Joshua Tree National Park, Thursday afternoon, August 28th.
I know you are supposed to start a story at the beginning, but sometimes the end is as good a place to start as any. Our last day of vacation in California before heading home was spent in one of the Socialist's and my favorite places, Joshua Tree National Park. We arrived in the are Wednesday night, and had originally hoped to stay in the 29 Palms area. Torrential rains made Route 62 impassable though, and we ended up taking a room further from the park entrance than originally planned. We learned later that roads throughout the area had been closed due to flooding, and that people had to be rescued from the nearby community college and from scattered roads where flood waters had trapped motorists.
I'd been to Joshua Tree twice before, and had climbed the Ryans Mountain trail and hiked out to Fortynine Palms Oasis. My stamina, never good in the heat, was no match for either of these treks this visit, but we did manage the 1.1 mile Barker Damn loop. I don't know if it was the rain or just luck, but the desert was absolutely alive with locusts and lizards.
We came across this little guy, who I've since learned from the net is a Red velvet mite (Angelothrombium). This time of year he's supposed to be living under the sand, according to the source I foune. They are only supposed to come out in February, after the rain. I suppose the prior night's deluge confused the poor little guy.
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I originally thought that the lizards we were seeing fairly frequently in the park were alligator lizards, but now I'm not so sure. Unfortunately, I don't have a book of western lizards to look this guy up in, but I've several good shots of them, and The Socialist has more, so I should be able to eventually identify these guys. I saw lizards virtually everywhere I look, unlike prior trips when spotting one or two lizards was a real treat.
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Barker's Dam had been filled by the recent rains, and the happy sounds of amorous frogs filled the air nearby. There is nothing quite so disorienting as hearing frogs in the desert, I might add. When we got to the dam itself, The Socialist and I took a brief break, and I unleashed my binoculars to have a look-see around. None of the promised waterfowl were present, but I noticed water beetles swimming around in the shallow edges of the pond, and trained my sites on those to get a closer look. Proving that I do need glasses, these weren't water beetles at all, but small black tadpoles. I only wish I'd seen the frogs responsible for the tadpoles, but I didn't even manage a glimpse of those. I got a kick out of the "no swimming sign" by the way. Frankly, anyone who swam in that water would have to be certifiable. I've seen algae-filled puddles by the side of the road that looked more refreshing than that stagnant water.
I also got a little tide-pooling in. No sea slugs this time, I'm afraid, but there was still plenty to keep me entertained. We went to Crystal Cove at low tide, and found plenty of hermit crabs and sculpin stranded in the pools created by the ebbing tide. I'd hoped for some octopi like another diarist had reported playing with, but it looks like I'll have to go back again to look for those. By the way, if anyone could tell me what the pink-flowering succulent is, I'd be most gratified. The Socialist says he knows, but can't remember the name.
More to come. My fingers are starting to cramp from the typing, and you've better things to do than read this anyhow.