Mojave Desert Long Weekend
Explore Landscapes #30: Last weekend my wife and I enjoyed a 4-day weekend in the Mojave Desert: bird banding, hiking, camping, and photography - plus good friends - what a great mix!
With two busy schedules to align, my wife (Jackie) and I don’t often get to go away at the weekend together. However, this past weekend not only did we get to go on a weekend trip together but we managed to extend it into a four-day trip.
We escaped the hustle and bustle of Orange County (OC) just after lunch on Friday and made our way East on the 91 trying to get ahead of the weekend traffic. On a Friday you either leave OC by 1pm (or after 8pm) - otherwise the traffic adds about 2 hours onto the 2 hour journey out to Joshua Tree.
On Friday we were able to stay at the PGA West community at La Quinta thanks to some kind friends who let us use their house there. It was a beautiful bright evening so we went for a tour in the golf cart - and were amazed to find Bighorn sheep grazing on one of the back-nine holes. They were habituated to human disturbance and didn’t even look up from their grazing as we pulled up and took photos.
Sadly, the bighorn sheep that regularly utilize the La Quinta golf courses have habituated to the point of decreasing their overall fitness, which is a factor in health, reproduction and survival.
Bright and early (before dawn) on Saturday morning I headed over to the Wildlands Conservancy Whitewater Preserve to volunteer on the Joshua Tree National Park Association (JTNPA) Advanced Bird Banding field class. This field class, led by Stephen and Vesta Myers, provides hands-on experience capturing, handling, and banding birds in the field. There’s a focus on molt limits, plumage topography, skulling and other identifying characteristics to accurately determine the age and sex of the passerines (and near passerines) that are caught.
It’s a fascinating field class - especially for someone who is not a ‘birder’. The complexity of the nomenclature used to describe the bird’s morphology in combination with other specifics about molting, plumage, coloring etc. is incredible. The care and knowledge in handling the birds is wonderful to see.
Whitewater Preserve is 2,851 acres surrounded by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) San Gorgonio Wilderness and includes the year-round Whitewater River. The canyon has a robust population of bighorn sheep, deer and bear, and is an important wildlife corridor between the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains.
The Wildlands Conservancy purchased an additional 3,200 acres in the Whitewater corridor that were donated to the BLM.
After wrapping up the bird-banding class I headed back East to La Quinta for lunch with Jackie - before we headed towards Joshua Tree and our campsite for the evening at Black Rock Canyon.
At Black Rock we met up with Sydney and Barry Williams - the powerhouse duo behind Hiking My Feelings. We first met them a couple of years ago while volunteering on a wellness retreat that they had organized in conjunction with JTNPA. Since then I’ve volunteered on a number of their retreats in JT - and also backpacked with them both. I can’t say enough good things about this pair.
They have retreats coming up in Grand Staircase Escalante, Zion National Park, Sequoia National Park, Glacier National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park. Sign up to their newsletter to get notifications on these events and more.
After an awesome dinner of lobster ravioli (yes - it’s a thing and it’s delicious!) and cheesecake (thanks Sydney and Barry), Jackie and I went for a short evening hike to help us digest dinner before turning in for an early night - as we had a hike planned for the morning.
Sunday morning saw us all heading out from the campsite and into one of the less visited areas of Joshua Tree National Park - the Covington Flats area - which is located in the northwestern portion of the park. It’s a beautiful place to visit as many of the park’s largest Joshua Trees, Junipers and Pinyon Pines call Covington Flat home.
It’s also where the nearest trailhead is to Quail Mountain - which has the distinction of being the tallest named peak in the park at 5,816 feet (1,772 m). That was our target for the day.
The initial three-mile approach to Quail Mountain is along part of the California Riding and Hiking Trail (CRHT) - a 37.5 mile backpacking trail that crosses some of the most remote parts of Joshua Tree. This was a lovely hike along a winding, wildflower-lined trail, that weaved through Joshua Trees and Yuccas.
Turning off the CRHT towards Quail Mountain I quickly realized that I’d overlooked that to get to the summit we’d need to hike cross-country and gain 1,200 feet over difficult terrain without any trail. I’d read the trail guide and had glossed over that part of the route description. I was feeling pretty stupid.
We made a start up the loose rocky slope but 3 of the 4 of us quickly decided that this wasn’t for us today. Barry (the consummate mountain goat) decided he was going to finish the route. I put my tail between my legs and headed back down to the CRHT with Jackie and Sydney.
We took the CRHT trail back towards the trailhead at Covington Flats and enjoyed the plethora of wildflowers that we saw en route. It’s close to peak wildflower season in Joshua Tree at the moment and the variety of wildflowers and colors is incredible.
Along the trail we came upon a Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake that was basking in the sun motionless. Fortunately Jackie spotted it, despite it’s best efforts at camouflage, so after admiring the ‘rattler’ from a good distance we gave it a wide berth and routed around it.
That evening we planned to have a relaxing evening in the campsite - so made our way to the Joshua Tree Lake RV and Campground in good time to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine, a rejuvenating hot shower, and then dinner and an early night.
Monday morning after an early-ish breakfast we made our way to the Joshua Tree Coffee Company for a caffeine fix and then on to the trailhead for the Fortynine Palms Oasis. The trail is a 3-mile out and back (with 300 feet of elevation gain in both directions). This oasis provides a much-needed refuge among the desert mountains for the local plants and wildlife - particularly Bighorn sheep. The oasis is a sensitive biological area so if you do visit please follow the posted signs and do not enter the oasis. In the summer months the parking lot and trail are closed so that the Bighorn have undisturbed access to the surface water.
Along the trail were a wide array of different wildflowers - with the verdant pink of the Beavertail Pricklypear jostling for the brightest color award with the Englemann’s Hedgehog Cacti.
On Monday evening we met up with Sydney and Barry again - this time at AutoCamp in Joshua Tree. This was their first stop on a tour for Mental Health Awareness Month and to promote Sydney’s book, Hiking Your Feelings - Blazing a Trail to Self-Love. In Sydney’s words, “part inspirational memoir, part practical guide, Hiking Your Feelings offers a toolkit to unpack your “trauma pack” and step into the best version of yourself.”
As well as being a great storyteller, Sydney uses her own self-discovery journey and experience to help others find the healing power of nature and lasting improvements to their mental, physical and spiritual health. I can highly recommend getting a copy of the book and attending one of the Hiking My Feelings events - if you’re local to one of their tour stops:
May 2nd to 4th - Hike & Heal Grand Staircase Escalante
May 5th - Mental Health Hike with Canyonlands Field Institute in Moab, Utah
May 9th - Hike Like a Woman Summit
May 10th - Hiking Your Feelings Tour: Fireside Book Discussion (Field Station Moab)
May 11th - Hiking Your Feelings Tour: Moab Group Hike (Field Station Moab)
May 17th - Hiking Your Feelings Tour: Fireside Book Discussion (AutoCamp Zion)
May 18th - Wilderness Wellness Workshop: Zion National Park (AutoCamp Zion)
May 25th - Hiking Your Feelings Tour: Fireside Book Discussion (AutoCamp Yosemite)
Here are some interesting musings, images, and art that I’ve enjoyed reading this week:
A flurry of public land protections by Jonathan P. Thompson
Suspend, Redirect, Let Go by Joe Callender
Not Missing Out by Donn Dobkin
City Lights: Oslo by Kewtie Bird
Poem of the Day: A Pair of Short Poems by Pamela Leavey
Letter From the Desert: The Desert Needs You by Chris Clarke
My Visual Journal #21 by Susanne Helmert
Morocco: Life in small towns by Emily Stav
Open Your Soul by Michela Griffith
A New Lease on Preservation by Casey Schreiner
I'm not a 'birder', but those are some pretty birds and lovely photos. Seems like you had a fun adventure, Jon!
Jon, What a wonderful time you had! Thanks for sharing the great photos and your experiences with us all! And thanks so much for the mention in the stuff you're reading here!