Joshua Tree Again

With Joshua Tree National Monument so close to the Inland Empire, it is easy to ride through the park two or three times a year. A good 260-mile excuse for a group to ride for a few hours.

This time the group met in San Bernardino, rode I-10 to Palm Springs, then to Hutchins Route 62 Cafe via Indian Avenue. The wind through the San Gorgonio Pass was relatively still, barely turning the blades of hundreds of white wind generators. The air is rarely calm through the pass.   

The bush in the foreground of the above photo was a type we hadn't seen in bloom on other rides through Joshua Tree. We looked at the blooms. Even Mike Harmon, who often knows such things, couldn't identify it. The blooms and pods are shown in the photo below.

A bit of research turned up the plant, Isomeris Arborea. The common name for the plant is Bladder Pod. I wouldn't hang a name like that on it. It doesn't seem to fit the appearance of the blooming plant, and though it does have pods, they simply resemble short pea pods. I'd name it Desert Pea. A closer crop of the above photo is below.  

After a series of late January rainstorms, plant life in the desert takes advantage of  the extra moisture. The Ocotillo, in particular flourshes after periods of rainfall, first sprouting leaves on its skeletal stalk-like trunks, then blooming. A ocotillo plant is shown below.

A closer look at the leaves sprouting on the ocotillo a week after rainfall.

There is much to explore in the park and if you're a rock climber, nearby campsites provide a base for a weekend of it. The boulder shown in the following two photos has a conveniently located camping area at its base.

  

Below, a black and chrome Road Star belonging to Danny Underwood sits poised to get back on the road.