The two major destinations of our March 2005 California desert
wildflower tour were Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Death Valley
National Park. The direct route between them went right through Joshua
Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve. These are higher
desert areas where we did not expect to see many flowers on our early
March trip.
Approaching the southern entrance of Joshua Tree National Park from
Indio on Interstate 10, the freeway median was one long flower garden.
Immediately after exiting the freeway, the road into the Park for
several miles climbed an alluvial fan towards the mountains. In
between the bushes, the fan was blanketed in swaths of lupines, desert
dandelions, chia, brittlebush, and other flowers. We stopped to hike
the Bajada nature trail, where the path led through and among the
flowers.
As we approached the Cottonwood Springs area, the steady increase in
elevation dimished the flowers considerably, and we saw only scattered
flowers in the rest of the park. It was just too early for these
higher elevations.
We stopped at the Cholla Gardens, an area of dense, large cholla
plants. The cholla were just budding, but even without flowers, they
are impressive as the sun shines through their fine spines. Just don't
touch them! You'll need pliers to remove the barbed spines.
After exiting Joshua Tree National Park near Twentynine Palms, we sped
towards Amboy, where we picked up the Kelbaker Road through Mojave
National Preserve. We were too early to see any flowers in Mojave
Preserve, which is high desert. We did stop and walk up onto the Kelso
Dunes. They are deceptively large; you walk and walk and yet don't
seem to be getting there! We camped in an undeveloped area off a dirt
road where we were surrounded by space and silence.
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Lupine mixed with desert dandelion along the Bajada trail, Joshua Tree NP, looking up to Cottonwood Mtns.
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Desert dandelion, Bajada trail, Joshua Tree NP
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Purple mat grows only an inch high along the Bajada trail, Joshua Tree NP
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Spikes of chia along the Bajada trail, Joshua Tree NP
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Desert dandelion, lupine, and brittlebush paint the bajada toward Cottonwood Mtns, Joshua Tree NP
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Cholla budding at the Cholla Gardens, Joshua Tree NP
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Kelso Dunes, Mojave NP
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Kelso Dunes, Mojave NP. Dune in back is several hundred feet high
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Sunset on the Marl Mountains, Mojave NP
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