Desert Spring Break - Sunday
So where were we...ah yes. Cold.
Sunday morning we decided to head South. Generally going south results in warmer temperature. It certainly couldn't hurt.
Before heading in search of warmer, less windy areas, we stopped at a visitor center to check the weather. The good news is each day would be progressively warmer. The bad news was we still have to reckon with wind for several more days. The drive south to the Cottonwood campground took us through the entire park, and we decided to stop at various features along the way.
The first top was Jumbo Rocks. An area with lots of big rocks.
Moving on we found the Cholla cactus garden.
Here I am in front of a Cholla cactus:
An interesting aspect of Joshua Tree National Park is that it actually contains two different types of deserts (yes, there are different types). The Northern half of the park is Mojave desert. This is where the Joshua Trees live. The Southern half of the park is Sonoran. Here the plants are entirely different. The Chollas are typical of the Sonoran desert.
Around lunchtime we set up camp and had lunch of pitas, cheese, sausage and runny peanut butter. Then we went on a hike to Mastadon Peak. On the way was an oasis with Eukaliptys and California Fan Palms. Fan palms are super cool trees and will this will not be the last encounter on the trip.
Then I found the prettiest wildflowers in the park, and one of the coolest flower I've ever seen. They're a beautiful iridescent peach color. On the lower left of this picture you can see my second favorite JT flower. These goofy little purple balls with spikes from which tiny light purple flowers bloom out of. I really love desert plants. They have so much character.
All in all a very pleasant hike. Here's a picture of our campsite where we spent two evenings:
That evening the most amazing thing happened. The wind was still and the skies cleared off. Unfortunately our trip occurred during the third quarter to full moon phase, so there were only a couple hour is the very early morning that were moon-less. It was a bit of a tease because it was obvious that the skies would be amazing if the Moon would just set.
The evening was still chilly but at least quiet...at least until about 1 pm when the wind returned with a vengeance. Anyway...enough for now.
Sunday morning we decided to head South. Generally going south results in warmer temperature. It certainly couldn't hurt.
Before heading in search of warmer, less windy areas, we stopped at a visitor center to check the weather. The good news is each day would be progressively warmer. The bad news was we still have to reckon with wind for several more days. The drive south to the Cottonwood campground took us through the entire park, and we decided to stop at various features along the way.
The first top was Jumbo Rocks. An area with lots of big rocks.
Moving on we found the Cholla cactus garden.
Here I am in front of a Cholla cactus:
An interesting aspect of Joshua Tree National Park is that it actually contains two different types of deserts (yes, there are different types). The Northern half of the park is Mojave desert. This is where the Joshua Trees live. The Southern half of the park is Sonoran. Here the plants are entirely different. The Chollas are typical of the Sonoran desert.
Around lunchtime we set up camp and had lunch of pitas, cheese, sausage and runny peanut butter. Then we went on a hike to Mastadon Peak. On the way was an oasis with Eukaliptys and California Fan Palms. Fan palms are super cool trees and will this will not be the last encounter on the trip.
Then I found the prettiest wildflowers in the park, and one of the coolest flower I've ever seen. They're a beautiful iridescent peach color. On the lower left of this picture you can see my second favorite JT flower. These goofy little purple balls with spikes from which tiny light purple flowers bloom out of. I really love desert plants. They have so much character.
All in all a very pleasant hike. Here's a picture of our campsite where we spent two evenings:
That evening the most amazing thing happened. The wind was still and the skies cleared off. Unfortunately our trip occurred during the third quarter to full moon phase, so there were only a couple hour is the very early morning that were moon-less. It was a bit of a tease because it was obvious that the skies would be amazing if the Moon would just set.
The evening was still chilly but at least quiet...at least until about 1 pm when the wind returned with a vengeance. Anyway...enough for now.
posted by laura s at 12:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home