_____ 

Title:  April in Joshua Tree
Authors:  Michael Tennesen
Source:  SUNSET; Apr2000, Vol. 204 Issue 4, p60, 3p, 1 map, 3c	
Database:  D Drive


APRIL IN JOSHUA TREE

by Michael Tennesen

(Joshua Tree National Park, California)

Joshua Tree National Park is full of epiphanies. Like the time I was with my 
friend Rufus and his family about a mile and a half up the Boy Scout trail. 
Twenty-five-foot-high Joshua trees--tall candle-opera cacti with spiny caps 
atop grossly contorted branches--surrounded us. It was April and creamy, 
pod-like flowers hung from those branches beckoning birds and squirrels.

But the Joshua trees weren't distracting Rufus's one-year-old son, Guthrie, 
who Rufus carried on his back. Guthrie started to whine as Rufus's eyes closed 
into slits and his mouth curled downward. Until I pointed at a vista behind us. 
Then the eyes of both father and son popped open in unison and mouths 
transformed into gaping chasms. Rufus, a Hollywood art director, smiled and 
said to Guthrie, "How did the do that?"

What we were staring at and wondering how "they" did was a series of mountains 
visible through the Joshua forest. The closest was made of piles of mammoth 
pink boulders, looking like overgrown bubbles from a subterranean bottle of 
champagne. Behind that was another range of craggy wrinkled but gentler hills. 
And beyond that was the 11,501-foot snow capped summit of San Gorgonio Mountain. 

And all around us were yellow dandelions and purple placilia. April is a great 
month to catch nature's colorful spectacle of rock and flower at Joshua Tree 
National Park. I came here one year when a late winter storm had deposited a 
thin cover of snow over the park. By midday the ground had turned from snow 
white to reddish brown. But by afternoon it was already bright yellow as fields 
of tiny woolly daisies burst from freshly moistened earth. 

The annual wildflowers come out with sufficient winter moisture. But even if 
the annuals fail to appear, most of the cacti have blooms that are more 
reliable but no less spectacular. 

A drive from the West Entrance Station along Park Boulevard to Pinto Basin Road 
and out through the southern Cottonwood Entrance will take you through a varied 
and splendid landscape.

There are hiking trails and exhibits available at almost every pullout. A great 
place to sample the scenic vistas, geology, and varied plant life is along the 
1.5-mile trail to the summit of Ryan Mountain. The trail begins in the Joshua 
trees and climbs up though pinion pine and patches of oak. Along the way you'll 
see bunch grasses, annual wildflowers, prickly bear cactus, as well as rust 
and lime colored lichen adorning banded rocks filled with fool's gold. At the 
top you get the best 360-degree view the park has to offer, including the pink 
piles of enormous granite boulders in Hidden Valley that the rock climbers all 
love to scale. 

Hidden Valley has two great campsites: Hidden Valley and Ryan. I camped at Ryan 
and awoke to a chorus of coyotes yipping back and forth across the valley. At 
the Hidden Valley Nature Trail and Picnic Area, two coyotes passed within 10 
feet of my car. 

Though Joshua tree may look devoid of wildlife, a walk out in the desert will 
quickly reveal a myriad of freshly dug holes where a pocket mouse, collared 
lizard, rabbit, or desert tortoise has dug its nest. My favorite nest is the 
#2 stop on the Cholla Cactus Garden Trail. The foot high mound is covered 
with little balls of cholla whose spines are so aggressive that if you get 
one in your tennis shoe, you may have to throw the shoe away. How did the 
mouse do that?

The Cholla Cactus Garden is dazzling in any direction but particularly backlit 
when these Neapolitan cacti (the have a lime green top, a rust colored middle, 
and a dark brown base) dazzle with fire. A yellow flower grows where a yellow 
green fruit will later appear. 

Joshua Tree National Park is comprised of two distinct desert ecosystems-the 
upper elevation Mojave and the lower elevation Colorado deserts. The Cholla 
Cactus Garden is on the edge of these two deserts and many park visitors turn 
back here because the Joshua trees disappear in the lower park. 

But don't you. Instead continue on down through the washes past the smoke trees 
(their intricate branches look like smoke) to Cottonwood Springs and the Lost 
Palms Oasis Trail.

The trail is a demanding 4-mile hike to the oasis, but it's worth it. It 
traverses a series of high valleys, ravines, and washes filled with a variety 
of plants including purple barrel cacti and stands of ocotillo. In spring, the 
long slender branches of the ocotillo are covered with tiny green leaves and 
red blossoms. 

Trail's end is a beautiful deep rocky canyon filled with over 110 California 
fan palms. Kit foxes, bobcats, and bighorn sheep make occasional secretive 
trips to water here. It's another one of those how-did-they-do-that's that 
keeps desert rats like myself coming back for more.

 
JOSHUA TREE TRAVEL PLANNER:

Joshua Tree National Park is open all year. Water, firewood, or food are not 
available in the park, so bring your own. 

DIRECTIONS: The park is 140 miles east of Los Angeles, north of Interstate 
10 or south of Hwy 62. 

FEES: Entrance fee is $10 per car and is good for 7 days.

CAMPING: Camping is free and on a first come first served basis at most of 
the campgrounds. Hidden Valley and Ryan campgrounds fill up quickly but Jumbo 
Rocks, Belle, and White Tank are less pressured. Cottonwood is a fee site as 
is Indian Cove and Black Rock Canyon. You can make reservations at the later 
two sites though they are on the outskirts of the park near the town. 

LODGING: Hotels and motels are available in Joshua Tree city and 29 Palms.  
The Roughly Manor Bed and Breakfast (760-367-3238) is a three-story 1920's home 
on 25 acres. Rooms start at $75. The 29 Palms Inn (760-367-3505) is rustic 
bungalows and wood frame cabins. Rooms start at $80 weekdays/$110 weekends.
 
TRAILS: 
Ryan Mountain Trail: 1.5 miles to summit. Moderately strenuous. Look for sign 
that says "Ryan Mountain 1.5."
Cholla Cactus Garden: 1/4 mile trail through garden. Easy.
Lost Palms Oasis Trail: 4 miles to Lost Palms. Moderately strenuous to the 
Oasis, but the trail is worth it even for shorter distances.
 
CAUTIONS: Take plenty of water on the trail. Be cautious of cactus spines, 
particularly chollas. Pets are allowed but protect them from the coyotes. 

                             -- The End --