JOSHUA TREE WEEKEND

January 27-28, 2007

With a forecast of mostly sunny skies and wind of only 5 to 15 mph, seven riders looked forward expectantly to a fine weekend of cycling in this wonderful desert park. It did not disappoint.

There was a bit of headwind on the climb to Cottonwood Campground, but it abated as darkness approached. In fact, it was so still during the night that there was moisture on the tents and the thermometer reading dropped to 26 degrees by morning. The sunrise was spectacular and the muted colors on the mountainsides in the early morning light were sublime. Joshua Tree is a mountainous desert park, allowing us to enjoy sweeping views as we climbed and descended on this two-day tour.

The only sound on the deserted roadway early Sunday morning was the whirring of my bicycle wheels. Suddenly I saw a small creature, probably a desert woodrat or kangaroo rat, scurry across the road about 50 feet in front of me. It was quickly followed by a very motivated coyote, obviously chasing a succulent breakfast.

We saw climbers on the rocks of this very popular climbing park, stopped to admire the cholla cactus garden, sailed through the washes, Smoke Tree and Fried Liver, and watched the tender green leaves of the ocotillo wave in the breeze. A jackrabbit was spotted in the campground. In addition to the many ravens, there was the ubiquitous phainopepla, the most common bird to populate this park.

Riders on this tour were Linda Goff, Jerry Tate, Phil Conmy, Gary Freeman, Larry Moore, Mike Wolfe, and Ellie Antonio. Warren Goff came in his vehicle and provided a most generous amount of wood for our evening (and morning) campfires.