The first and the last, Joshua Tree NP, California
Our last stop on our winter/spring desert tour was Joshua Tree NP in California. We have visited Joshua Tree several times over the years and it holds a tender spot in my heart. It was my first experience with a desert and I fell in love. The vastness, the giant rocks and boulders, the cacti, the Joshua Trees and all the adaptations by the flora and fauna to survive. The novelty of it, for someone from Vermont with no desert experience, fascinated me. For those of you keeping track, we have now hit the fourth of the four major deserts in the US, the Mojave desert. The Mojave desert is characterized by alternating mountain ranges and basins, with mostly low widely spaced shrubs for vegitation. The upper elevations have Joshua Trees, pinyon pines and junipers. The other half of Joshua Tree NP is the Colorado desert; this is not the fifth desert, but a subset of the Sonoran desert. It is extremely dry with lots of cacti and, dare I say, is rather inhospitable. It is known for its Tedd