Chollas,Chollas Everywhere, Look Like Teddy Bears, But Don't Touch

We took our first of several drives into the Joshua Tree National Park. We are at the far south entrance of the Park and most of the trails and campgrounds are at the north end. We decided to just go as far as the Cholla Cactus Garden. We didn't see any of the chollas until we were almost at the garden. We started to see a few and then WOW. It really is a garden as they are all over. They are located in the western rim of the Pinto Basin. Cacti are only abundant in places where water supplies are seasonally plentiful. The garden area is on a well drained slope and is one of the view places in the park that exactly meets the needs of the teddy bear chollas. There are several other types of chollas as well. You really need to be careful when walking around the jumping teddy bear chollas, which got its nick name because even if you just brush against the plant, the spines will penetrate your clothing or skin, causing the barbed joint of the plant to detach and stay with you. When we got out of our car, we took Savannah out with us. We only were planning on taking her out at the entrance to the trail for a few minutes before putting her in the car while we took a short walk on the trail. However, several people warned us to not take her on the trail. In fact, one couple warned us as they had learned the hard way as they had just gotten done spending almost an hour taking the barbs out of their dog. We put her back in the car(luckily weather is nice but not too warm for her to stay in the car).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The more time I spend in the desert the more I come to appreciate its beauty.

Posted with Blogsy