Joshua Tree – Much, much warmer…..

It has been a great two weeks in Joshua Tree. Actually only one week, I spent one week in San Francisco getting some city life exposure. The week I was away, the desert got greener. It may not look it compared to the lush green landscapes in the southeast but, the trees are growing and growing greener.

Before leaving for San Francisco, I took an off day run out to the Lost Palms Canyon from Cottonwood Springs. I learned that Joshua Tree National Park was more diverse than I realized. The park is actually two deserts, the Mojave and the Colorado. The two have distinctly different plant life, notice no Joshua trees. Different types of cactus include this one, a Teddy-bear Cholla cactus with a view of the Salton Sea in the background.

The actual spring has its own place in history with evidence that dates back more than two centuries ago. The cotton woods and palms trees were brought in by the miners from the Dale Mining District and Mecca from 1890 to 1910.

The spring has pumped as much as 3,000 gallons of water a day and was piped as far as 18 miles away to the Iron Chief Mine in the Eagle Mountains. Fluctuations in the water table dropped the flow to only a few gallons a day until the 1971 San Fernando earthquake brought the flow to its present level of 30 gallons per day.

I have also had more time to explore the bouldering in the park on this trip. The rock at Joshua Tree is Quartz Monzonite Granite and has amazing friction. Boulder problems can be found within a short walk of the camp grounds and range from V0-Vhard on slopers, crimps, slabs, overhangs and dynos. The argument continues over which is better, Hueco Tanks or Joshua Tree. All I will say is Hueco is more developed and Joshua Tree is more easily accessed.

My future plans are to spend another week or two in Joshua Tree and then return to Red Rocks before heading north to Yosemite. The weather continues to improve and life in Joshua Tree is great. I can see why the park has to enforce the 14 day limit. Oh yeah and there is an awesome Thia resturant just outside of the park. With $10 buffet on the weekends, it's quite a poplar spot amoung climbers.