Al is very good about stopping whenever I feel the need to get a picture or shop or …..whatever! So there are lots of pictures along this road…mostly desert views …just sayin’
From a distance the jumping cholla, or teddy bear cholla, looks like a fuzzy, soft plant with many short, fuzzy branches looking like teddy bear arms, growing from the top. As you get closer you realize that the cuddly looking plant is completely covered with silvery spines. If you are unlucky enough to touch the spines, you will find yourself painfully stuck to a spiny segment that seems to have "jumped" off the plant. Segments will also "jump" when stepped on and attach themselves to your leg.
The name Joshua tree was given by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. The tree's unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer. Ranchers and miners who were contemporary with the Mormon immigrants also took advantage of the Joshua tree, using the trunks and branches as fencing and for fuel for ore-processing steam engines.
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