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A highlight of my trip to California and Joshua Tree National Park was a rare (threatened) desert tortoise sighting. We woke up that morning to rain in Palm Springs. Our hosts assured us that the amount of rain we were experienced was uncommon for the desert. After calling the park to insure there were no landslides or dangerous road conditions cause by the abnormal weather we headed up into the desert.
I was surprised by the beauty of the desert. The mountainous landscape, delicate brightly coloured flowers, oddly shaped cactus, small unidentifiable rodents, and specialized wrens were all foreign to me. I expected to love the Pacific coast and the ocean, but was surprised to find that the desert was even more of a delight.
Here is a panorama of the Mojave desert portion of the park:
Joshua Tree National Park
We didn't expect to find a tortoise, since they spend 90% of their time buried underground. The park interpreter told us not to expect one and that we'd have to come back in the spring to have even a remote chance. She did tell us to look for herds of tarantulas though - it was mating season. So we set out excitedly looking for spiders. After driving for hours in rain, through the expansive park, a slightly abnormal boulder shape at the roadside caught to my eye. I exclaimed "tortoise!!!" and Jake obediently drove our rental car onto the soft shoulder - causing rocks to be thrown up onto the car bumper. It turns out that the rare rain brought many animals out of their hiding spots to puddles where they could quench their desert thirst. The tortoise sipped water at the road side. I literally skipped at the sight!!
We didn't stay long, since we didn't want to disturb the animal. And figured she was relatively safe where she was at the side of the road. We quickly ran back into the car each time another vehicle approached knowing that others would be unlikely to see the camouflaged tortoise if we didn't make a scene. Car after car of tourist passed, none noting our amazing find.
Our only disappointment was the lack of spiders. The rain that brought our the other animals caused the herds to hide. We plan to go back sometime to explore some more.
