Joshua Tree National Park

Every spring for the last 10 years my folks and I have been meeting in Southern California for a week of flower viewing – they fly down from Southeast Alaska and I fly in from the San Francisco Bay Area. We mix up our destinations yearly, but do have some favorite spots to visit. We have seen everything from super blooms like last last year in Anza-Borrego, to bone dry years like the fourth year of the drought in Joshua Tree. Whether we see flowers or not, we always see interesting flora, fauna, and natural history, and enjoy our time together.

Joshua Tree National Park

This year we lucked out with wonderful cool weather early in the week, terminating with hot weather later in the week. We planned our excursions accordingly, and headed for Joshua Tree National Park first, with clear skies and a temperature hovering around the mid-seventies. 

Dry specimen at the Cottonwood Visitor Center

We entered the park from the southern entrance and stopped at the Cottonwood Visitor Center to check in with the naturalist. We wanted to find out whether any flowers were to be found (the website had already informed us that there were few flowers except possibly in the upper elevations). No new developments, so we took a few minutes to stroll through the specimen garden. Lots of seed pods from last year, but not much new activity.

Ocotillo Patch

Cholla Cactus Garden

We enjoyed the beautiful green vegetation, and clear blue sky of the Colorado Desert, stopping first at the Ocotillo Patch to walk among the red flowering plants, and then at the Cholla Cactus Garden to stroll along the prickly cactus. The plants seemed to be thriving from the recent rains, though we observed damage from previous drought years. I was glad to see the Cholla Emergency Kit (complete with pliers) in case we had an encounter with one of the pups!

Posing at the Cholla Cactus Garden

Cholla Emergency Kit

At the transition from the Colorado Desert to the Mohave Desert, we entered the wonderfully weird land of the Joshua Tree and the large, round rock formations piled up across the desert floor. In past years the Yucca and Joshua Trees were full of blossoms; this year we only saw the dried husks of previous years. 

Joshua Tree

Big Rocks

Since the air was so clear, we drove up to Key's View for stunning views to the south of the Salton Sea and down to the Mexican border, and to the north to the snow-topped Mount San Gorgonio (11,503 feet or 3,506 m.) The brisk wind kept the skies and vista clear, and prompted us to bundle up for the walk up to the highest view point. Great signage helped us identify nearby locations.

Key's View

Key's View of the valley below

On the way back we stopped at Ryan's Campground to walk among the Joshua trees, climb on the big rocks, and explore the Indian Cave, with its rocky shelter and ancient metate used to grind acorns into flour. We discovered several bushes with thriving colonies of tent caterpillars. We've seen their empty tents in past years, but never seen them moving about in their snug nests.

Indian Cave at Ryan's Campground

Metate and Shelter

Tent Caterpillars

Afterward, we left the Park via the Oasis Visitor Center entrance, and headed for The Rib Company in Twentynine Palms, for half racks of ribs and all the fixings, and great conversation about all we had seen during our visit and in previous years. Dad kept track of our steps for the day, using a feature of his iPhone calendar, and reported we took around 4,055 steps for the day. We drove home with the sun in our eyes, and great memories of a day together under clear blue skies, walking among the plants, rocks, and Joshua Trees.