Diet Taco... trying to keep things light

Eastern Mojave Heritage Trail - February 2022
Needles to Ivanpah

This trip report will have very little text since there is an entire book on just this section of the route. The point of the EMHT is to intentionally zigzag across wide swaths of the Mojave (the eastern part, strangely enough) and learn about its environment and history (or "heritage" as it were). Thus, I took this one slow over a handful of days. I stopped frequently to read about the landscape or the plants. I made a concerted effort to take some "plant portraits" of various species, either as individuals or as an ensemble in their environment. So get ready for a bunch of pictures of plants... Hopefully I kept them interesting.

Some sections of the route I had done before, other sections I had been nearby, and others were wholly new to me. The lower elevations near Needles sport some desert flora not typically part of the Mojave biome which added some variety.

So with out further ado, a slew of photos with minimal comments:

Started Here


Ended Here


Wide Washes


Tight Washes



Various Camps Along The Way


The Usual Vehicular Detritus



Mojave Yucca (with views)



Smoke Trees


Teddy-bear Cholla



And of course, Joshua Trees

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Digging that black and white shot of the Joshuas.

 

Nice pics. Teddy bear Chollas? sounds so cute for a very gnarly cactus.

 

Perhaps the most minimalist trip report yet.

Seriously thought the second photo Ended Here was going to be the end.

 

Really like this use of low angle light. Wife and I were up at Hope Valley on the Carson River a few weeks ago snapping fall colors. Reminded me of this.

 

Nice, again.

 

Less gnarly than the more aptly named Jumping Cholla at least...

When I was a little kid we had a miniature long haired dachshund that tried jumping over a jumping cholla in Borrego. He had not been neutered. This ended poorly. The only time that dog ever bit anyone was when my dad had to remove the spines with needle nose pliers from a sensitive region.

Nice shot! The south and eastern Mojave are nice for raking light shots. Death Valley doesn't produce quite so many opportunities due to the deep N/S trending valleys.

 

They're the same thing. I've been stuck by one in Mexico on a surf trip. I was wearing flip flops and it stuck to my ankle and while I looked for a stick to get it off I swear it was burrowing in worse. Dont even get near one of those. If I was that dog I'd be biting someone too. LOL


Teddy bear cholla, or jumping cholla (C. bigelovii), is native to northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States and is sometimes cultivated as a desert ornamental for its showy golden spines. Chollas were formerly placed in the prickly pear genus (Opuntia).

 

Hmm, my understanding - like Ken's - was that they are different. When I ran the Bradshaw Trail (just east of the Salton Sea), both were present in the same area. Note however, that I am not an expert and am simply basing my knowledge on books I've perused...

• Teddy: Cylindropuntia bigelovii - Wikipedia
• Jumping: Cylindropuntia fulgida - Wikipedia

(two of my photos comparing them from the full trip report)

 

What @turbodb said, however "Teddy-bear Cholla" also has stems that break off fairly easily and are extra nasty when they do as well. I see in the Wikipedia article that sometimes all cholla are referred to as "jumping cholla", which is of course one of the problems with common names. Typically one species has multiple common names and one common name can apply to multiple species.

As @HB Taco says, these things, regardless of their name or particular species, should be given a wide berth! Since the lower stems fall off over time and the desert is very windy there is usually a sizeable "no go" region around each plant. Even a single spine picked up on the bottom of a shoe will slowly work its way through the sole and eventually stab you in the foot. One of the reasons I like the border regions of the Mojave and Great Basin biomes is the lack of these nasty things!

 

I'm certainly no expert either. I just googled it and saw this. Teddy bear cholla, or jumping cholla (C. bigelovii), is native to northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States and is sometimes cultivated as a desert ornamental for its showy golden spines. Chollas were formerly placed in the prickly pear genus (Opuntia).
Regardless I completely agree. Dont ever want to get pricked by the SOB again!

 

As my last remark on cholla... I never posted this photo as part of my trip report, but while on the Chuckwalla Bench, I ran into a forest of the little f...ers, and several of them seemed to have an extraordinarily large collection of cholla balls compared to normal. Throwing caution to the wind (or just letting my natural stupidity show), I got out and wandered into the bunch to take some photos.

Only when I was in the literal minefield of mayhem did I notice that the piles of balls were actually shelters for some small desert dweller. Holy smokes, talk about a protective barrier from predators. You can see the entrance to this shelter in the area where the dirt is scrubbed clean. Frankly, I can't even imagine a reptile surviving inside - I've had the cholla ball barbs catch on/in the plastic of my lens cover!

 

I swear one time I looked at that plant wrong, my foot was a few inches from it, and somehow I got them stuck into my tennis shoe. one of them went all the way through. Looks like they jumped out at me

 

So, while we are on the subject of cholla, an integral part of every desert hiker's mini-first aid kit should be a comb. Critical tool for removing stem segments that have broken off onto skin or clothing and aren't too deep yet. Slide between you and the stem, comb fingers around spines, grit teeth as necessary, then flick (and for the love of crumb cake, make sure no one is near you or in the line of fire when you flick).

 

I can concur with that. I wish I had one the day a stem (pin cushion with a hundred pins facing out) was stuck to my ankle. I didn't even see it, the trail was clear iirc. It jumped on me? Instead all i had with me was a cold beer which didn't help. I'm thinking back and a wallet and cell phone would do the trick but I didn't have either. Board shorts and flip flops, had to find a stick while the thing was stuck on me. Even so several spines were left to deal with. VERY painful. Avoid at all costs. I will add a comb to my pack.

 

I definitely have no use for a comb anymore...until I read your suggestion. I'll be picking some up soon to put in my packs.

 

If you ever decide to add the vinyl floor they come up for sale periodically from toyota. I swapped in one a a couple years ago.

 

So, I was just re-reading this report (for reasons) and I caught mention of this side road. Did you notice that, at the high point - where it seems that most turn around - the road continues? Below that is a cabin. I didn't visit (I only noticed it on satellite after we returned) but it's on the list for the future. Comparatively low on the list, but there nonetheless.

 

Nice find! I had meant to explore the rest of the road by satellite but never got around to it. Past the turn around the former road is in wilderness, so it would have to be visited on foot. It is along the way to a peak I’d like to do at some point in the future. A little bit of a side trip from the typical route, but not too far out of the way. Based on recent reports it appears that like other cabins in the area it has succumbed enough to the elements to no longer be inhabitable.

 

My dog used to hate me touching his paws. One of the first trips I ever took him on, he found some cholla that I didn't even see. Poor dude got it in three out of four paws. He fought me on the first paw, then he figured it out. I felt so bad for him.