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

After a light breakfast we drove into Joshua Tree National Park and headed to the trailhead for the Lost Horse Mine.  We hit the trail at 8:45 with only one other car in the parking area – sweet!

The trail angled through some Joshua Tree woodland before becoming more chaparral’y.  A pair of hikers, presumably from the other car in the lot, passed us the other way, and as far as we could tell we had the trail to ourselves.

Lost Horse Mine Trail

We were quickly taken by the towering yellow blooms of Parry’s Nolina, which looks like it might be a yucca, but in fact is in it’s own family.

Parry Nolina / Nolina parryi

Their huge blooms, some 7-8 feet tall were obvious all along the trail and hillsides, like giant yellow candles improbably planted in the rocky desert.

Mojave Mound Cactus / Echinocereus triglochidiatus

A patch of flaming red caught my eye (and how could it not?) and I saw my first of many Mojave Mound Cacti.  This crimson cactus grows in a dense cluster, and is quite beautiful.

Parry Nolina / Nolina parryi

Nolina stalks poked up as far as we could see, the nearby ones audibly buzzing with bees.

Joshua Trees / Yucca breviflora

Mount San Gorgonio’s snowy summit was visible on the horizon to our north, looking rather out of place as we hiked along the gravely, scrubby desert.

Parry Nolina / Nolina parryi

Along with the abundant Parry Nolina and scattered Joshua Trees, Mojave Yucca, with its wispy-haired spines, dotted the trailside.  Although we were clearly in the  peak of Nolina bloom season, both the Joshua Trees and Mojave Yucca had long since bloomed, leaving behind only dessicated hints as to their inflorescence.

Lost Horse Mine Trail

The trail rose and fell gently, and I stopped frequently to take photos of the various flora and scattered fauna.

Nolina spines

Sarah, admiring some Nolina

Although there were very few birds, I did see a few Black-throated Sparrows, a Western Scrub-Jay, and a lone White-crowned Sparrow.

Cactus Wren / Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus

A Cactus Wren posed long enough for me to get a photo, which I was pretty happy about, as wrens of any sort rarely hang around in the open long enough for me to photograph them.

Mojave Mound Cactus / Echinocereus triglochidiatus

Periodic patches of red gave away several dozen Mojave Mound Cacti as we neared the Lost Horse Mine.  I think of the many beautiful cacti, yucca, and nolina we saw on this trip, Mojave Mound Cactus is probably my favorite.  It’s brilliant color just seems so out of place in the otherwise dusty, low-contrast desert.

Desert Parsley /  Lomatium mohavense

I spotted another new bloom, which I recognized as some type of carrot, and a lookup back at our house showed it to be Desert Parsley.  Despite its name, I was not tempted to eat it – “Mojave Desert Wildflowers” says,

Although this plant bears the name of Desert Parsley, it is not considered edible.  Many plants in this family are poisonous.

Desert Paintbrush / Castilleja angustifolia

We soon came to the mine area, evidenced by several doubletrack roads and tailing piles, and we decided to first check out the upper part of the former settlement, enjoying some nice, wide open desert views as we climbed just a little bit toward the main mine shaft.

Old Wagon Road near Lost Horse Mine

At 10:00, we arrived at the ruins of Lost Horse Mine.  This once-sizeable mining community had a 10-stamp mill, a half dozen or so miner’s cabins, and sundry buildings.  Only the well-preserved stamp mill (behind ugly cyclone fencing) and the foundations of the cabins remained, and we enjoyed poking around.

Lost Horse Mine’s 10 Stamp Mill

Stamp mill machinery

It’s hard to imagine ekeing out an existence here, in the middle of the Mojave Desert, hoping to take out enough gold to get rich in this generally mother-lode-free area.  According to the very informative NPS page on the Lost Horse Mine,

An exception is the Lost Horse Mine, which produced 10,000 ounces of gold and 16,000 ounces of silver (worth approximately $5 million today) between 1894 and 1931. When the story of the Lost Horse Mine is told, it sounds like a western campfire tale: gun slinging cowboys, cattle rustlers, horse thieves, the lure of gold, and a sticky-fingered miner.

Tube to nowhere

A few interpretive signs briefly explained the history of the mine, and we walked towards a cluster of cabin foundations to have a snack.  As we did so, we were joined by a solo hiker, who didn’t stay too long, and left us with the mine to ourselves.

Rattlesnake Weed / Chamaesyce albomarginata

A dense mat of tiny flowers lined one section of trail – Rattlesnake Weed.  Not a very attractive name for a pretty little ground cover, perhaps it should be known by it’s less-evocative, but more accurate common name – Whitemargin Sandmat.

Miner’s cabin ruins

After about 45 minutes of enjoying the mine’s environs, we headed back the way we’d come in.  Although it’s possible to do this hike as a loop, its several miles longer, and we’d decided that we would prefer to do more shorter hikes rather than just a few long ones.

Mojave Aster / Xylorhiza tortifolia

On the walk back to the car we encountered quite a few more hikers, making us glad to have gotten an early start, not just for the solitude, but for the more pleasant lighting and temperature, although it wasn’t too warm at this point in the day.

I felt bad for one group of 4 adults and 3 children who asked us “how much farther is it?”  Unluckily for them, they had hike only about a quarter mile from their car, and had about 2 miles to go.  We predicted that they would not be making it to the mine if they were asking that question only 1/8 of the way there!

Lost Horse Mine Trail

At 11:40 we arrived back at the trailhead, and sure enough, the parking area was fairly full.  This was a wonderful hike (as are most in Joshua Tree), combining a lovely and mellow walk through the desert with an historical mine site.

Hike stats:
Distance: 4.55mi
Climbing: 700′ (according to my GPS, but that seems too high)
Moving tmie: 2hrs, 5min
Not-moving time: 55min

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 <– You are here!
• 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
• Part IX – Big Morongo Canyon, AKA Birding Paradise
• Part X – Tahquitz Canyon
• Part XI – Living Desert, LA, and home

After our hike to Twentynine Palms Oasis, we drove to the town of the same name to check out the main Joshua Tree National Park visitor’s center, and the adjacent Oasis of Mara.

Oasis of Mara

The visitor’s center was surprisingly devoid of interpretive displays, and after picking up a book on cacti & a book on desert wildflowers, we walked around the paved trail to the Oasis of Mara.

This oasis is right in the middle of town, and is rather windswept and only of passing interest.  I was happy to see a Bullock’s Oriole in the trees, but we didn’t linger long, and headed back to the house and made lunch

Desert backyard

After lunch we headed to Noah Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum.

Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum

The museum’s address is not listed on their website, presumably to prevent vandalism, but I’d printed out directions from a Yelp review.  They were very convoluted (and needlessly so), but we eventually got there.  This was my kind of crazy desert place – the sculptures, all made from found objects ran the gamut from trains to toilets to houses and so on.  If you’d like to see more photos, check out my previous photo set post.

After an hour or so wandering amid Purifoy’s interesting creations, we decided to head into the national park and get the lay of the land.

Joshua Tree Road

The drive in was beautiful;  Although I’ve seen plenty of Joshua Trees in the past, I had never seen an actual forest of them!  The weird trees had fascinating lumpy rocks for a backdrop (the so-called Wonderland of Rocks), and the whole area was quite surreal.

Key’s View

By way of getting the lay of the park, we decided to head out to Key’s View, an overlook at the edge of the park high above the Coachella Valley.  It was a pretty drive of 5′ish miles to the lookout, however the view to the west was very smoggy, courtesy of not-that-nearby Los Angeles.  Towering Mt. San Jacinto was directly across from us, and to the south we could see just a sliver of the accidental Salton Sea (its story, in the wiki link on the left, is rather interesting).

Desert Mallow / Sphaeralcea ambigua

There’s a (very) short, paved interpretive trail at Key’s View, and after walking around it, which took all of a minute or two, we headed back.

Cap Rock Nature Trail

Our park map showed a short nature trail at Cap Rock, so we pulled into the parking lot and walked along this wide, well-signed path, which had quite a lot of information about the natural history of the area.

Joshua Trees / Yucca breviflora

Joshua Tree B&W

There were funky rocks a’plenty, and a good number of Joshua Trees.  It felt like we were walking through Dr. Seuss story, half-expecting a Lorax to pop out from behind one of these weird yuccas.

Mesquite, strangled by miseltoe

A dead mesquite bush provided a good example of the dangers of being a parasite – it had been thoroughly invaded by miseltoe, and had subsequently died – a similar fate awaited the miseltoe that had not yet perished.

Joshua Tree woodland

Flora- and fauna-wise, it was very quiet, being midday.  A few Common Ravens flew by, and some lizards skitted about, and that was about it.

Cap Rock – I guess it sort of looks like a cap….

We soon arrived back at the car, and went to the Visitor’s Center in the town of Joshua Tree, which was even smaller than the one in Twentynine Palms, however it had an excellent photography exhibit that opened this evening, and we enjoyed seeing the beautiful photos made by a years-long resident of the area.

After that, dinner, a hot tub, and bed.  Not a half-shabby second day in Joshua Tree!

Sunday, 26 April 2009:

Sunrise

I woke up at 6am and watched the sunrise over the nearby mountains, then walked around the property and photographed some of the flora in the warm early morning light.

Mojave Aster / Xylorhiza tortifolia

Mojave Asters were beginning to unfurl, and a good variety of cacti were around as well.

Diamond Cholla / Opuntia ramosissima

The aptly-named Horse Crippler / Grusonia parishii

Horse Crippler Cactus AKA Dead Cactus, although it looks dead, is not, and atop its fearsome spines grows a very odd-looking flower & glochid when it’s in bloom.  It’s pretty obvious why it’s called Horse Crippler!

Black-throated Sparrow / Amphispiza bilineata, w/nesting material

I watched a Black-throated Sparrow pulling nesting materiel from a dead yucca, it’s dainty beak stuff with strands.

Desert Live Forever / Dudleya saxosa

A succulent caught my eye, and I immediately knew it to be a Dudleya sp., and a quick look in our newly-purchased desert flower book confirmed that it was Desert Liveforever.

Acton Encelia / Encelia actoni

Acton Encelia bloomed everywhere, at least I think that’s what it is – there are a pretty large number of yellow Asteraceae in the Mojave!

Our rental at sunrise

The morning chorus of calling Gambel’s Quail and Mourning Doves began to quiet as the sun rose above the eastern mountains.

Silver Cholla / Cylindropuntia echinocarpa & Engelmann Hedgehog / Echinocereus engelmannii

A nicely back-lit Silver Cholla caught my eye – I was so far very much enjoying my new’ish Canon G10, with which I took the majority of the non-bird photos in this travelogue.

Black-throated Sparrow

By the bird feeder, I caught another Black-throated Sparrow, then went inside to make coffee and rouse Sarah for the day’s hike

(to be continued)

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 <– You are here!
• 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
• Part IX – Big Morongo Canyon, AKA Birding Paradise
• Part X – Tahquitz Canyon
• Part XI – Living Desert, LA, and home

Saturday, 25 April 2009 (continued from here)

We drove ~20 minutes from our house to Twentynine Palms, then up a road for a few miles until it ended at the trailhead for the Twentynine Palms Oasis trail.  We hit the trail at 8:05, just behind a large’ish group of hikers, so we started slow to let them get well ahead of us.  I was slightly annoyed that I had failed to check that I had this region loaded into my GPS, so although it provided hike stats, I had no map to look at, oops!

Hikers on the Twentynine Palms Oasis Trail

The trail rose gently, and many cacti and flowers were blooming.  This part of Joshua Tree National Park, however, is completely devoid of the park’s namesake tree.

Dessicated cacti

As we climbed, views started to open up of the valley below and the town of Twentynine Palms.

Desertscape

The well-used trail belied the morning’s quiet, and the largeish group at the trailhead had long since gone ahead at a military clip;  We assumed, correctly as it turned out, that they were from the nearby Marine base.

Desert Barrel Cactus / Ferocactus cylindraceus

Near the ridgetop, tall, bright red Desert Barrel Cacti dotted the hillsides, making the already-surreal desert scenery all that much more foreign.  Some of these barrels were 5+ feet tall, and their color made them stand out like sore thumbs.  In fact, they looked rather like sore thumbs!

Twentynine Palms Oasis Trail

At the top of the ridge, we enjoyed lovely views to the north of Morongo Valley, and then descended gently toward the oasis.

Cushion Foxtail Cactus / Coryphantha alversonii

White-tailed Antelope Squirrel / Ammospermophilus leucurus

Another new cactus, Cushion Foxtail, with distinctive pink blooms, was nestled into some rocks, and a couple of White-tailed Antelope Squirrels (which look more like chipmunks) ran about.

Nearing the oasis

Cresting the ridge, we could see the tops of the California Fan Palms in the oasis, and the trail leading to it.   The trail here was very well-maintained and rock-lined – impossible to stray from unless you tried (which of course we did at a few nice viewpoints).

Sand Blazing Star / Mentzelia involucrata

Perched on a rock I spied a Cactus Wren (LIFER!) and soon saw a White-crowned Sparrow, along with a few Black-throated Sparrows in the thickening vegetation.  Flowers were more plentiful here too, as we neared the oasis.

Mojave Sun Cup / Camissonia campestris

Nearly all of the flowers we’d seen were new to me, but Mojave Sun Cup was at least easy to identify as some sort of Sun Cup, with its bulbous-tipped stigma.

Trail

A few hikers, who had gotten an even earlier start than us, were returning up the trail as we neared the oasis, and the plant & wildlife continued to pick up.

Common Side-blotched Lizard / Uta stansburiana

A rustling in the shrubery brought a lovely Common Side-blotched Lizard to my attention (thanks to Flickr user PrimevalNature for the ID!).

Desert Canterbury Bell / Phacelia campanularia

Another new flower, the dainty Desert Canterbury Bell, bloomed inconspicuously under a rock’s shadow.

Oasis view

75 short minutes after starting, we arrived at the oasis, which is not the sort of shimmering desert lake one might think of, but rather a cluster of (guess how many?) California Fan Palms in a boggy area.

The group of hikers we’d started with was here, and we perched ourselves on a nearby rock to enjoy the locale by ourselves.

Twentynine Palms Oasis

Much birdsong was in the air, and I scanned the trees to see who was present.

Orange-crowned Warbler / Vermivora celata

An Orange-crowned Warbler flitted about in a flowering bush, but that wasn’t the source of what I was hearing.

Scott’s Oriole / Icterus parisorum

A flash of high-contrast black and yellow alerted me to the singer – a lovely Scott’s Oriole (LIFER!).  I spent the next few minutes trying to get close to get a decent photo of it, and it hopped about, mostly stymying my efforts.

California Fan Palm

A friendly fellow from the larger group came over to see what we were looking at, and we talked to him for a little bit.  The group was indeed from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (the largest USMC base), and most were instructors enjoying a day off.  They’d been hiking in the Smoky Mountains just a week earlier, which must have been quite the contrast with the stark desert environment here!

Costa’s Hummingbirds / Calypte costae

Costa’s Hummingbird (female) / Calypte costae

As we were getting ready to head back, a “whirrrr” caught my ear, and we were treated to a male Costa’s Hummingbird (LIFER!) doing its display for a female.  It flew high above her, then whizzed down and back up again.  She didn’t seem very impressed, and soon went about sipping nectar from some nearby flowers.

We headed back the way we came at 9:45, as several sets of hikers arrived.

Desert Barrel Cactus flowers / Ferocactus cylindraceus

Since I’d already seen the scenery on the hike in, I concentrated on the flora, finding one blooming barrel cactus…

Desert Dandelion / Malacothrix glabrata

… and a Desert Dandelion, which looks quite like any other dandelion, and …

Cutleaf Wildheliotrope / Phacelia crenulata (?)

… a couple of patches of pretty Cutleaf Wildheliotrope, at least I think that’s what it is.  Judging from its leaves and flower arrangement, it’s certainly a Phacelia sp. of some sort.

Trail

There were more folks on the trail now (it IS a national park, after all), most heading the other way.  I was glad we’d started early, as even by 10am, the light wasn’t as nice, and the wind was picking up.

Englemann Hedgehog / Echinocereus engelmannii

A bunch of Englemann Hedgehogs were blooming, and I photographed many of them until I found one whose bloom was both in good shape, and well-list.

Gambel’s Quail / Callipepla gambelii

As we neared the trailhead, a Gambel’s Quail skitted down a boulder, and I was glad to catch a reasonable photo of it, as in my experience, Quail are pretty wary birds!

At 10:55 we arrived back at the car, surprised to find the parking lot nearly full.  Despite the total lack of Joshua Trees, this was a great first hike in the park, and one that due to its ease should be on any visitor’s list!

Hike Stats:

- Distance: 3.5mi
- Climbing: 800′
- 1h 43m moving, 1h stopped

Trip index:

• Part I – Getting there, settling in
• Part II – Twentynine Palms Oasis <– You are here!
• 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
• Part IX – Big Morongo Canyon, AKA Birding Paradise
• Part X – Tahquitz Canyon
• Part XI – Living Desert, LA, and home

We left home early, encountering no traffic at all getting out of the bay area, and drove the long’ish slog down I-5 to Bakersfield.  Fortunately the drive to this part of California is “only” a couple hundred miles on mind-numbing I-5, rather than the full many-hours-long epic to get to LA, and after a quick lunch at Foster’s Freeze in Bakersfield, the drive was interesting enough as we drove through Tehachapi, and through the desert on Hwy 58 past Mojave and through Boron.  We stopped to browse a funky antique shop at Kramer Junction, then continued to Barstow and from there headed south on 2-lane Hwy 247.

Hwy 247 went through some pretty high desert, and some very depressed-looking communities, especially Lucerne Valley, and ended at Twentynine Palms Hwy AKA Hwy 62, in Yucca Valley, a charmless and endless strip mall.   We noted a couple of grocery stores for future reference, and continued east to the town of Joshua Tree, which was considerably more enticing than Yucca Valley (a good thing, as we were staying there!).  A few miles up the road to Joshua Tree National Park brought us to our rental house, a short 500 miles and 9 hours drive from home.

Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris)

We were quite impressed with our rental, which had several private acres of sparse Joshua Tree woodland, a hot tub, and more than plenty of space for the two of us (another couple had planned on joining us for part of this trip, but had to cancel).

House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)

House Finches mobbed the bird feeder in the back yard, and some quail ate the seeds that had fallen to the ground.  Hmm, those quail don’t look quite right for California Quail….  A quick look at my field guide showed the reason – they were Gambel’s Quail (LIFER!), a similiar, but mostly not-overlapping-range quail species.

Our rental in Joshua Tree Highlands – sweet!

We unpacked and walked around the property, happy to find that there were many blooming cactii and wildflowers – this boded well, as I had assumed that we would be too late to see much in the way of desert flowers.

Englemann Hedgehog (Echinocereus engelmannii)

We had Beavertail Cactus, Englemann Hedgehog, Joshua Trees, Mojave Yucca, and several types of Cholla all within just a few hudred feet of the house.

Joshua Trees (Yucca breviflora) at sunset

Numerous flowers were blooming as well, but most would have to wait to be identified, as I am/was mostly unfamiliar with desert flora & fauna.

Mojave Aster (Xylorhiza tortifolia)

One easy ID, however, was the Mojave Aster, with its pretty purple flowers and giveaway aster shape.  Back at the feeder, a new bird had joined the House Finches, a Black-throated Sparrow (LIFER!).  Sweet, two life birds, and we hadn’t even left our rental yet!

After relaxing for a bit we drove back to Yucca Valley, stocked up on groceries, made a simple dinner, and went to bed after a lovely relaxing hot tub.

Location:     Villa Rocosa (JT Highlands House)
Observation date:     4/24/09
Number of species:     6

* Gambel's Quail - Callipepla gambelii     3
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis     1
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     5
Common Raven - Corvus corax     2
* Black-throated Sparrow - Amphispiza bilineata     2
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus     1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Saturday, April 25 2009:

Sunrise

I woke with the sun and enjoyed watching its rays spread out over the mountains and valley.  A small yellowish bird briefly perched on a backyard chair just long enough for me to identify it as a Verdin (LIFER!).

Desert Cottontail

A pair of Desert Cottontails frolicked about, jumping around and over each other.  I assume it was frolicking anyways – for all I know it could have been a bunny deathmatch!

Desert backyard

I walked around our “yard,” enjoying the changing light.  The air was full of calling Mourning Doves and Gambel’s Quail, and despite scattered houses around us, all else was quiet.

Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris)

The cactus diversity was pretty impressive for a little patch of land!  Brilliant Beavertail blooms popped magenta in the early morning light, while other cactii were a bit more subtle.

Diamond Cholla (Opuntia ramosissima)

The backyard quail were skittish, and avoided my attempts to photograph them, but I did catch a House Finch and Black-throated Sparrow at the feeder:

House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) & Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata)

Both birds were voracious, fighting among themselves.  House Finches outnumbered the Black-throated Sparrows by about 3:1, and there was much tussling over feeder space.

Acton Encelia (Encelia actoni)

I roused Sarah, and after a bagel breakfast, we headed out for the morning’s hike.

To be continued….

Location:     Villa Rocosa (JT Highlands House)
Observation date:     4/25/09
Number of species:     6

Gambel's Quail - Callipepla gambelii     3
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     4
Common Raven - Corvus corax     2
* Verdin - Auriparus flaviceps     1
Black-throated Sparrow - Amphispiza bilineata     3
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus     2

• Part I – Getting there, settling in <– You are here!
• 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
• Part IX – Big Morongo Canyon, AKA Birding Paradise
• Part X – Tahquitz Canyon
• Part XI – Living Desert, LA, and home

I’ve seen a bunch more life birds: Phainopepla, Lazuli Bunting, Summer Tanager, Nutall’s Woodpecker, Ladderback Woodpecker, Long-eared Owl (fledglings!), Bell’s Vireo, and last, but certainly not least, Vermillion Flycatcher.

We return home in Sunday, and then I’m only home for 4 days before heading to Prague for 5 days of work & 8 days of vacation – wheew!

Here is one last batch of iPhone photos:

To our surprise, the desert is blooming great guns, especially the many different cacti.

Bird-wise I’ve picked up a few lifers: Scott’s Oriole, Black-throated Sparrow, Gambel’s Quail, Cactus Wren, Costa’s Hummingbird, and Verdin. Hopefully we’ll get a few more over the next 4 days (2 in JTNP, 2 in Palm Springs).

For now, here are a few photos, taken with my iPhone, so forgive the quality & formatting, as this is also my first post using the WordPress app.