The Hidden Valley

The Hidden Valley was a favourite place for cattle rustlers in the 19th century - well concealed and green. The present entrance to the valley was blasted by a prospector and appears suddenly around a bend in the trail. A nice panorama at the DesertUSA site.



Joshua Trees just outside the Hidden Valley 

The walls of the hidden valley 

Atlas, he shrugged 

The mouth of the valley 

Assigning shapes to rock formations is more fun and interesting than assigning shapes to constellations. 

Yuccas against the sky make nice subjects 

A well marked trail runs through the valley  

Dr. Jones ? 

Paddy under azure blue skies 

That looks like something out of a comic book - preferably a bad guy. Or better still .. a Terry Pratchett troll ? 

The trailhead 

I was sometimes having the sneaking suspicion that the Hidden Valley was gardened :) Prime McKenna's Gold country 

A convoluted Cholla cactus in the valley 

A large ( read old ) Joshua Tree, Joshua Trees are not trees, they are lilies. They do not have age rings. Hence the only way to age a Joshua Tree is to carbon-date it. A rough idea can be made from the height and number of branches too.  

Wildflower blooms - we went at a time between low desert flower carpets and high desert flower carpets. While we didn't get to see any flower carpets, we saw virtually all kinds of flowers. 

Joshua Trees in the valley - they are few and far between - as the altitude in the valley is rather low, even though the valley is moist. 

A Striped Californian Racer ( Californian Whipsnake ) grabs a Mojave Fringe-Toed Lizard just a foot from our feet. 

Irritated at our intrusion, it retreats into the scrub with the prey .. look at the camouflage ! 

The yucca bloom - pollinated only by the Yucca moth, as is the case for the Joshua Tree - which is actually a yucca. 

The yucca in its environ. Our shadows had a Peter Pannish way of getting into all the photographs, and in general, getting in the way. 

Yucca bloom hiding the desert sun. Since the Mojave is a high altitude desert, we really didnt feel the heat of the sun that much - but got heavily tanned. 

The perfect lair for a cougar or a bobcat. Even has decorative flower clumps in front. ( I sound like a real estate agent ) Unfortunately, we did not see any large mammals except for one coyote crossing the road. 

Paddy in front of the canyon walls 

The winding little trail 

Paddy looking around for worthwhile subjects