Welcome to the Wild Moon
Mesa Blog
Wild Moon
Mesa - Artist
Retreat & Desert Hideaway
Wild Moon
Mesa Blog
Destination Joshua Tree: My Desert Hideaway
By the end of February, I seemed to have
survived winter’s fiercest blasts up
in the high country in the Eastern Sierra, and was
ready to head south for
a taste of Southern California High Desert
sunshine.
Joshua Tree National Park has always been a
great winter escape. Not that it doesn't get
cold there--it does, believe me--but in
between the west moving storms that roll in
from the Pacific cost, one can usually count
on a nice mid-winter warmth and brilliant
sunshine to fill your days.
The Joshua tree is really a giant version of
a yucca. The Grandfather of this park is 40
feet high and may
be 100 years
old—not really so old or so large, but
darned big for a yucca. I was to find,
however, that various species of Joshua
tree are widely spread throughout this
Mojave desert region. After the first,
incredible sight of a Joshua tree forest,
you will notice that they become an iconic
fixture of the desert landscape
All along the eastern side of California
is where the higher Mojave desert meets the
lower Colorado desert. You can see the
difference as you climb in altitude from one
side of the park to the other: creosote
scrub dominates the lower region; juniper
and Joshua tree forests appear higher up.
somewhere in the middle is what's called the
Transition Zone, an ecological mixture of
the two unique desert ecosystems.
The Pinto basin, the area's largest
landscape, formed as opposing fault lines
stretched and pulled the earth's crust
apart, forcing mountainous uplifts on either
side while the expanding space in between
sank. This depression once held a shallow
lake that disappeared with a warming
climate.
Wild Moon Mesa -Artist
Retreat & Desert Hideaway
If there is an icon of this park aside from the Joshua tree, it is most definitely the desert tortoise. “Maybe you’ll see one,” rangers say in reverent tones. For the casual visitor who quickly passes through the park, one might think that this tortoise was a mythical invention to lure the public into coming back. Many come and go, hopelessly searching for the desert tortoise, without ever catching a glimpse. On the many occasions that I have been blessed to cross paths with this beautiful creature, it has been when I have excepted it the least, simply wondering around enjoying the Park's wide open spaces, not on any quest in particular. Once, on my last hike to Lost Palms, right by the path, as I sat there, taking in the warm desert sun, there it was—a young desert tortoise. It stopped to survey me as much as I surveyed him, and then without hesitation, it scuttled away, over the rocky hillside and off into the sunset. I often wonder if he was aware of the joyous frenzy going on inside me as result of this brief but spectacular change encounter. Folks, I’m here to tell you, the desert tortoise lives and is alive a well!
Wild Moon Mesa -Artist
Retreat & Desert Hideaway
Wild Moon
Mesa Blog
|
