Joshua Tree Archives ~ Rambling ranger

March 23, 2022March 23, 2022

Curves

In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton

I love curves. They’re far more interesting than straight lines. Nature abhors a square, after all. Think about it. A path through the woods or canyon is so much more intriguing when you can’t see what is coming around the next bend. It’s tantalizing. The anticipation and curiosity build, drawing you irresistibly onwards, like iron to a magnet.

Don’t you wonder what’s around the next bend?

There’s something feminine about curves. They exemplify cooperation, going with the flow instead of forging straight ahead. They teach us that compromise is not losing, that sharing space and allowing for a little give and take can help everything thrive and grow.

Curves are strong. There’s strength in flexibility. That’s another lesson they teach us, how to bend and not to break.

Cultivate your curves – they may be dangerous but they won’t be avoided.
Mae West

Often life throws us curves. If we’re not ready for them, they can be dangerous. We can’t see what’s coming for us around the next bend and we approach it way too quickly. The curves of life can send us spinning out of control, sometimes sending us crashing and burning.

Magic lives in curves, not angles.
Mason Cooley

But if we’ve learned those lessons, about flexibility and cooperation, about going with the flow and being open about what we might find around the next bend, the curves life throws us can be opportunities, chances for us to grow. Embrace your curves! Bend, don’t break.

Many thanks to Ann-Christine aka Leya for this week’s Lens-Artists Photography Challenge, Curves.

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.”
― Edward Abbey

April 5, 2019

April is Desert Wildflowers

Desert Wildflowers crowd a landscape in Joshua Tree National Park

Thank you, Amy, for this week’s Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge, Hello April!

Desert Wildflowers Joshua Tree National Park — Poppies and Pincushions

Hello April! April is life bursting out all over, wildflowers as far as the eye can see, all manner of joy and celebration.

April is sweet spring skiing, all the sweeter because the tourists have gone home. Walking around is getting sloppy, though. Mud season is nearly here, and it’s time to go to the desert. It’s the excitement and anticipation as I plan my spring adventure.

Artist's Drive Formation, Death Valley — At least the rock in Death Valley is always amazing!

April is breakup. Think mud season on steroids.

April is when it starts to get HOT in the Valley. As temps climb into the triple digits, it’s time to leave the desert.

April has meant many things in my life. This year I’ll combine them all.

April is time for my spring road trip to Alaska. Time to head back home, after a detour south for one more peek at the desert bloom. I’ll joyfully celebrate life bursting out all over, wildflowers as far as the eye can see. I’m excited as I anticipate my spring adventure.

Joshua Tree National Park — Joshua Tree Flower

I don’t usually escape breakup. It generally catches me in Canada. But this year, I just might. Photos from friends on Facebook show bare ground in Alaska, unprecedented in late March. Spring is already happening there, over a month early.

Agave Bloom, Anza Borrego State Park — This lovely flower is over 10 feet tall!

It’s definitely time for me to escape the Valley. I’ve been a bit restless the past few weeks. Way back in September I made a commitment to stay in Death Valley for most of March. I knew it would be an El Nino year and I was trying to position myself ahead of time for a possible spring bloom.

So, of course, everywhere else in the desert except Death Valley got the December rain that led to an amazing bloom. Death Valley got lots of rain in 2019, over 3 inches, in fact, but spring is very late, over a month late.

Goldfield in Joshua Tree National Park — There was a full-on superbloom in Joshua Tree this spring.

I spent three weeks in March stuck in Death Valley while Joshua Tree had a full on superbloom. Anza Borrego had great wildflowers, too. Death Valley had next to nothing. I should have worked at Ocotillo Wells instead.

Death Valley is always great and the rocks are still incredible, but I’m definitely ready to leave.

So this year April is flowers, flowers and more flowers in Joshua Tree. It’s the cactus and agave blooming in Anza Borrego. It’s finally crossing the California Poppy Reserve off my bucket list on my way to Carrizo Plain, which just might be peaking when I get there.

After that, who knows? I could take the coast, or check out the burn areas in the Sierra foothills. For April this year, I’m following the flowers.

January 24, 2017

2017 Desert Wildflower Forecast

Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) & Telescope Peak

You were lucky indeed if you got to see the 2016 Death Valley superbloom last spring. Alas, superblooms are rare. You need just the right conditions – a flash flood in the fall to wear away protective coverings on the seeds, followed by enough gentle winter rains to keep the sprouts alive. Unfortunately, this year is not a superbloom year.

But just because it’s not a superbloom does not mean there won’t be a bloom! It’s been raining in the desert and I’m here to tell you where the best spots to look for flowers will be this spring!

Death Valley National Park

This year things are looking pretty dry in Death Valley. Furnace Creek has received less than half it’s annual average for this time of year. That’s less than 15% of the precip that fell last year. To top it off, Artist’s Drive is closed for repairs until the middle of March.

Desert Five Spot (Eremalche rotundifolia)

It’s not all grim, though. Death Valley is a really big place, the largest national park outside of Alaska. With all the different mountain ranges and valleys, there are generally some places with good flowers in the park! It has been raining hard in the southern end of the park over the weekend, so that may be a good area to start looking.

Don’t expect carpets here this year, though. Learn to appreciate the perfection of each individual flower, instead.

Mojave National Preserve

The good news is, the farther south you go this year, the better the rainfall! Mojave had a really big storm (1.4″ of rain) on Christmas, and enough rain since then to keep things going. You should find some lovely flowers here in about a month.

Western Mojave near Barstow

This area is doing a little bit better than usual for precipitation. There should be a few nice displays.

Joshua Tree National Park

Golden Evening Primrose (Camissonia brevipes), Notchleaf Phacelia (Phacelia crenulata), and Rock Daisies (Perityle emoryi)

Several roads have been closed in recent weeks in Joshua Tree due to storms. It’s been raining for most of the past week. The park is well above average in rainfall this year.

Some flowers are already blooming, although not many. Bladderpod (not sure which species) and Filaree (Erodium cicutarium) have been seen.

Anza Borrego County Park

I predict great things for Anza Borrego this year. They have had more than double their average annual precipitation. I think this very well may be the best place in southern California to look for desert wildflowers this year.

Desert Gold Poppies (Eschscholzia glyptosperma)

So that’s what it looks like so far. Keep hoping for rain, the more moisture the better the bloom!

Have you been out in the Arizona or California desert lately? What have you seen? Let us know! Leave a comment! Follow this blog for future updates on the 2017 desert bloom.

Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) in Death Valley, 2016

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Curves

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April is Desert Wildflowers

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