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« Joshua Tree/SoCal Trip – Part II – Twentynine Palms Oasis
Joshua Tree/SoCal Trip – Part IV – Lost Horse Mine »

Joshua Tree/Socal Trip – Part III – Oasis of Mara, Noah Purifoy, Key’s View, Cap Rock

25 June, 2009 by Adam R. Paul

Saturday, 25 April 2009 (continued from here):

After our hike to Twentynine Palms Oasis, we drove to the town of the same name to check out the main Joshua Tree National Park visitor’s center, and the adjacent Oasis of Mara.

Oasis of Mara by you.

Oasis of Mara

The visitor’s center was surprisingly devoid of interpretive displays, and after picking up a book on cacti & a book on desert wildflowers, we walked around the paved trail to the Oasis of Mara.

This oasis is right in the middle of town, and is rather windswept and only of passing interest.  I was happy to see a Bullock’s Oriole in the trees, but we didn’t linger long, and headed back to the house and made lunch

Joshua Trees

Desert backyard

After lunch we headed to Noah Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum.

adampaul-IMG_0855 by you.

Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum

The museum’s address is not listed on their website, presumably to prevent vandalism, but I’d printed out directions from a Yelp review.  They were very convoluted (and needlessly so), but we eventually got there.  This was my kind of crazy desert place – the sculptures, all made from found objects ran the gamut from trains to toilets to houses and so on.  If you’d like to see more photos, check out my previous photo set post.

After an hour or so wandering amid Purifoy’s interesting creations, we decided to head into the national park and get the lay of the land.

Park Road by you.

Joshua Tree Road

The drive in was beautiful;  Although I’ve seen plenty of Joshua Trees in the past, I had never seen an actual forest of them!  The weird trees had fascinating lumpy rocks for a backdrop (the so-called Wonderland of Rocks), and the whole area was quite surreal.

Ryan's View by you.

Key’s View

By way of getting the lay of the park, we decided to head out to Key’s View, an overlook at the edge of the park high above the Coachella Valley.  It was a pretty drive of 5’ish miles to the lookout, however the view to the west was very smoggy, courtesy of not-that-nearby Los Angeles.  Towering Mt. San Jacinto was directly across from us, and to the south we could see just a sliver of the accidental Salton Sea (its story, in the wiki link on the left, is rather interesting).

Desert Mallow by you.

Desert Mallow / Sphaeralcea ambigua

There’s a (very) short, paved interpretive trail at Key’s View, and after walking around it, which took all of a minute or two, we headed back.

Cap Rock Nature Trail by you.

Cap Rock Nature Trail

Our park map showed a short nature trail at Cap Rock, so we pulled into the parking lot and walked along this wide, well-signed path, which had quite a lot of information about the natural history of the area.

Joshua Trees by you.

Joshua Trees / Yucca breviflora

Joshua Tree by you.

Joshua Tree B&W

There were funky rocks a’plenty, and a good number of Joshua Trees.  It felt like we were walking through Dr. Seuss story, half-expecting a Lorax to pop out from behind one of these weird yuccas.

Misseltoe-strangled Mesquite by you.

Mesquite, strangled by miseltoe

A dead mesquite bush provided a good example of the dangers of being a parasite – it had been thoroughly invaded by miseltoe, and had subsequently died – a similar fate awaited the miseltoe that had not yet perished.

Joshua Trees by you.

Joshua Tree woodland

Flora- and fauna-wise, it was very quiet, being midday.  A few Common Ravens flew by, and some lizards skitted about, and that was about it.

Cap Rock by you.

Cap Rock – I guess it sort of looks like a cap….

We soon arrived back at the car, and went to the Visitor’s Center in the town of Joshua Tree, which was even smaller than the one in Twentynine Palms, however it had an excellent photography exhibit that opened this evening, and we enjoyed seeing the beautiful photos made by a years-long resident of the area.

After that, dinner, a hot tub, and bed.  Not a half-shabby second day in Joshua Tree!

Sunday, 26 April 2009:

Desert Sunrise by you.

Sunrise

I woke up at 6am and watched the sunrise over the nearby mountains, then walked around the property and photographed some of the flora in the warm early morning light.

Mojave Aster by you.

Mojave Aster / Xylorhiza tortifolia

Mojave Asters were beginning to unfurl, and a good variety of cacti were around as well.

Diamond Cholla by you.

Diamond Cholla / Opuntia ramosissima

Horse-crippler Cactus by you.

The aptly-named Horse Crippler / Grusonia parishii

Horse Crippler Cactus AKA Dead Cactus, although it looks dead, is not, and atop its fearsome spines grows a very odd-looking flower & glochid when it’s in bloom.  It’s pretty obvious why it’s called Horse Crippler!

Black-throated Sparrow by you.

Black-throated Sparrow / Amphispiza bilineata, w/nesting material

I watched a Black-throated Sparrow pulling nesting materiel from a dead yucca, it’s dainty beak stuff with strands.

Desert Live-forever by you.

Desert Live Forever / Dudleya saxosa

A succulent caught my eye, and I immediately knew it to be a Dudleya sp., and a quick look in our newly-purchased desert flower book confirmed that it was Desert Liveforever.

Acton Encelia(?) by you.

Acton Encelia / Encelia actoni

Acton Encelia bloomed everywhere, at least I think that’s what it is – there are a pretty large number of yellow Asteraceae in the Mojave!

Via Rocossa by you.

Our rental at sunrise

The morning chorus of calling Gambel’s Quail and Mourning Doves began to quiet as the sun rose above the eastern mountains.

Silver Cholla and Engelmann's Hedgehog by you.

Silver Cholla / Cylindropuntia echinocarpa & Engelmann Hedgehog / Echinocereus engelmannii

A nicely back-lit Silver Cholla caught my eye – I was so far very much enjoying my new’ish Canon G10, with which I took the majority of the non-bird photos in this travelogue.

Black-throated Sparrow by you.

Black-throated Sparrow

By the bird feeder, I caught another Black-throated Sparrow, then went inside to make coffee and rouse Sarah for the day’s hike

(to be continued)

Trip index:

  • Part I – Getting there, settling in
  • Part II – Twentynine Palms Oasis
  • Part III – Oasis of Mara, Noah Purifoy, Key’s View, Cap Rock <– You are here!
  • Part IV – Lost Horse Mine
  • Part V – Cholla Cactus Garden, Geology Tour Road
  • Part VI – Split Rock, Hidden Valley
  • Part VII – Barker Dam, Ocotillo Patch
  • Part VIII – Mastodon Peak, Cholla Cactus Garden revisited
  • Part IX – Big Morongo Canyon, AKA Birding Paradise
  • Part X – Tahquitz Canyon
  • Part XI – Living Desert, LA, and home

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Posted in Birding, Hiking, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildflowers | 12 Comments

12 Responses

  1. on 25 June, 2009 at 22:32 montucky

    This is an excellent post Adam! Terrific photos and interesting and informative narrative. I have never visited the Joshua Tree National Park, but I’ve been to the Joshua Tree Parkway in Arizona several times. Your photos revived many fond memories of the desert scenery and plant life.


    • on 26 June, 2009 at 09:37 Adam R. Paul

      Thanks, Terry! The Mojave is a pretty wonderful place to explore – I look forward to checking out other parts of it in the future.


  2. on 26 June, 2009 at 00:06 myphotoscout

    Awesome. Another trip to Joshua Tree is long overdue for me. Your article makes me itch to go back soon, although I think its too hot there now.


    • on 26 June, 2009 at 09:38 Adam R. Paul

      Oh the forecast highs for the next 10 days are only 95-100F – pretty mild so far by desert summer standards 😉


  3. on 26 June, 2009 at 11:27 ankush

    beautiful series, the skies are lovely


    • on 26 June, 2009 at 12:25 Adam R. Paul

      Thanks, Ankush – the desert sky is something, both day & night.


  4. on 26 June, 2009 at 17:45 scienceguy288

    Gasp! Ryan’s view is absolutely phenomenal. Looks like some good bouldering and crack climbing in some of those shots too.


    • on 27 June, 2009 at 13:57 Adam R. Paul

      The view would have been much better with LA’s contribution of thick, choking smog (hence the only photo I took was toward the south). I expect it would be an amazing place to watch the sun rise.

      Loads of bouldering & crack climbing to be sure! The post-after-next in this series should whet your appetite 🙂


  5. on 28 June, 2009 at 20:35 Mary Carlson

    As I had thought, Adam, your photos and description of your trip have been well worth the wait. That Mojave Aster sure took my breath away.


    • on 29 June, 2009 at 09:33 Adam R. Paul

      Thanks, Mary!


  6. on 6 July, 2009 at 10:45 Heidi

    The desert in the morning sure is beautiful! Isn’t amazing how those birds – like your black-throated sparrow – can get their food, water & nesting material from those cacti without poking an eye out?


    • on 6 July, 2009 at 11:38 Adam R. Paul

      For sure – that’s about the only time I don’t mind being up at sunrise 😉

      Desert fauna have indeed adapted well to get what meager resources there are.



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  • About Adam


    I am an avid nature lover and amateur photographer, living in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. On this blog, you will find photos and narratives from birdwatching outings, hikes, as well as any other random travels. For more information, see here.
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