MOJAVE DESERT

Leaving Arizona, you will find yourself in a desolately beautiful land that is the wilderness of the Mojave Desert.

 Passing between the Mojave National Preserve and Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, there will be little to see, but geographical phenomena abound.

 It is a land of contrasts, with highs of up to 120 degrees in the summer, and sometimes reaching below 0 degrees in the winter at higher elevations. The highest point within the Mojave is Charleston Peak at 11,918 feet, while the lowest point lies at 282 feet below sea level in Death Valley. The Mojave Desert receives less than 13 inches of rainfall a year, but plenty of wind sweeps across the barren region; you’ll see windmill farms, from which energy is generated, popping up along rocky hilltops.

The most distinctive resident flora is the Yucca brevifoli or Joshua tree, with its ghostly profile and pom-pom shaped foliage. 

When Mormon settlers crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19^th-century, the tree’s unique shape reminded them of the Biblical story in which Joshua reached his hands up to the sky in prayer. The name stuck, and the plant proved useful to ranchers and miners who used the trunks and branches as fencing and for fuel in steam engines.

On the northern side of the interstate, the Mojave National Preserve stretches out for miles, filling a space of 1.6 million acres.

The preserve was established on October 31, 1994 with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act and is home to impressive forests of Joshua Trees and a few dusty ghost towns. 

Traveling into this region of serenity and solitude is daunting; imagine how early inhabitants survived here. 

Chemehuevi tribes lived on prickly pear, mesquite and roasted agave blooms and hunted deer and bighorn sheep.

 An early linguist and ethnographer, Carobeth Laird (1895-1983), spoke of what she learned about the Chemehuevi people during her time among them:

Chemehuevi character is made up of polarities which are complementary rather than contradictory. They are loquacious yet capable of silence; gregarious yet so close to the earth that single families or even men alone might live and travel for long periods away from other human beings; proud, yet capable of a gentle self-ridicule. They are conservative to a degree, yet insatiably curious and ready to inquire into and even to adopt new ways: to visit all tribes, whether friends or enemies; to speak strange tongues, sing strange songs, and marry strange wives.

If you want to learn more about the area, drive north (Exit 78, Kelbaker Rd.) into the preserve and visit the Kelso Depot Visitor Center (photo, right)
at Kelso (22 miles north of I-40). 

Here, you’ll learn about the variety of colorful explorers who braved the land and staked their claim. Three names stand out as fascinating explorers who fell in love with the land and made their mark. To learn more about Jack & Ida Mitchell, who led tours of limestone caverns, and Mary Beal, who identified several species of plants and wildflowers, go to the following links:

·         Jack Mitchell:    http://www.desertusa.com/web_cart/db/pages/5092_m.html

·      Mary Beal:    http://www.summitpost.org/mojave-national-preserve/175743

A tour of the Mojave Desert inspired American songwriter Carrie Jacobs-Bond to compose the parlor song “A Perfect Day” in 1909: 

Well, this is the end of a perfect day,/ Near the end of a journey, too,/ But it leaves a thought that is big and strong,/ With a wish that is kind and true./ For mem'ry has painted this perfect day/ With colors that never fade . . .