A couple from this morning

[Richard D]

Joshua Tree National Monument.

[Mira]

1. So nice! Wish I could see it, but thanks to you I have a hint.

Only vaguely Joshua Tree rings a bell.. Google here I come.
The green in the water is intriguing. It can't be moss.
thanks for posting these

[Richard D]

2. Joshua Tree

It's a national monument that is a couple hours east and a bit north of Los Angeles. It has the oldest exposed rocks in North America. It's also named after, of course, the Joshua Tree. An imposing plant in the yucca family (actually a lily!).

I went out there to try to photograph the meteor shower, which ended up with a lot of black photos, for which I set the ISO to 1600. Cold night without enough warm clothes left me in a total fog in the morning light. I forgot to reset the ISO, forgot to turn autofocus back on, and was cranky. So not too many other photos. The meteor shower was stunning and worth the whole experience though.

A more typical JT view. The plant is, of course, a Joshua Tree.