In the POD - Joshua Tree National Park

 

A Joshua tree 

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

The Joshua Tree area has been inhabited by humans for at least 5,000 years but by the 1920s development and cactus poachers threatened the ecosystem. Minerva Hoyt, a Pasadena, CA resident  and lover of desert plants, became concerned and it was the result of her efforts to protect this area that FDR designated the 825,000 acres as a national monument in 1936. 

Oh those strong, persistent women….. thank goodness we have had them throughout our history!

It was not until 1994 that that this national monument was elevated to National Park status. 

Cholla cactus 

Amid the Cholla cactus

Colorado Desert

We entered the park from its south entrance having traveled  Box Canyon Road heading north from the Salton Sea. It was a perfect meander through the desert giving us a small peek into what was to come. 

Joshua Tree National Park is an ecological melting pot - the blending of the Colorado Desert at its eastern/southern half and the Mojave Desert to the west/north. The Colorado Desert is approximately 3,000’ above sea level and the habitat is similar to the rest of the Sonoran Desert that spans much of Arizona and New Mexico with Creosote being the dominate plant mixed with large patches of Cholla cactus. It is about a 30 mile drive through this desert landscape until one reaches the “transition” zone into the Mojave. 

The elevation in the Mojave Desert is above 3,000’ and climbs, at one point, to well over 5,000’ at Keys View. You know you have entered the Mojave when you finally see the Joshua trees mixed among the pinyon pines, juniper, and scrub oaks. Joshua trees are, in fact, a species of yucca and can grow to over 40’ tall. Their growth rate is surprisingly slow… 1” per year! 

Joshua trees

The Mojave is also home to the most astounding piles of stacked boulders I have ever seen! These huge rocks are composed of monzo-granite as a result of volcanic activity eons ago. Over time the granite cooled and crystallized and began  its uplift to the surface. They truly look like a child’s building blocks arranged just so. 

Scrub oak

There are lots of campgrounds within the park- all of them very basic (no hook ups) and no vehicle over 35’ is allowed. We stayed at the Jumbo Rocks camp -@ halfway through the park - which was nestled among, yup, jumbo rocks. It was so quiet and the night sky was spectacular! Around 4 am I looked out the window to see the moon - a bright, almost yellow-orange grin siting just on top the boulders in the SE sky. That sliver of a moon did not lessen the brilliance of the star packed sky around it. 

The next morning we were greeted by a coyote walking by; its gait an almost skip/hop. 

Our camp spot at Jumbo Rocks

Yes - that’s Tim in the background! 

The park has lots of picnic spots and trails, both short loops and longer open wilderness routes, as well as off road trails for 4 wheel drive vehicles. There is so much to explore. 

The morning before we left we drove to the top of Keys View. At 5,185’ it was cold and the wind was gusting. We parked the van and climbed the rest of the hill to the viewing platform. The peak looked down on the entire Coachella Valley and the snow capped San Jacinto Peak. 

Keys View

The park is other worldly and yet so naturally basic. The snaking roots of the desert plants looking for water, the insects and small rodents that survive within and off the plants, the coyotes and the hawks at the top of that chain…. all adapting to this desert environment and all providing for one another.