Joshua Tree 2018

We are on a three year rotation for desert camping right now. Death Valley National Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and Joshua Tree National Park. Each has its charms, and each represents a different face of the desert.

Death Valley is vast, with dunes, extremes of temperature and elevation, salt flats, slot canyons, and more. Anza-Borrego is part of the Colorado (Sonora) desert, and is filled with flowers after a wet winter.

Joshua Tree is mostly the high desert - the Mojave. (Although the south part of the park is in the Colorado.)

We returned to Joshua Tree this February, and brought some friends who had never been. This time, while we revisited a number of our favorite places, we also saw some new trails. I was able to take a lot more pictures this time too - last time, my camera died midway through the trip. I was also able to use the longer zoom to capture a number of birds this time.

My previous post (linked above) has more on the natural history of the park, if you want to read further.

Here are the best of the pictures from this trip:

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Me and the kids. 

Cactus Wren

The iconic Joshua Tree

Desert Cottontail

Looking from the high desert to the low desert.

Greater Roadrunner

 Why you should camp at Joshua Tree...