Trip leader Derek reported Tuesday for the Trip 12 team:
“Today we’ve hit 20 people on the trip. We went to Barker Dam, which has plenty of water thanks to the storms last week. We saw some petroglyphs, and we may see more. Turns out the natives here used to have recipes for apple pie. We stopped at the local pie stand and tried it. It is delicious.
“Last night, Andy, our resident entomologist, gave us the lowdown on the 21 species of beetles in Joshua Tree National Park.
“Some other fun facts: The Joshua tree grows one inch a year. Several are in bloom and they only bloom every 98 years, which means most of the trees blooming are more than nine feet tall. Some are probably close to 200 years old based on their size and blooms.
“The trip is going well. Everyone’s having fun swapping stories.”
On Wednesday, the Trip 12 team concludes its car camping and day hiking adventure in Joshua Tree National Park.