At first glance, Joshua Tree National Park appears to be one of the most barren places imaginable. The sandy soil, baked in the summer heart, and extreme lack of rain and moisture, make it difficult to imagine that anything can live there, much less thrive.
And yet, Joshua Tree National Park has been one of the most uniquely beautiful national parks I have visited to date.
Located just a few hours away from Los Angeles, CA, Joshua Tree is tucked behind the Little San Bernadino Mountains. This time of year, highs typically reach the triple digits, and nights stay warmer than we might set our air conditioner at home. Cooler seasons bring cooler weather, but there’s a reason that nearby Palm Springs attracts so many “snowbirds” each year. For while it snows occasionally in Joshua Tree, it’s rarely cold.
Uniquely, Joshua Tree encompasses two different deserts, the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert.
The Mojave Desert, the western half of the park, is largely above 3,000 feet in elevation, making it bit cooler. In this sandy, rocky space the Joshua tree, the park’s namesake thrives. Unique to the Mojave Desert, Joshua trees are different from most other trees. They lack leaves, but their limb structure is mesmerizing. No two Joshua trees grow the same way.
Joshua trees are a variety of yucca with thick branches coated in what looks like furry bark. Spiky evergreen leaves sprout at the branches’ ends, which reduces the water lost to evaporation.
They’re even considered fast growing trees, adding about an inch-and-a-half each year, They can reach fifty feet in height, and their roots dig almost as deep, helping them find the limited moisture of the desert landscape.
To the east, in the Colorado Desert, its far dryer and hotter because it sits at a lower elevation. Such a habitat has created a dramatically different ecosystem, with different plants that can tolerate the even more hostile climate. Here, the plants are scrubbier and smaller. The cholla cacti and their bright yellow flowers, protected inside by spiky needles, dominate the landscape.
Even the animals have had to adapt to survive. Some burrow out of reach of the sun, some have changed their biology to use water more efficiently, and others are primarily nocturnal.
Joshua Tree National Park is a living monument to adaption and figuring out how to deal with a challenging, seemingly unavoidable situations.
I wonder, what experiences in life have forced you to adapt to new circumstances? And what helps you adapt to such circumstances?
Grace and peace,
Kimmy
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