Rocks that can be seen in Joshua Tree National Park: Cottonwood Pass Monzogranite, Phyllite, White Tank Monzogranite, Basalt, Pinto Gneiss, Skarn Deposits, Granite, Twentynine Palms Quartz Monzonite, Foliated Gneiss with Intrusive Granite RocksJoshua Tree has more interesting rock formations than Joshua Trees!A few Joshua Trees in front of a rock formation.Field of Joshua Trees.Can you see why this is called Skull Rock?Skull Rock.A Joshua Tree.Another Joshua Tree.Cholla Cactus Garden. Pronounce “choya”.Close up Cholla Cactus.
This park is frequently overrun with mosquitos. This sign is funny, but it is serious. Fortunately for me, today was mild. I had a personal mosquito repellant device on me, and I did not see or hear any mosquitos.I stayed on the boardwalk throughout the forest.Water tupelosDwarf palmettosThese are “knees” which are produced by bald cypress trees, These are one of the most famous features of Congaree.Weston LakeWeston Lake, which is an oxbow lake that was formerly a bend in the Congaree River.This is the only “wildlife” I encountered during my entire hike! I did not see (but they are out there!) any woodpeckers, turtles, snakes or alligators.More bald cypress and their knees.More bald cypress and their knees.More bald cypress and their knees.More bald cypress and their knees.There are trails, and also camping sites.Water tupelosSwitch caneMore bald cypress and their knees.Water tupelosWater tupelosMore bald cypress and their knees.Close up of a couple kneesLoblolly pines
Badlands National Park is incredible! Miles and miles of indescribable scenery. I’ll let the pictures do the talking, but even pictures do not do the Badlands justice. The panoramas are as far as the eye can see.Bighorn Sheep!This is what the dry ground here looks like.Full grown bighorn sheep.Another bighorn sheep.Young bighorn watching the sunset.As we leave the Badlands, we saw the only buffalo we saw in the Badlands. In fact, the only animals we saw in the Badlands were the Bighorn Sheep.
Wind Cave National Park includes scenic areas like this. The caves are below this ground.And of course, there are many buffalo within the park!This is the original natural entrance to the cave.Wind Cave got its name because of the wind that blows out of the natural entrance. The park ranger demonstrates the wind here. Depending on air pressure inside and outside the cave, the wind also blows into the cave.The stairs down the cave were narrow and steep.There are interesting holes and formations throughout the cave.Wind Cave is most famous for its boxwork formation. The origin of boxwork remains one of the biggest mysteries of Wind Cave. Boxwork is made of thin blades of calcite that project from cave walls and ceilings, forming a honeycomb pattern. The fins intersect one another at various angles, forming “boxes” on all cave surfaces.This is the largest room in the cave that we visited. It is 200 feet underground. The ranger demonstrated total darkness by turning off all the lights for a couple minutes. It was kind of disorienting. Excellent tour.
