Category: National Parks

19 January we headed to Morongo Canyon Preserve to join up with the morning bird hike. We enjoyed meeting people, and seeing a variety of feathered friends, including a nesting pair of hawks.

We had one more hike we wanted to take to a watering hole in Joshua Tree National Park.  It was another beautiful California day! Hard to believe this is January!

The Willow Hole Trail is the southern portion of the Boy Scout Trail (near picnic area 8 miles in from West Entrance).  A relatively flat hike up a wash to a waterhole which was interesting – a good destination.

A few days later, 24 January, we headed back to the Coachella Valley Preserve to take this photograph at the pond. We then had a picnic lunch under the California Palm trees, saying  “until we come this way again”.

This hike became our favorite because of the views, the vegetation and maybe because we hiked it on such a gorgeous day. The elevation is higher so the temperature was in the mid 50’s and the sky was bright with interesting clouds. We took 50 pictures but have selected the best 4 to share. The hike starts at the Black Rock Campground south of Yucca Valley. It is a 6 mile loop and follows a wash to the ridge where you can see almost 360: Palm Springs, The Salton Sea, Yucca Valley, and the San Bernadino Mountains.

Another rewarding but long day trip: this time to the north side of Joshua Tree National Park. It was still cool after all the rains – the Pineapple Express that hit southern California. The sky was clear and we were ready to explore.

These are giant rocks! Monzogranite. A ranger explained later on a walk we did that they were at one time so far underground it would be as if we were standing on a airplane contrail looking at them. That was an interesting visual analysis, especially as we looked up and saw a plane going overhead leaving the white trail. We thought of our neighbor Philip with this formation 😉

Joshua Tree is a type of Yucca and there are Mojave yuccas.  There are many varieties of Opuntias:The Beaver Tail is the one without spines, just glaucoids – they have the more purple color pad with fushia flowers in the spring. There are pancake opuntias which grow taller like trees. And then there are Prickly Pears which are the opuntias with spines and a yellow flower. There are also a variety of chollas which are a type of opuntias. And then there is a Henry O’Puntia 😉

The ranger said it is a bit unusual to have water at the Barker Dam. We did not see any of the desert tortoise but they like to come out when it rains. It got very overcast and the wind picked up and we were quite chilled. Everyone on the ranger walk had on hats, gloves, and coats. Definitely cooler in this higher elevation: this part of the park being in the Mojave Desert.

The large cholla cactus garden is in the transition zone between the Mojave and Sonoran desert. This was really a special place to experience: these are the teddy bear or jumping type. I had never seen so many at one time – really worth stopping and taking a look. Thanks Maria for the recommendation to go at sunset though it had clouded over a bit but still more of a glow than at mid day.

Saturday, 4 December 2010 we visited Death Valley National Park – Henry’s last National Park in the continental USA west of the Mighty Mississippi. We camped at Texas Springs and saw a star gazing program with the ranger at Zabriskie Point. Here is a picture during the day

Later in the day we hiked Golden Canyon and came upon this bit of wildlife. The ranger told us it was a male Tarantula as the females are even a bit larger, since this one was as large as Henry’s hand.

As we were waiting for a ranger led walk through the dunes, we read about the park in the newsletter…noticing the picture was taken where we were sitting. It was a good nature walk as we learned about the creosote bushes and how the kangaroo rats lived in the roots – we saw some tracks but only saw a stink bug.

We stayed and watched the sunset before camping a second night at Emigrant Pass. More star gazing tonight as it looks very clear.