Joshua Tree

After Death Valley, Joshua Tree was our next stop.  By comparison, Joshua Tree was pleasantly cool throughout the day and teaming with life.  Immediately upon entering the park, we were amazed by the forest of Joshua trees in the main valley.  They look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book, and there are acres and acres of them as far as the eye can see.  We never quite got used to their strange shapes while we were there.

We were lucky to grab a really cool campsite when we arrived at Jumbo Rocks campground.  Site 113 is recessed from the road and nestled among some of the park’s giant rock formations.  We enjoyed climbing up to the top of our little boulder piles and surveying the landscape periodically.

 

Our campsite and view over the camgrounds

Matt surveys the landscape on our first night

We learned that these rock formations are all granite, which makes them very easy to climb.  We saw tons of rock climbers while we were in the park, and we did a little bouldering ourselves. A good explanation of how the rock formations were created can be found here.

On our first full day in Joshua tree, we explored the upper half of the park, which is part of the Mojave Desert.  We opted to do lots of shorter hikes instead of one longer one so that we could see many different areas in one day. We were struck by how much life there is here, and how many diverse species live in this area.  We saw lots of lizards, cacti, quail, humming birds, doves, cottontail rabbits, a (supposedly rare and endangered) desert tortoise, and much more.

Cottontail rabbit at the Oasis of Mara

Paper Bag bush at our campsite

Cactus along the Indian Cove trail

Desert Tortoise outside the Black Canyon Ranger Station


Tons of lizards everywhere; this guy was on the High View trail

Yucca and other cactus along the Hidden Valley trail

Cactus blooms along the Barker Dam


Wildflowers at Indian Cove


Cactus blooms along Skull Rock trail


Succulents by the campsite

On our second day, we headed south.  The park spans the border between the Mojave and the Colorado Desert, with the transition zone between these two ecosystems bisecting the park roughly in half.  The Colorado Desert looks very different from the Mohave; instead of Joshua trees and boulder piles, Cholla Cactus dominate the landscape. 

Ominous warning sign at the Cholla Cactus Garden

The Colorado Desert

The second day also brought some isolated thunderstorms, which briefly added some drama to the desert sky.  Luckily they passed quickly and didn’t dampen campsite too much (an added bonus being that they washed off some of the bugs from our car!).

Driving north along the Pinto Basin Road

Dark clouds over the campgrounds

The full set of photos from Joshua Tree can be found here.