Where Two Deserts Meet

Nov 17/2018  Weather sunny with some cloud cover later in the day, high of 76, low 56.  
Tip:  There are "no" services inside the park.  None.  Fuel up your vehicle before entering the park.  Wear proper hiking boots if taking any trails and have water and food supplies and sunscreen ~ Enough for your visit.  Stop at the Ranger Station and do not loose your payment slip, when leaving the park you have to present it or pay again.

main road through Joshua National Park

Once a few years ago in springtime we were able to travel through the Joshua Tree National Park.  We remember the remarkably odd trees blooming profusely in a desert setting.  That time we entered from the north west entrance at the village of Joshua Tree.  This time we are going to reverse our driving route and enter from east entrance at Desert Center.  Often we have found that driving the opposite direction you see different views and it just looks different.  Joshua Tree National Park is the two deserts that meet, the Mojave and the Colorado.  Your thinking so its sandy and dusty and rocky and cactus.  There is so much more. 

boulders balance on top each other, and rock climbers will be making their way to the top

Valleys, canyons, Little San Bernadino Mountain Range, unusual stacked rock formations, plants, animals and a land that has been sculpted by strong winds and sometimes torrents of rain.  October experienced the damaging rains and some of the roads are still closed from being washed away or down to one lane filled with sand.

one lane closed, from rainstorms in october

Following the scenic road we turned off at the roadway climbing up to Keys View above 5000 feet.   The vantage provides a sweeping panorama that takes in two of Southern California’s biggest summits: Mount San Jacinto (elevation 10,834 feet) and Mount Gorgonio (elevation 11,502 feet). Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley frame the background, and the vast Salton Sea shimmers to the southeast. Sadly as in many areas of the world pollution has made the view hazy, it's smog clouding the valley. We could see Palm Springs, the Salton Sea, and the two high peaks.

From Keys View - the two peaks in the distance, the coachella valley below beautiful but hazy

The Keys family lived and ranched in the Mojove Desert which is now inside the park for 60 years.   Legend has it that Morman pioneers named the tree after the biblical figure, Joshua, seeing the limbs of the tree as outstretched in supplication, guiding the travelers westward.   So is it a tree?  or a cactus?  Actually neither.  It is Yucca brevifolia, a member of the Agave family.    In the northern area of the park you will be surrounded by twisted, spiky trees straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.

Rosey is it a tree or a cactus?