Abbott’s Lagoon

Dwarf Checkerbloom

Abbott’s Lagoon Trail

Windmill Pink

Abbott’s Lagoon

Beach Primrose

Yellow Sand-Verbena

California Manroot seedhead

Fuzzy caterpillar

Dairy Farm

Dragonflies mating

Abbott’s Lagoon

Pierce Point Trail

Anderson Thistle

Pierce Point

Grand Collomia

The day after the 4th of July at the cabin, we decided to go for our annual wildflower walk at the Bradley Grove in nearby Calaveras Big Trees State Park.   Unlike the two other grove hikes in the park, this one does not have any Giant Sequoias, but rather is a grove dedicated to a patron of the park, and is second-growth mixed pine and such.

Mountain Pretty Face

Although it lacks pretty much any kind of grandeur or scenery, this short loop hike is easily in my top 5 wildflower hikes anywhere.  Many species that are hard to see elsewhere are quite reliable here (Snow Plant, Phantom Orchid, & Coralroots to name just three).

Fringed Pinesap

On this walk, to my surprise, I saw a new-to-me flower, the mycotrophic Fringed Pinesap, a ghostly fungus-feeder.

Phantom Orchid

As we climbed, we were pleased to see a good number of Phantom Orchids, another mycotrope.  This ghostly flower, once seen, is often easily seen again, but the first sighting can be difficult, as it blends in well in the sun-dappled forest duff.

Woods’ Rose

The wild roses were also blooming.  Despite being quite considerably less fancy than their cultivated counterparts, their scent is no less sweet.

White-veined Wintergreen

The tell-tale leaves of Wild-Ginger (not actually a ginger) were plentiful, but we saw none of their odd little flowers.  The similarly-leaved White-veined Wintergreen was blooming in a few patches, however.

Western Thimbleberry

As always in spring, Thimbleberry abounded in patches.

Queen’s Cup

Another common white flower nearly everywhere in Calaveras Big Trees in spring is Queen’s Cup AKA Bride’s Bonnet.  This lily exhibits perfect  three-symmetry, with three basal leaves, 6 petals, and 6 stamens.

Butterfly on Pussy Paws

We came to the meadow that marks the end of the slight uphill portion and saw fewer flowers there than usual.  Flitting about the Pussy Paws, however, was a new-to-me butterfly, whose name is unknown to me.   A nice fellow on Flickr’s ID Please group suggested it is one of the Parnassius swallowtails.  Do you know what it is?

No idea what this one is!

A bit father on, another mystery.  At first blush I thought it was another Fringed Pinesap, but looking now, I do not think it is.  Perhaps Sugar Sticks?  I really don’t know.

Mountain Pretty Face

There are usually good flowers along Beaver Creek, but not this time – little was in bloom of note, other than some not-yet-opened probable-Alpine Lilies.

Western Azalea

We crossed Beaver Creek, took a deep snort of the sweet Azaleas that grow here, and returned toward the car.

Torrey’s Monkeyflower

I’d missed them on the way in, but a little patch of the tiny magenta Torrey’s Monkeyflower bloomed in a sunny patch near the parking lot.

The Bradley Grove is always a wonderful walk in spring, and this time was no exception.

“In the flowering glade of the big trees, my peace I give unto you”
- John Muir

Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 1hr 50min

Wildflowers seen:
- Bleeding Hearts
- Blue Nightshade
- Common Catchfly
- Crimson Columbine
- Deerbrush
* Fringed Pinesap
- Grand Collomia
- Hartweg’s Iris
- Mountain Misery
- Mountain Pretty Face
- Pacific Starflower
- Phantom Orchid
- Pine Violet
- Pinedrops
- Pussy Paws
- Queen’s Cup
- Royal Penstemon
- Snow Plant
- Striped Coralroot
- Torrey’s Monkeyflower
- Western Azalea
- Western Thimbleberry
- White-veined Wintergreen
- Wild-Ginger
- Woods’ Rose

We drove a couple of miles east down Sonora Pass and stopped at Sardine Meadow, intending to walk the mile or so up Sardine Creek to Sardine Falls.

Sardine Creek

Early spring flowers were going great, including the funky looking Elk Thistle.

Elk Thistle

This thistle, even more than others, looks rather alien-like to me.

Western Blue Flag Irises

A few patches of Western Blue Flag Irises bloomed, but by and large it was too early for most of them.  Come mid-August, the meadow will be a riot of purple and blue.

Sardine Creek

We walked along the creek, following an informal trail which then crossed the creek.  This presented a bit of a problem for us, as we were not equipped for a creek crossing and the creek was high and wide enough that there was no way to cross without getting wet.  Wouldn’t normally care, but we hadn’t planned for this,  and didn’t relish crossing barefoot without poles, so we walked upstream for a ways to see if there was another way across.  There wasn’t, so we wandered back toward the car.

Wildflower-strewn Sardine Meadow

Asters and Shooting Stars bloomed profusely, and myriad buds hinted at many flowers yet to come.   Back at the car, we continued east on Hwy 108 to Leavitt Falls Overlook, an easily-missed turnout that features, in addition to the nice-enough Leavitt Falls, wonderful views over the upper Walker River Valley.

Walker Valley

The setting is quite idyllic, with a green meadow, crystal-blue meandering river, and rocky snow-dusted peaks above.

Sandy mountain

We pulled out the camp chairs that happened to be in the car and ate lunch here, overlooking the valley.

Walker Valley

The classic meandering S-curves of the Walker River are always a treat to look at.

Looking east

We walked as close as we could to Leavitt Falls, but there was no vantage the afforded a look that would work in a photo, as the falls were in deep shade, yet the nearby hills in full sun.  After about an hour, we continued east.

USMC Winter Warfare Camp

The eastern Sierra drops off much, much more steeply than the western slopes, and we soon passed the US Marine Corps Winter Warfare Center.  When hiking in the Sonora Pass area, one sometimes runs across infantrymen practicing their rugged terrain skills.

Walker River

Near the USMC camp the Walker River continues its unhurried meander, and we followed it.

Western Blue Flag Irises

Near the intersection of Hwys 108 and 395, a large’ish patch of irises bloomed, so I stopped to photograph them.  Although common locally, it’s not a flower I see very often at all.  We drove north on Hwy 395, following the now-rushing Walker River, through the hamlet of Walker, turning west on Hwy 89/Monitor Pass.

Monitor Pass view

This pass I know very, very well, having bicycled up it 5 times as part of the Death Ride bicycle ride.  It has a desolate high desert beauty, and wide-open views all the way up its eastern side.

Monitor Pass view

The 2010 Death Ride was the next weekend, and I was a little surprised not to see any cyclists here early for training rides.  Down the pretty, but less-scenic western side of Monitor, we continued west on Hwy 4/Ebbetts Pass, which I also know well from crawling up it at a snail’s pace, sweat pouring down my eyes.  It made me kind of miss doing the Death Ride, difficult though it is, and demanding on one’s time to properly train for it.

Mosquito Lakes

Up and over Ebbett’s Pass, we stopped briefly at Mosquito Lakes, then drove the last 20 miles back to the cabin.

This is a long loop at around 200 miles, and it definitely takes all day if you want to soak in the sights, which after all is the point!  I like to do this drive at least every couple of years – it’s amazing to see how much the terrain changes in the course of 3 Sierra passes!

Filed under: Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildflowers ]]> http://blog.adampaul.com/2010/08/05/a-4th-of-july-high-sierra-drive-part-2/feed/ 6 Adam R. Paul http://blog.adampaul.com/2010/07/31/a-4th-of-july-high-sierra-drive-part-1/ http://blog.adampaul.com/2010/07/31/a-4th-of-july-high-sierra-drive-part-1/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 01:48:45 +0000 Adam R. Paul http://blog.adampaul.com/?p=1178 ]]> 4 July 2010:

Sarah & I spent the 4th of July at our cabin in the Sierras, and since Sarah had a bit of a cold, we decided to take a long drive, rather than hike.

The family cabin

From the cabin, we headed west on Hwy 4, over Parrots Ferry through Columbia, Hwy 49 to Sonora, where we detoured at the local Wal-Mart to get some appropriately corny patriotic shirts (a tradition of ours, and the only time we ever go to Wal-Mart).  Suitable shirts were abundant, and sporting a stars-and-stripes california bear shirt and US map shirt, we continued on our way, heading east on Hwy 108.

Our initial plan had been to stop at Donnell Vista, which has a great view over a pretty reservoir, but it was closed and under construction, so we continued a fair ways farther up the road to Columns of the Giants, a great roadside stop on Hwy 108.

Anderson Thistle

We set out on the short interpretive trail to the columns and were treated to a pretty good wildflower display.

Smokey Mariposa

Smokey Mariposas bloomed sporadically in the grassy areas.  They, like all lilies of the Calochortus genus, are one of my favorite wildflowers.

Rushing river

That it was a winter of heavy snowfall was very clear as we crossed the bridge over a river, which has been flowing gently on all of my other visits, but was running high, fast, and presumably very cold this time.

Wood’s Rose

A few Wood’s Roses bloomed, but most were past their prime, although their delicate scent was still thoroughly enjoyable.

Chemise?

Huge bushes of a puffy white flower bloomed everywhere – I think it’s Chemise, but I’m not much good at identifying blooming bushes.

Interpretive sign

As we neared the columns, interpretive signs explained how the area was formed generally, and how the octagonal basalt columns came to be.

Scarlet Gilia AKA Skyrocket

Also blooming in abundance was another of my Sierra favorites, Scarlet Gilia or, if you prefer, Skyrocket.  This flower reminds me of a firework burst captured in flower form.

Columns of the Giants Trail

A large boulder jumble let us know that we were near the columns, and around a corner, they came into view.

Monkeyflower sp.

I struggled to avoid getting neck strain as I alternated between looking up at the columns, and down, in search of wildflowers.   A tiny monkeyflower grew here, but I am feeling too lazy to figure out which one it is.

Columns of the Giants

We soon came to the end of the trail at the base of the boulder jumble beneath the columns.  One could boulder-hop on up a ways if so inclined, but as we were not out to do any sort of real exercise and were walking in flip-flops, we didn’t.

Another interpretive sign

The columns are pretty interesting formations, exactly the same as the famous ones at Devil’s Postpile in the eastern Sierra, but smaller in scale, and you can’t get as close to them.

Column close-up

We didn’t linger, as it was warm and shadeless, and walked back the way we arrived.

Anderson Thistle

The thistles were particularly photogenic here, and there was a patch of Pussy Paws as well.

Pussy Paws

Back at the car, we continued east on Hwy 108 toward our next stop.

Sonora Pass!

After a very steep and scenic climb, we arrived at Sonora Pass and stopped to enjoy the scenery.

Historical sign

It’s hard to imagine how difficult this crossing would have been back in the late 1800s – it’s quite rugged and steep even now as a paved road.  One portion as you climb up the western side is a 26% grade, taxing for many vehicles, let alone horse carriages.

View east from Sonora Pass

Although this area lacks the high alpine splendor of Yosemite’s Tioga Pass, the next trans-Sierra pass to the south, it is nonetheless very pretty.

Common Wallflower

In contrast to the late spring at Columns of the Giants, here at nearly 10000′ it was very early spring, with the Mule’s Ear Sunflowers just starting to come into bloom, and many other flowers remaining in bud.

Spreading Phlox

The ubiquitous Spreading Phlox was living up to its name, spreading everywhere, and Western Wallflower competed with the Mule’s Ears in the yellow flower category.

View south from Sonora Pass

There was still quite a bit of snow on the peaks of the Sierra crest – I wouldn’t care to be hiking this part of the Pacific Crest Trail or climbing nearby Sonora Peak just yet!

We talked to a group of people at the summit, helping them with wildflower identification, and the continued east, now heading down the steep and ruggedeastern side of the Sierra Nevada, which are quite, quite different from the gradual slopes on the western side.

Continued here….

Flowers seen:

- Anderson Thistle
- Chamise
- Common Wallflower
- Monkeyflower sp.
- Pussy Paws
- Scarlet Gilia
- Smokey Mariposa
- Spreading Phlox
- Wood’s Rose

Linanthus sp.

There was Linanthus galore, its delicate yellow filament a dead giveaway.

Western Heart’s-ease

A few patches of Western Heart’s-ease Violets bloomed in shadier areas.  These are easy to ID if you just look at the backside of the top two petals – they’re purple in this species.

Yellow Globe Lily

The west-facing hillsides were covered with more Yellow Globe Lilies than I’ve ever seen.  They mostly stymied my attempts to photograph them, as Globe Lilies usually do.

Redribbons

Redribbons

A wild flash of pink caught my eye – something new!  I initially thought it was Elegant Clarkia, but a lookup in my books back at home shows it to (probably) be Redribbons (same genus, but different petal shape).

Ithuriel’s Spear

Clusters of purple Ithuriel’s Spear were plentiful, although we didn’t see  a single one of its close cousin, Elegant Brodiaea, which is usually present along with it.

California Indian Pink

Another bright flash, inconveniently-located high on a hillside – Indian Pink, an unusual flower that I’ve seen only once before.

Dudleya sp.

A rocky outcrop was almost completely covered in Dudleya, most of it blooming.

Kellogg’s Monkeyflower

The un-subtle flaming magenta of Kellogg’s Monkeyflower also caught my eye – another flower I’ve only rarely seen.

Unknown flower – what is this?

Down by the river, several clumps of the white flower above were blooming, but I’m afraid I have no name for it.  It almost looks like a checkerbloom.

Little green frog

As we admired the huge numbers of tadpoles in the river, Sarah spotted their source nearby – cute little fellow, huh?

Little brown frog

Blending in so well as to nearly be stepped on, this little frog cooperated pretty well for close-ups, unlike its green neighbor.

For a lazy 30-minute stroll on the cousin’s property,  I was pretty impressed with the variety of flowers still in bloom in late May!

Wildflowers seen:
- Baby Blue Eyes
- Broadleaf Filaree
- California Indian Pink
- California Poppy
- Chinese Houses
- Crimson Columbine
- Dove’s-foot Geranium
- Dudleya sp.
- Farewell-to-spring
- Indian Paintbrush
- Indian Warrior
- Ithuriel’s Spear
- Kellogg’s Monkeyflower
- Linanthus sp.
* Redribbons
- Royal Penstemon
- Scarlet Gilia
- Scarlet Pimpernel
- Yellow Globe Lily
- Western Heart’s-ease

* = new-to-me flower

Fort Cronkhite

Coastal Trail

Fog rolling in

Foggy bunkers

Hope ’09

Footsteps-of-spring

Striated rock

Foggy hill

Moss (or lichen?)

Tumbling fog

This must spell something … right?

Samurai

Smurfy

Found still life

Hill panorama

Blue Nightshade

Rodeo Beach and Lagoon

Given that this hike was nearly 3 months ago, I will let the photos tell the story of a lovely little walk Sarah & I did with our friend Linda.  We were happy to see a fairly large number of late-season wildflowers blooming among the dry grasses covering the hillsides.

Trail

Centaury / Centaurium sp.

Royal Rein Orchid / Piperia transversa

Junction

Elegant Brodiaea / Brodiaea elegans

Yellow Mariposa / Calochortus luteus

Dry grass

California Milkwort / Polygala californica

Redwoods

Trail

Goldwire / Hypericum concinnum

Trail

Newt crossing

Lake Lagunitas

Stonecrop / Dudleya farinosa(?)

Sticky Monkeyflower / Mimulus aurantiacus

Redwood grove

Oceanspray / Holodiscus discolor

Lake Lagunitas

Lake Lagunitas & Mt. Tamalpais

Distance: ~2.7mi

Wildflowers seen:
- California Milkwort
- California Poppy
- Centuary sp.
- Chia
- Elegant Brodiaea
- Farewell-to-spring
- Goldwire
* Oceanspray
- Royal Rein Orchid
- Sticky Monkeyflower
- Stonecrop
- Yellow Mariposa

* = life flower

We briefly visited the Cottonwood Visitor’s Center, which unsurprisingly had much the same information as the other two park entrance stations, then drove a few more miles to the Cottonwood Oasis, the trailhead for the Mastodon Loop we were going to hike.  After talking for a few with a couple from Los Angeles, we hit the trail at 12:25.

Cottonwood Oasis

The oasis area was verdant and full of trees and shrubs, in stark contrast to the rather harsh Sonoran Desert of the rest of the south end of Joshua Tree National Park.  We soon left this pretty little area, though, and continued on a well-worn sandy path, which for its first mile or so is shared by the Mastodon Loop Trail and the Lost Palms Oasis Trail.

Lost Palms Oasis Trail

Another patch of Ocotillo bloomed a glorious red, although these plants weren’t nearly so large as the ones in the signed Ocotillo Patch along the park road.

Ocotillo / Fouquieria splendens

A passing couple said they’d seen a pair of endangered Desert Tortoises mating along the trail just past where the Mastodon Trail splits from the Lost Palms Oasis Trail, so when we came to that junction, we continued on the Lost Palms Oasis Trail, even though that was not our destination.

Sarah on the trail

We walked perhaps a quarter mile along this trail, looking intently for any signs of turtles, but found none, ah well!

Cleftleaf Wildheliotrope / Phacelia crenulata

There were, however, a few pretty little plants ekeing out an existence in this arid, mostly-barren terrain.  The purple and green of a Cleftleaf Wildheliotrope (say that three times fast!) contrasted nicely with the beige sand.  I continued to be pleased with the macro capabilities of my Canon G10, although a light breeze made macro work of any sort somewhat difficult.

Lost Palms Oasis Trail

Turtle-less, we went back to the trail junction and headed up toward “The Mastodon,” a rock outcrop that to my mind looks absolutely nothing at all like a mastodon.

Buddha-shaped rock

Midway up the gentle climb toward the Mastodon, Sarah spotted a very cool rock formation that looked to us for all the world like someone sitting and meditating.

Cactus bloom – anyone know what type of cactus this is?

Wildflowers were not prevalent here, however the cacti were blooming very nicely.  The above looks like some sort of cholla, but I couldn’t find any with that flower color in our cactus book.  If anyone has an idea what it is, I’d love to know!

View from near the “Mastodon”

We arrived at the trail’s end, at the base of the Mastodon, and Sarah sat and relaxed, while I scrambled to the top.

Sonoroan desert view

It proved a very easy scramble once I walked around a little bit, and an obviously well-used use trail led right up to the top, where I was treated to panoramic views of the Pinto Basin.

View from atop the “Mastodon”

A light wind blew, just enough to keep it from being warm, and I enjoyed sitting by myself atop this rock outcrop.  After 10′ish minutes I headed back, rejoined Sarah, and we had a light lunch.  Lunch eaten, we continued on our way.

Mastodon Mine ruins

On the slopes of the Mastodon “stood” the ruins of the Mastodon Mine.  According to http://digital-desert.com/mastodon-mine/:

The ore from the original mine shaft at the base of Mastodon Peak produced samples that assayed at $744 per ton. However, between 1919 and 1932 George Hulsey never seriously worked at removing the gold. The mine was abandoned altogether after faulting severed the primary vein.

Black-throated Sparrow / Amphispiza bilineata

A Black-throated Sparrow was the single bird we saw on this hike, and then only once.  I’m sure if we’d hung around the oasis at the trailhead, we would have seen more.

“The Mastodon”

We hiked down on the sandy soil, and the trail soon led through a gravelly wash.

Purple Mat / Nama demissum

A tiny purple flower grew in dense mats.  It’s name, appropriately-enough, is Purple Mat!

Common Chuckwalla (male) / Sauromalus ater

Movement on a rock stopped us in our tracks – a huge colorful lizard scampered to the top of a boulder and stayed there, eying us suspiciously.  This was by far the largest lizard we’d seen in the wild, and it turned out to be a Common Chuckwalla, one of very many we would see on this stretch of trail (and nowhere else in the park).

Common Chuckwalla (female) / Sauromalus ater

As I scrambled up a rock to get the Chuckwalla in better light, I saw his better half, doing a very good impersonation of a rock.  This big (for California anyways) iguanid’s funny name comes from (thanks, Wikipedia):

The common name “chuckwalla” (or chuckawalla) is derived from the Shoshone word “tcaxxwal” or “caxwal,” the form used by the Cahuilla of southeastern California

They grow to 16 inches in length and can weigh as much as 2 pounds.  Their genus name, Sauromalus, even calls to mind a dinosour, which they very much look like in miniature.

Western Whiptail / Aspidoscelis tigris

Our herp sightings weren’t limited to the several dozen Chuckwallas we saw, however – scurrying under a bush I saw a pretty Western Whiptail.

Common Chuckwallas / Sauromalus ater

We walked slowly through the wash here, enjoying all of the lizards, and found a pair of M/F Chuckwallas who posed nicely for a joint portrait.  As you can see, they exhibit substantial sexual size dimorphism (sorry, I just had to throw that geeky term in .

Mastodon Loop Trail

The trail flattened out, then left the wash and continued toward the Cottonwood Campground

Zebra-tailed Lizard / Callisaurus draconoides

A little Zebra-tailed Lizard scurried by, not particularly concerned with our presence, then another posed for a few photos and actually ran towards us before changing course. These cute lizards have extremely long back toes to help them dig and stay afloat on the sand.

Another unknown cactus bloom

I saw another probable-cholla in bloom, blossoms more orange than the previous unknown cactus, but perhaps the same species.

Common Chuckwalla (male) / Sauromalus ater

Another chuckwalla peeked over a rock, posing for a portrait before waddling off.  We pointed it out to some passing hikers, who were happy to see it.

Mastodon Loop Trail

We eventually came to a junction by the ruined foundations of another mining settlement, and headed left back toward the Cottonwood Trailhead.  This stretch of trail paralleled the trailhead road, and was dotted with interpretive signs detailing the natural history of the area.

Desert Liveforever / Dudleya saxosa

A large patch of Desert Liveforever graced a rocky hillside, punctuated by some aster or another (Acton Encelia?)

Prince’s Plume / Stanleya pinnata

Right as we were about back to the car I found another very cool flower, Prince’s Plume, which has 20″ long yellow flower plumes shooting straight out of the basal leaf cluster.

And with that our hike was over.  Although only 2.5 miles long, this hike packed in a lot, and was highly enjoyable.  Next time we’ll plan a full day to hike to the Lost Palms Oasis from the same trailhead – it’s the largest oasis in the park with around 100 palm trees.

Hike stats:

Distance: ~2.5 miles
Climbing: ~200′
Total time: 2h 30m

Milkweed sp.

We drove back across the Pinto Basin, stopping along the way a few times to photograph roadside flora.

Sacred Datura / Datura wrightii

I’d seen it all along the road, but hadn’t yet photographed it, so when a good patch appeared, I pulled over.  What is “it,” you ask?  Well that depends on who you’re asking.  To native americans, it is Sacred Datura, a powerful hallucinogen used ritually.  To european americans, it is Jimson Weed.  This plant, like many in the Datura genus, contains stramonium, and can easily lead to deadly overdoses when taken recreationally.  According to Wikipedia, the name Jimson Weed comes from Jamestown, Virginia:

In the United States it is called jimson weed, or more rarely Jamestown weed; it got this name from the town of Jamestown, Virginia, where British soldiers were drugged with it while attempting to suppress Bacon’s Rebellion. They spent eleven days generally appearing to have gone insane

Good times!

Cholla Cactus Garden sign

Since we were driving past it again, we stopped briefly at the Cholla Cactus Garden.  Sarah stayed in the car, as her plantar fascitis was acting up, and I did a quick loop through the chollas.

Teddy Bear Cactus / Opuntia bigelovii

The garden was perhaps a little less dramatic than at sunset, but the colors of this odd cactus were more apparent.

Teddy Bear Cactus / Opuntia bigelovii

Teddy Bear Cactus / Opuntia bigelovii

Teddy Bear Cactus / Opuntia bigelovii

We continued on our way back to the house, relaxed for a bit, then went out for a surprisingly tasty Indian meal at Sam’s in the town of Joshua Tree.  At first blush, this totally nondescript business in a slightly seedy-looking mall serves only typical American fare (burgers and such), but in a corner were a stack of Indian menus.  We were glad to have checked Yelp, as we would probably never have thought to hunt for the indian food, and it was actually quite tasty.

One last look from our rental house’s backyard

We did some preliminary packing back at the house, took a hot tub, and went to bed, sad that this was our last night in Joshua Tree, but looking forward to see what adventures awaited us in Palm Springs.

Trip Index:

• Part I – Getting there, settling in
• Part II – Twentynine Palms Oasis
• Part III – Oasis of Mara, Noah Purifoy, Key’s View, Cap Rock
• Part IV – Lost Horse Mine
• Part V – Cholla Cactus Garden, Geology Tour Road
• Part VI – Split Rock, Hidden Valley
• Part VII – Barker Dam, Ocotillo Patch
• Part VIII – Mastodon Peak, Cholla Cactus Garden revisited <– You are here!
• Part IX – Big Morongo Canyon, AKA Birding Paradise
• Part X – Tahquitz Canyon
• Part XI – Living Desert, LA, and home

We were a bit peckish after our pretty drive on Geology Tour Road, and Split Rock looked to have a picnic/day-use area, so we headed there.  At road’s end is the namesake rock, true to its name with a big split down its center.  We settled into some yummy sandwiches and chips and beer, then decided to walk the short trail indicated on our map.

Split Rock

We started hiking at 12:07 under mostly cloudy skies.  Many climber’s trails shot off from our route.  Some were signed, and many were not, making it a little difficult at times to discern which trail was the loop, and which just went to some enticing rock climb.

Climber’s Trail

We quickly tired of trying to find the real trail, and decided to wing it – this proved a better strategy, and we have quite an enjoyable meander among the rocks.

Beavertail Cactus

A great many cacti were blooming here, but few flowers found this sandy soil to their liking.

Phainopepla / Phainopepla nitens

A Phainopepla teased me by flying away just as I attempted to photograph it, and I followed it around for some time before tiring of trying to get a good close photo in good light.  These birds seemed quite skittish, so I settled with the two mediocre photos above, and we continued on our way.

Funky rocks

The rock formations we walked among were unusual and striking – many made me want to scramble to the top, but a quick touch of the very rough rock made me put aside any such thoughts for lack of gloves.

Golden Prickly Pear / Opuntia chlorotica

A different type of Prickly Pear cactus caught our attention with its warm fuzzy appearance.  A lookup later revealed it to be a Golden Prickly Pear Cactus, which, although we saw several here, we would see no more of on our trip.

I have NO idea what this flower is – anyone?

One little, low-lying flower grew in sparse mats in many places on our walk – despite much searching, and asking on Flickr’s ID Please group, I have not been able to figure out what is is.  It almost looks like the flower of a Dudleya sp., but it was not attached to any succulent, and its stem grew mostly horizontally along the ground.

Me, in a cavelet

We walked and got ever so slightly lost, then found, and soon were back at the car after a short hour’s walk.

Our walk around the Split Rock area was short to be sure, but it was actually very worthwhile.  Along with the lovely cacti, it was quite interesting walking among these many weird rock formations.

(sorry, no hike stats for this walk, as I left the GPS behind and wasn’t looking at my watch)

Dirt road through the park

The map showed another several-mile-long dirt road paralleling the main road, so we decided to take that and see what there was to see.  We were glad we did, as it proved to be a beautiful drive, with no other vehicles.  From there we headed back to the house and rested for  alittle while.

More rocks & Joshua Trees

Come 5pm we went back to the park for a sunset walk at Hidden Valley, recommended by my colleague who had visited a few years ago.

Wonderland of Rocks

After admiring the excellent view of Joshua Tree Woodlands down a nearby valley, we headed out on the Hidden Valley Nature Trail, a short ~1 mile loop.

Climbers at Hidden Valley

A group of climbers inched up a sheer rock face nearby.  Here, like at Split Rock, there were signs for the various climbing routes.  Many signs even listed the technical difficulty of the route.  I was surprised to see that although the rocks are not particularly tall, many of the routes had pretty high difficulty ratings (5.10c is the highest I recall seeing).

Parry Nolina / Nolina parryi

Here, as elsewhere, Parry Nolina bloomed gloriously, its tall yellow plumes visible from some distance away.  Many little interpretive signs explained the history of Hidden Valley, which became thoroughly un-hidden when a rancher dynamited an entrance into it so he could graze his cattle.  The area is also rumored to have been used by cattle rustlers.

Climber atop a rock outcrop

We watched as a climber reached the top of a lump, then proceeded to gracefully swirl his long ropes into a tidy bundle.  Despite the relative abundance of foliage here, I was surprised to see very few birds, even now near sunset when they’re usually more active.  This is one of the most heavily used parts of the park, however, so perhaps they give it a wide berth.

Rock formations

As the sun sank, the landscape’s colors and forms began to change and morph, assisted ably by some patchy dark clouds above in the otherwise blue sky.

Hidden Valley Trail

Despite being a very popular walk (and climbing area), we saw just a handful of people during our stroll, which of course suited us just fine.

Silver Cholla / Cylindropuntia echinocarpa

A pretty Silver Cholla bloomed on the side of the trail, and I got a little more intimate with it than I should have while taking a photo – owww!  Those suckers are sharp!

Valley full of Joshua Trees

About an hour after we’d started, we wound up back at the parking lot with a little while remaining until sunset.  We decided to drive along the park road and find a less-paved place from which to enjoy the sunset.

Rocks & trees

I’ve said this about many of the hikes we did in Joshua Tree, but Hidden Valley is absolutely a must-visit spot for anyone going to Joshua Tree.  It’s short, easy, informative, and beautiful!

(again, sorry, no exact stats, but it’s about a mile and took us about an hour)

Sarah at sunset

A few miles toward the town of Joshua Tree, we found a nice turnout by an outcrop of rocks, and decided that would be our sunset vantage.  A short stroll across the woodland and a hop over a few rocks brought us to the edge of an interesting rock formation with a lovely view west toward the rapidly setting sun.

Joshua Tree / Yucca breviflora

Joshua Trees at sunset

I walked around for a few, photographing Joshua Trees and wildflowers, then Sarah & I enjoyed a beer as the sun descended behind the San Bernardino mountain range to our north-west.

Mimulus sp. / Sticky Monkeyflower?

As the sun faded and we headed back to the car, I was surprised to see a bushy monkeyflower.  Anywhere else, I’d have immediately pegged it as Sticky Monkeyflower, but that is not supposed to exist in the Mojave, but then neither is any other yellow monkeyflower that I could find.  A bit of a mystery!

Woodlands at sunset

This was a fun-packed day, and both Split Rock and Hidden Valley were two of the highlights of our trip.  Back at the house, we retired early, as we’d planned a sunrise hike the next morning.

Trip Index:

• Part I – Getting there, settling in
• Part II – Twentynine Palms Oasis
• Part III – Oasis of Mara, Noah Purifoy, Key’s View, Cap Rock
• Part IV – Lost Horse Mine
• Part V – Cholla Cactus Garden, Geology Tour Road
• Part VI – Split Rock, Hidden Valley<– You are here!
• Part VII – Barker Dam, Ocotillo Patch
• Part VIII – Mastodon Peak, Cholla Cactus Garden revisited
• Part IX – Big Morongo Canyon, AKA Birding Paradise
• Part X – Tahquitz Canyon
• Part XI – Living Desert, LA, and home

After our lovely hike at Lost Horse Mine, we decided it was about Beer O’Clock, so we found a nice turnout near Hidden Valley and walked over to an enticing boulder and enjoyed a brew and some cheese.

Joshua Trees and funky rocks

The rocks in this part of the park, called appropriately-enough the “Wonderland of Rocks” are wildly eroded, and are quite famous among rock-climbers.

Mojave Mound Cactus / Echinocereus triglochidiatus

A large Mojave Mound Cactus grew next to where we sat, and although we’d seen a bunch of these on our hike, this one had several dozen flowers/buds.

Joshua Trees / Yucca breviflora

Our little midday break over, we drove through Hidden Valley Campground to scout it out for future reference.  Although it’s a primitive campground (pit toilets and no water, the latter being a bit of a bummer when camping in the desert!), it’s very well-situated, especially for climbers, who can tackle interesting climbing routes right from the campsites.

On the drive back to our house we saw a coyote trotting alongside the road, right past a woman who was looking at something else, and didn’t even notice it running just a few yards behind her!

White-tailed Antelope Squirrel / Ammospermophilus leucurus

Back at the house we admired a showy Desert Spiny Lizard, and a Gambel’s Quail family with ~9 chicks.  The voracious House Finches, and to a lesser degree the Black-throated Sparrows had emptied the birdfeeder, so we refilled it for what would not be the last time.  We were amazed that they’d managed to eat several cups of seed since our arrival.

Juvenile Black-throated Sparrow / Amphispiza bilineata

A bird I didn’t recognize caught my eye and puzzled me for a moment until I saw its parent feed it – ahh, a juvenile Black-throated Sparrow, enjoying the bounty of our feeder.

Unofficial JTNP sign

We visited a touristy gift store in the town of Joshua Tree.  Although it had the usual tourist stuff, it was funky in a good way, and next door was the extremely-funky Joshua Tree Saloon:

Tin-sided Saloon in “downtown” Joshua Tree

Our plan for the afternoon had been to go to Pioneertown, formerly a movie set, and now an actual town, and a short drive through Yucca Valley and up a canyon brought us to it.

We found it strange and a bit disappointing, as although there were folks in period costume playing with fake guns and riding horses, there wasn’t actually anything to do there.  With amuzement we listened to one grizzled old resident gripe that “in Yucca Valley they want to charge you for everything!”  This was doubly-amusing because before we’d left I had read that Yucca Valley is one of the US’ most affordable retirement communities.

Also in our plans was a show & meal at Pappy & Harriets Palace, which was a pretty cute place, but due to the lack of activities in Pioneertown, we arrived well before the band was scheduled to play.  We had a mediocre meal, then headed back to the house.

Since we found ourselves with some time before sunset, we decided to make a kamikaze run to see if we could catch the Cholla Cactus Garden before sundown.

Jumping Cholla / Opuntia bigelovii

After a beautiful, but long’ish drive, we arrived at the garden, a large natural area of many, many Jumping Cholla Cacti, just after the sun had dropped behind the hills, about 15 minutes later than would have been my preference, but we had enough light for some photos, and an enjoyable walk.

Cholla Cactus Garden

These cacti are called “Jumping Cholla” because they have little spiny balls that they readily drop, and which seem to “jump” from the cactus to one’s person.  This effective, if sometimes painful, dispersion system, resulted in the numerous cholla-covered acres of this garden.

Jumping Cholla bloom

For fairly obvious reasons, the path through the garden was fenced off, and festooned with several large-print warning signs about the dangers of touching, or even approaching closely.

Cholla Cactus Garden

These cacti have interesting coloring as well – light green on top, brown in the middle, and dark brown to black on the bottom.

Cholla Cactus Garden and the Pinto Basin

Finally as we neared the end of the little 0.2-mi nature trail, we ran out of light and headed home to a snack, a hot tub, and bed.  The Cholla Cactus Garden is definitely a must-visit for folks in JTNP, especially as it’s right off the park road, and very accessible.

Monday, 27 April 2009:

I “slept in” until 6:30, then went for a walk around our yard, photographing cacti and flowers.

Beavertail Cactus / Opuntia basilaris

Silver Cholla

Pincushion Flower / Chaenactus fremontii

I saw an unfamiliar, but pretty, white flower; Flickr’s ever-helpful “ID Please” group pegged it as a Pincushion Flower.

Paperbag Bush / Salazaria mexicana

Another interesting shrub, which we saw scattered all over the place, was the aptly-named Paperbag Bush AKA Bladder Sage.  “Mojave Wildflowers” says,

The flowers have [...] rose-colored calyces that become inflated and papery in fruit, giving this the common name of Paper-Bag Bush.  The fruit inside the calyx is composed of 4 nutlets, a characteristic of the Mint Family, but Bladder Sage lacks the minty odor and square stems that are also common family features.

After breakfast we gassed up in Joshua Tree and headed into the park, destination Geology Tour Road.  A large’ish interpretive display marked the start of this 18-mile dirt road, but there were no pamphlets to be found, rendering the numbers alongside the road rather meaningless.

The first part of the drive is 5.4 miles on a well-graded road, suitable for any passenger vehicle.

Desert Sand-verbena / Abronia villosa

A flash of purple on the roadside enticed me to pull over, and I was happy to find what was obviously some sort of Sand-Verbena (Yellow Sand-Verbena, which looks identical except for its yellow color, is pretty common along the Point Reyes shorline).  A quick lookup in our flower book confirmed that it was Desert Sand-Verbena (LIFER!).

California Evening-Primrose / Oenothera californica

A little farther off of the road I saw another new flower, California Evening-Primrose.  I wish I’d thought to give it a smell, as many Evening-Primroses are known for having a lovely fragrance.  For some reason, although I take plenty of time to admire flowers, I hardly ever think to smell them.

Geology Tour Road

The road passed Squaw Tank, and the next 7′ish mile loop was signed 4WD only.  No problem for my little Subaru, and the road was in good enough shape that I’d think any vehicle wouldn’t have trouble, as long as there were no recent rains.

Dark volcanic(?) formation with light eroded rocks

This part of the auto tour looped around oddly-named Pleasant Valley, which despite its name was almost totally devoid of anything over 3 feet tall, and seemed a forbidding, rather than pleasant, place especially come summer.

This sign seemed silly way out here

Pleasant Valley is in a transition zone between the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, so Joshua Trees, strictly a Mojave species, were sparse and mostly scraggly here.  As we drove along the southern side of Pleasant Valley, we saw a few birds, notably absent from the rest of the drive except for a few Common Ravens.

A solid dark, mid-sized bird with a crest flew quickly by, and once I got a good look I confirmed it to be a Phainopepla (LIFER!).  This weird bird, whose name is Greek for “shining robe” exhibits several unusual characteristics according to All About Birds:

The Phainopepla exhibits strikingly different behaviors in its two habitats. In the desert, it is territorial, actively defending nesting and foraging sites, while in the woodlands it is colonial, with as many as four nesting pairs sharing one large tree.

and:

The Phainopepla rarely drinks water, even though research indicates that it loses about 95 percent of its body mass in water per day. Instead, it gets the water it needs from its diet of mistletoe.

This interesting bird was too distant for photographs this time, however, and we continued on, past the Pushawalla Canyon Corridor, which looked like it would be interesting to hike, and then north back toward the main road.

Geology Tour Road

Ash-throated Flycatcher / Myiarchus cinerascens

We saw a few Ash-throated Flycatchers along this stretch, including one that posed for a photograph.

Joshua Tree / Yucca breviflora with Malapai Hill on the horizon

The views were very pretty here as we rejoined the 2WD road and headed back to the tarmac, seeing just a couple of other cars on the way.  Geology Tour Road seemed little-visited, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for something a bit off the beaten path.  The geology & ecology of Pleasant Valley were quite interesting, and I was happy that although we’d seen few flowers or birds, the ones we did see were mostly new to me.

Trip Index:

• Part I – Getting there, settling in
• Part II – Twentynine Palms Oasis
• Part III – Oasis of Mara, Noah Purifoy, Key’s View, Cap Rock
• Part IV – Lost Horse Mine
• Part V – Cholla Cactus Garden, Geology Tour Road <– You are here!
• Part VI – Split Rock, Hidden Valley
• Part VII – Barker Dam, Ocotillo Patch
• Part VIII – Mastodon Peak, Cholla Cactus Garden revisited
• Part IX – Big Morongo Canyon, AKA Birding Paradise
• Part X – Tahquitz Canyon
• Part XI – Living Desert, LA, and home