This February, I made my first trip to Joshua Tree National Park. 
I knew it was a popular park for people from Southern California and rock climbers, of which I am neither, but we decided to make the 8-9 hour drive from the Bay Area for a long weekend. Joshua Tree encompasses portions of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts and is fun for checking out desert flora and fauna as well as exploring geology (whether or not you are climbing on it). We spent most of our time in the Mojave portion of the park, but at some point I’d like to head back and check out the Cottonwood Spring area in the Southern part of the park, which we didn’t hit up this trip due to time constraints and trail closures.
Of course one highlight of the park is seeing the eponymous Joshua trees in all their Seuss-like glory. In mid-February, we were a little early for wildflowers (perhaps worsened by the fact it hadn’t yet rained this year due to the drought), but we did get to see a few Joshua trees with their fluffy white pinecone-esque blooms, particularly as we drove up to Keys View, where you can see the entire Coachella Valley, including a quite ominous-looking San Andreas Fault line.
We spotted lizards of several varieties throughout the park, and the oases and more inhabited areas were teeming with birdlife – we saw hummingbirds, finches, wrens, and Bartlett’s Quail amongst others. I was keeping my eyes open for big-horned sheep and the elusive desert tortoise, but no luck this trip. One day I will find a desert tortoise!
I picked up four cancellations plus bonus stamps of a Joshua tree and a desert tortoise. The Twentynine Palms and Keys Ranch were available in the Twentynine Palms Visitor’s Center at the Oasis of Mara; Black Rock Nature Center is at the campground; and the Joshua Tree, CA cancelation is at the Visitor’s Center in the town of Joshua Tree. I did not collect Indian Cove or Cottonwood this trip. More on our trip to Joshua Tree in later posts.
