California's Sierra Mountains receive Pacific moisture but leave a rain shadow to the east. Among these deserts, the Mojave is higher and drier than the…
High wind and rain squalls chased us on our first day in Joshua National Park. The Park is named for the joshua trees, which grow only here. They spread out…
The weather was more favorable on the following days and we got a closer look at the unusual trees. When the explorer and politician John C. Fremont first…
We hiked in the western portion of the Park, land that was home to the Serrano and Cahuilla tribes. They were peaceful hunter/gatherers who ground mesquite nuts…
The Indians' place was taken by gold miners and ranchers, often the same people. Bill Keys managed a nearby gold mine until 1910, when it closed. He stayed on…
You are looking at a political powerhouse. Minerva Hoyt was the daughter of Mississippi plantation owners but ended up in South Pasedena, still wealthy.…
While Minerva Hoyt advocated for a million acres from Twentynine Palms to the Salton Sea, the current park is 3/4 of that -- not bad considering the massive…
While crowds were not a problem in our experience in January, the history of park visitation is more troubling. No one knows for certain why visits exploded…
After the first day of rain, we saw this view from our rental house every morning! These are the San Bernardino mountains, separating Joshua Tree from the Los…
On our first full day of hiking in the park, we climbed the aptly named Panorama Trail, just inside the Park from Yucca Valley. We were not expecting the great…
Down in the heart of the Mohave section of the Park, we wandered among spectacular piles of granite boulders. These began their lives five miles underground and…
The gnarled desert junipers among the rocks have grown to resemble bristlecone pines.
In the Mohave, rain water flowing underground down the mountain sides is sometimes interrupted by a geologic fault and is forced to the surface. In these areas,…
On our way back to the Palm Springs airport, we stopped at the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument above the city. Here, you can see the upper…
This handy chart is mounted on the restroom wall at the national monument visitor center. Among other things, it signifies the intense summertime heat of this…