The Joshua Tree is the common name for the yucca brevifolia (and also a U2 album).
I spotted this particular specimen having left Grand Canyon West, gotten back onto Pierce Ferry Road, and headed north to Pearce Ferry and South Cove. In the background of this shot is Grapevine Mesa. While this particular specimen was on private land, just off the highway, the Grapevine Mesa Joshua Tree forest, a few miles to the south of where I took this shot, is claimed to be the best display of Joshua Trees in the USA, better even that the Joshua Tree National Park in California.
According to Wikipedia, Pearce ferry is named for James Pearce, but is often misspelled as Pierce – such as on mapquest and Google Maps. Back in the late 1800's it was an important crossing on the Colorado river. It marks the boundary between the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead.
The ferry has long since gone and the boat ramp was shut down in 2001 when the water level in Lake Mead dropped below 1175ft. It now stands at 1100ft having dropped over 120ft in the last decade! With the silt load of the Colorado river at 3 – 5 tons er second, after the construction of the Hoover Dam the upper reaches of Lake Mead have silted up. There are some great images of the area at this site.
[ad name=”post”]
Production Data
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Lens: Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM AF Lens
Processing: Lightroom 4 beta
Processing: photomatix 4.02
Processing: photoshop CS5
Processing: Topaz Adjust 5
