Joshua Tree np

3/5/25

Joshua Tree National Park.

Caution sign warns of extreme heat. We have been in the desert when this is the case. But, this is early March, and it’s in the 50’s. Sign’s also said there was an oasis down this canyon (49 palms – we did not count them). We walked and walked and what do you know, we found it. And it was beautiful. During our few days here we did manage to discover several oases that are spring fed and, remarkably, just pop up in a very small area in the desert.

3/9/25

We woke our last day to snow in the high desert! Although it melted by late afternoon, it was fun to experience the desert in a new way. We even jumped around puddles for half of the day! Then they were gone. And, yes, that is a small snowman. Kids were having fun with snowball fights and building snow figures.

Joshua Tree National park has so many ecosystems. It is a low desert (Colorado) with Cholla Cactus, old gold mines and miles and miles of rocky, sandy desert. It is a high desert (Mojave Desert) with Joshua Trees, huge hills made of stones that look like giants tried to stack them unsuccessfully, more gold mines, and much cooler temperatures.

Lots of remnants of past dreams of making it big with the gold mines.