Yesterday we hiked Cottonwood Canyon at the opposite end of Joshua Trees National Park. Since we come from Reno, Nevada, we are used to massive cottonwood trees - all golden in the autumn air. So we had to remind ourselves this was out in the middle of the desert, in a canyon with very little water ... so there weren't very many cottonwoods! There were a few palms in there as well, but mostly the hike is a dry wash canyon that was interesting and fun to hike down into.
This painting is from a photo I took of looking up out of the canyon, where the small Joshua trees are struggling to survive and are silouetted by the bright pale sky.
Tomorrow we drive home. I finished knitting two pairs of fingerless mittens, and now will be knitting a neck warmer scarf out of Miss Lucky's yarn (my French Angora Bunny). We are preparing to go back to cold weather...
