Joshua Tree National Park

 

 Yucca brevifolia (Joshua Tree) in Joshua Tree National Park March 1999

Cylindropuntia bigelovii (Cholla Cactus) at Joshua Tree National Park March 1999

  Cylindropuntia bigelovii (Cholla Cactus) with bird's nest in Joshua Tree National Park March 1999

 Cylindropuntia bigelovii (Cholla Cactus) with grasses in Joshua Tree National Park March 1999

 

 Juniperus californica (California Juniper) in Joshua Tree National Park March 1999

 Pinus monophylla (Single Leaf Pinyon) in Joshua Tree National Park March 1999

 Joshua Tree National Park March 1999

Joshua Tree National Park is possibly the most intiguing & accessible landscape in California.  It lies not far from Palm Springs, about equidistant from Los Angeles & San Diego.  All 3 cities are common destinations for people from the Pacific Northwest during our rainy winter months, the best time time to visit the park. I have been to Joshua Tree National Park twice.  The 1st time was with my family in June 1971 when I was 12.  The place was then Joshua Tree National Monument.  It was hotter than I had ever imagined hot could be.  We stopped near an oasis ringed with palms (Washingtonia filifera).  The surface of the water was thick with bees.  Along the sweltering trail were grave markers of 19th century migrants who had attempted to cross the desert in wagons on their way to the coast.  I was quite sure they had died of the heat, if the bees hadn't killed them 1st.  I visited Joshua Tree National Park for the 2nd time in March 1999 with friends from Palm Springs.  The weather was perfect then.  I was amazed by the diversity of plant life in the desert, including scrub oak (Quercus john-tuckeri), pine (Pinus monophylla) & juniper (Juniperus californica), in addition to the ubiquitous Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia) & Cholla Cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) I remembered from childhood.  The park covers almost 800,000 acres, including portions of both the Mojave Desert & the Colorado Desert.  

 Jordan at Joshua Tree National Park March 1999