Joshua Tree......our happy place!

 We left Tucson, Az midday and mostly traveled along Interstate-10W.  The drive was definitely very windy in stretches, but at one point, as we were driving along just over the California line, both IPhones as well as our GPS simultaneously loudly alarmed with an emergency message: high wind warnings coupled with large amounts of dust created poor visibility on the road.  This necessitate slower travel and we arrived in Joshua Tree near sunset.  Here, the wind was whipping and the temperature had dropped about 30 degrees from earlier in the day! Tonight we dropped below freezing!

Joshua Tree National Park is probably our most favorite National Park, straddling the transition between the Sonoran or Colorado Desert on the east side and the Mojave Desert on the west side. We pulled into the Cottonwood campground on the east side at nearly sunset. 

This area is within the Sonoran (Colorado) desert which is below 3,000 feet and supports mostly creosote bushes, sagebrush, Ocotillos, and cholla.  These chollas are referred to as “teddy bear” chollas and are quite beautiful especially in the glistening sun.  But don’t let that fool you as they are also called “jumping cactus” due to their loosely attached balls of barbed needles (very sharp) which can come loose in a windy breeze and attach to anything unlucky to be passing by them.  You don’t want that to happen.....trust me!

 

There are so many types of chollas....today, we also saw the branched pencil chollas and the beaver tail cactus. They look just like their names!

Also, we came across many jojoba plants.  I have used jojoba in many skin and bath products. Also creosote bushes are common in this area.

The next day, we continued our stay in the higher elevation of the  Mojave desert in Indian Cove campground.  

I have always thought this would be an amazing place to camp amidst the boulders and rock formations.  

The Mojave desert is best known for the special habitat of the iconic Joshua tree, which are not really trees but a species of yucca. These plants grow up to 40 feet tall, although they only grow about 1 inch per year. Joshua Trees are only found in the Mojave desert- California, Nevada, and a small bit in Arizona & Utah.  The can live for 150 years. They are especially beautiful after sunset.

Joshua tree is a world class climbing area.  And it is for this reason that we love coming here.  On this trip we hooked up with one of our favorite guides, Kelly Fields.  We climbed in the Indian Cove section of the park where we were camped and had a blast.  Here are a few pictures taken during our climbing day.....we were not disappointed!

Hiking is another of our favorite activities in Joshua Tree.  On this visit, we were able to hike part of rattlesnake canyon. This canyon has class 3 and 4 scrambles as well as many areas of sandy washes.  It is an area frequented by desert bighorn sheep, but we did not see any of them.  During the summer, this is a trail that is extremely dangerous due to heat.  Here is some of the signage as you enter the area and a few pictures along the way.

I will end this story with a picture taken with a mistletoe tree!