North Palm Springs and South Joshua Tree

From Saturday, March 18, 2023. Not really much in the way of actually hiking, but part of a longer excursion.

I saw the field of desert dandelion from I-10, as I passed through North Palm Springs. My fitbit just went off, telling me I needed to walk, which was fortuitous timing. I exited at Indian Canyon Road, hit the Pilot/Flying J there, bought some food for lunch and dinner, used the restroom, then headed back out on to Garnet Avenue (basically the frontage road to I-10, here). Drove west maybe a 1/2 mile, until I found a clear area to park. Walked maybe 200 yards back east, shooting as I went, then returned to my car. I loved the desert dandelion, the windmills, and, of course, Mt. San Jacinto, beyond.

Then I continued on my planned route, to the south entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. Just inside the park is the Bajada trail, which I had visited during a previous "superbloom," and it was impressive. Figured it might be too early this year, but worth checking out.

Well, turned out it was either too early, or it's just not going to bloom much there, this year. A few bushes of lupine made a nice photograph, and there were scattered desert poppies and yellow cups along the road. But not really worth a stop, at least on this day.

Further up on Cottonwood Springs Road (the road heading into Joshua Tree), the flowers got thicker, and spread beyond just the road runoff area. Desert poppies, yellow cups, and desert bluebells were the most common.

I'd say from roughly 3 miles to roughly a mile before the Cottonwood visitor center, the flowers were thick enough to be calling for you to stop. I stopped at a turnout and walked maybe 1/4 mile along one of the washes. Many to choose from, but obviously you should park at an actual pullout, so you don't run over the wildflowers you came to see, or have your car partially protruding into the road.

Later, I went on to the Cottonwood visitor center, figuring they'd want me to show my pass and be counted. But they just waved me along, so I left, without asking any questions. I was pretty sure I had already seen the densest flower blooms in the park at the time.

I drove on to the Cholla Patch, as my Alltrails app had suggested a short hike from there to a mining ruin. That'll be the topic of my next post, an actual hike. Should post that later this week.