Joshua Tree Jan 26

 January 26, Tuesday

Rose early this morning as the full moon was setting.  It got cold last night – probably high 20’s, though it was 33 at 7:00.  We decided to re-visit the dam area this morning and while there was one other car there, we didn’t see any other people on the trails.

Cold, clear air and quiet.  The reflections were gorgeous and clear. 

We took a different route back and saw a few pictographs, and a few birds.

Beyond the dam there is a bit of a stream and there was ice on part of it!  Back to the Trek for oranges and oatmeal for breakfast.  The coffeemaker won’t work for some reason, so Greg settles for instant.

From here, we headed south, back through the park to the Cottonwood Visitors’ Center where we got a few questions  answered: Joshua trees live about 200 years, though it is difficult to tell because they don’t have anything like rings, and the yellow flowering bushes we saw are bladderwort and this is rather early for them to bloom. 

Next we left the park and headed southwest on a small road to Mesa, a few brittle brushes were in bloom.

We went through lots of desert and many interesting hills.

Then we came over a small rise and wow!  The land around Mesa is irrigated and we passed acres of vineyards, citrus trees, date palms and other plants.  A whole other world....just add water!

Talk about a stark contrast!   We head south  on Grapefruit Blvd, along the Salton Sea,  which is a large but salty body of water.  Once a popular place for Hollywood types, it has fallen out of favor.

We turned west after a bit, heading to Anza-Borrega Desert State Park, California’s largest.  We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, watched a 15 minute film about the formation of this area , which was at various times under water or lush grassland. Lots of interesting fossils. Now it is desert with few water sources, averaging 2-3 inches of water a year.

We went to hike the Palm Canyon trail, which was highly recommended.  It was a 3 mile hike into a Canyon with California Fan Palms.  The first part was open desert, then we entered rocky canyon area and climbed steadily for about a mile. 

Saw a few hummingbirds, a few blooming plants, and a pretty stream which looked golden in the sun.  Lots of interesting rocks. The palm trees are mostly in an oasis.

  The dead foliage  on the palms drapes them like skirts, which helps protect them from the sun and heat, as well as giving wildlife a place to live.  Saw three or four other couples, some of whom who had seen big horn sheep in the canyon, but not today.

Made a few phone calls when we got back to the Trek and then headed for Blair Valley, a good place to boondock we were told. Passed some desert area that a local artist has populated with nice .
metal sculptures.

  There are a few “fancy campgrounds” in the park with electric and water, etc.  but we opted to pull into the desert in a quiet, flat area.  They allow boondocking all over the park, surprisingly!

It was almost dark by the time we settled in.  Made a quick dinner and tried to write a bit of the blog.  Nice clear sky and beautiful stars!