we tried it.  We figured that somewhere, among all those frames, there'd be at least one outstanding one.  We actually wound up with about a dozen. <g>

We sat for awhile after we were done shooting, listening to the stillness and letting our thoughts wander.  It's hard to believe, but there're still those who see places like this as just so much wasted land that could be sub-divided, parceled out, and developed (read exploited).  What a shameful and tragic squandering that would be.....Izzy