Joshua Tree National Park, California

Joshua Tree National Park is a combination of the Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert. The western half of the park is the Mojave Desert with elevations above 3,000 feet.  Here are the pinyon pines, junipers, scrub oaks, Mojave yuccas, and Mojave prickly pear cacti. The Joshua Tree is abundant in the Mojave Desert.  I don't know why it is called a "tree," because it is really a species of yucca. Its waxy, spiny leaves expose little surface area, conserving moisture.

As close as we were to this National Park, I decided a drive of over 55 miles one way was something to do. Driving through the park took a while as well since I decided to take a back road and that took a little longer, ending up at Barker Dam.

Trail to Barker Dam

In the early 1900s, ranchers, needing water for their stock, searched for ways to supplement natural water sources. They dug wells, improved springs, and expanded natural catch basins in drainages of canyons and rock formations by building small dams. This area began as a natural tank, a catch basin for rainfall and runoff. It was expanded into a dam by the Barker & Shay Cattle Company, and still later enlarged by Bill Keys, owner of the Desert Queen Ranch. At its maximum it encompasses about 20 acres. A pipeline once carried water to the cattle trough in the wash behind the dam.

Cattle ranching was a short-lived effort in this area. When the rainfall decreased in the early part of this century, grasses declined and many springs dried up. Cattle raising gradually moved farther west to greener pastures. Today Barker Dam is a reminder of the past, its waters reflecting only the brown rocks and blue skies of the desert. It is a quiet place in a noisy world and a precious watering hole for desert animals and migrating birds.

We stopped at some other sights like Live Oak (but I never saw any Oak Tree), split rock, where I did get some pictures, and then along Desert Queen Mine Road. It was interesting driving through the small towns of Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms.  They were mostly desert, dry, windy and sandy.  Not a terrain that we would want to live in.

Joshua Trees can grow over 40 feet tall, at a rate of about an inch a year.  Its clusters of cream-colored flowers bloom February to April.

The Joshua Tree is called the "Tree of Life."  It grows primarily in the Mojave Desert.  It has adapted to reduced rainfall by spreading its roots in a dense, shallow network to collect as much surface moisture as possible.

Almost every part of this plant has been or is used by other desert dwellers, people as well as animals. Chemeheuvi people wove its fibers to make baskets, sandals and mats.  

Scott's orioles can sometimes be seen near woven nests hanging beneath tree limbs. Ladder-backed woodpeckers or flickers fly in and out of holes they drill in tree trunks. 

Ground squirrels, birds, and deer eat the creamy white blossoms. Later fruits and seeds provide food for antelope ground squirrels and other small animals. Even after death, a tree trunk on the ground provides a home for desert night lizards, ants, and scorpions. Eventually, termites return it to the desert enriching the sandy soil for the next Joshua Tree to sprout.

As we walked on the trails we met people from Switzerland, France, and Australia. It is very interesting talking to them and we always welcome them to our country and wish them a good trip.

The rock formations were quite impressive. They all seem to be jumbled up, one on top of the other in the most unlikely shapes. The rock piles began underground eons ago as a result of volcanic activity. Magma, in this case a molten form of the rock called monzogranite, rose from deep within the earth. As it rose, it intruded the overlying rock, the Pinto gneiss formation. 

As the granite cooled and crystalized underground, cracks (joints) formed horizontally and vertically. The granite continued to uplift where it came in contact with groundwater. Chemical weathering caused by groundwater worked on the angular granite blocks, widening cracks and rounding edges. Eventually the surface soil eroded, leaving heaps of monzogranite scattered across the land like careless piles of toy blocks.

Split Rock

Unique and unusual shaped rock

Native Americans, migrating through here in their continuous search for food and water, left behind evidence of their activities. Petroglyphs have been found carved into canyon walls and boulders, generally near food or water sites. Pictographs, painted in red, black and white are found on ceilings and walls of rock shelters. Mortars and grinding sticks, where seeds were crushed or ground, are also found among the rocks. These petroglyphs have been traced over with paint. This type of vandalism prevents others from seeing the petroglyphs in their original form.