Cholla Cactus Garden

The next stop in the park was the Cholla Cactus Garden. The joshua trees grow in the northern end of the park at higher elevations, in the Mojave Desert. The cactus garden is to the south and significantly lower in elevation in the Sonoran Desert. The garden is an extremely dense stand of Cholla, or teddy bear cactus, mixed in with some yellow wildflowers. It was HOT, HOT, HOT at this site, in the mid nineties and the air was dry as a bone.

Cholla Cactus

Here is shot that gives you a little sense for the cactus garden. These plants ranged from ankle/knee high to nearly seven feet tall. Some were blooming as well with flowers. This shot was taken with the 50D handheld, 14mm, ISO 100, F11.0, 1/60 second. You will also notice that these plants tend to shed balls of spines all over the ground. Try wearing some sandals in here...yeah, I dare ya!

Cholla Cactus and Wildflowers

Mixed in with the Cholla were occassional yellow wildflowers. As it was already May, most of the wildflowers had long withered away from the intense heat of the Sonoran Desert. This shot was again taken handheld with the 50D, 13mm, ISO 100, F11.0, 1/50 second.