Joshua Tree National Park

From the river house dave and I headed west to Joshua Tree National Park. We had both heard a lot of neat things about this park and were excited to check it out. In fact, I would list this as one of my top three things I wanted to see on our voyage. We were not disappointed, despite a freak snow storm, and are already thinking about when we can go back and check out more of the crazy rock formations this park has to offer.

Entrance Sign

Two large desert ecosystems mostly determined by elevation come together at the park. Below 3,000 feet, the Colorado Desert occupies the park’s eastern half. It is dominated by abundant creosote bushes but accented by stands of spidery ocotillo and jumping cholla cactus. Higher, more moist, slightly cooler, the Mojave Desert hosts its signature plant – and ecological cornerstone – the Joshua Tree. Extensive stands characterize the park’s western half.

Joshua Tree in the Queen Valley Forest

Cholla Cactus

The Joshua tree is not really a tree at all but a member of the lily family (like other yuccas). By the mid-19^th century, Mormon immigrants named the tree after the biblical figure, Joshua, seeing the limbs of the tree reaching upwards toward heaven. Their flowering is dependent on a) well-timed rains, b)a crisp winter freeze (researchers believe below freezing temperatures damage the growing end of the branch and simulate flowering) and c) the yucca moth (the moth lays her eggs inside the flower and they eat a few of the seeds while it pollinates the flower). Single stalked trees haven’t flowered yet since the flowering starts the branching process. It is difficult to age Joshua trees because they don’t have growth rings like normal trees. You can divide the height of the tree by the annual growth of one-half inch to get a rough estimate.

Joshua Tree Flower

dave versus the Joshua Tree

The plants were one of the reasons to come to this park but the main reason was the incredible crazy rock formations found throughout most of it. This is a rock climbers paradise. Although we didn’t have enough climbing gear with us to engage in anything too crazy, we did take advantage of the scampering. Scampering possibilities were everywhere. We could have spent our entire park stay within our campground, Jumbo Rocks. It was appropriately named. From our site you could head out over the rocks and climb around for hours. Each night we scampered up to the highest point and watched the sun set. We also tried our luck squeezing through tunnels and walking under rock arch formations. We had a ball.

Split Rock Picnic Area

View of Jumbo Rocks Campground from Highest Point (Can you find Hans?)

dave in a Rock Tunnel

jody Near Arch Rock

Even though we were in the desert we didn’t seem to leave Alaska too far behind. A freak snowstorm dropped an inch of snow on us one day to remind us what our friends are experiencing in Alaska.

Snowy Joshua Tree in the Campground

Despite being in a relatively remote location we were constantly reminded of the modern world outside the park’s borders. While visiting one of the vista points in the park, Keys View, we saw this quote:
Smog filled air from the LA area is blown through a pass in the mountain range and is chocking the desert with all of its pollution.