Into the Mojave Desert

This week, we started tne next phase of our adventure: crossing the Mojave desert. The towns outside San Diego end very suddenly and the, after being surrounded by the millions of people that live on the Southern California coast, we are alone. We arrived at a campsite in Anza Borrego park and chose a free campsite. Only a coouple were in use but I guess I chose one that was booked for the following night, so we had to carry our tent, sleeping bags, etc, to the next campsite. The booked party never showed up anyways, and we were still alone. The desert is a great place to look at rocks because they're not covered by bothersome things like dirt or life. I'm actually not that interested in rocks (bad Science teacher!) but there are lots of fascinating plants here. The desert may be low on biomass but its high on biodiversity (I did not previously know that). When we arrived in Joshua Tree National Park, I was thrilled to find "forests" of both Chollo Cactus and Joshua trees. They're like Dr. Seuss plants but real. We're carrying our own water now, since it's not available anywhere in the park. Our water jugs have a tiny but steady leak which causes minor stress and, once per day, I have to bail out a centimetre of water from the floor mates. I've never bailed a car before. The flip-side is that, because the chance of rain is practically nil, we haven't needed the tent fly for a week. It makes for great stargazing when you're far away from cities and can watch them through the tent mesh while you fall asleep. There are rocks for climbing everywhere. The kids alternate between running/hopping on the boulders (a ranger told us the term is "technical scrambling") and whining for their next meal. It's a simple life. During the middle of the day, we hide in whatever shades is available: a tarp, a cave, a hat. These parks are barely inhabitable (for humans) during July and August. We adjusted our scheduled to add an extra day in Joshua Tree park because we were so enchanted by it. We've found some great hikes: in steep slot canyons, in hidden valleys, to secluded palm groves, up steep hills using iron rings, dodging yuccas and cacti. When we moved to Mojave Preserve, the scenery got a little starker. The desert is big. Tomorrow, we'll have a strange break in Las Vegas where we will enjoy such services as electricity, running water, and fountains that erupt hourly coordinated to music. I'd struggle to call Las Vegas an oasis, since hardly anything on the Strip is necessary for survival, but it's definitely a desert oddity.