Joshua Tree National Forest

21 November 2014   Wylie Coyote plays the pity card

The park is a pretty big place encompassing over 1200 square miles of the Mojave Desert. The “tree” is a member of the yucca family growing predominantly in the Mojave Desert.

These guys can be up to 150 years old.

 

On the way in we spoke with a park ranger who casually asked that we don’t feed the begging coyote since his habit of getting people to stop and feed him will make him lazy and can put him in harm’s way. Of course we said. Didn’t expect see him since we’ve rarely glimpsed coyotes in the past – usually heard and rarely seen.

After you drive through the town of Joshua Tree you can head into the West Entrance of the Park. Not a long way in (out of the Ranger’s sight) we met Wylie working the crowd. Car ahead stopped and I think Wylie got lucky. We slowed and he put on his best Starving Coyote face:

Look how thin I am. Don't you feel bad?

 After he realized all he was getting was a mug shot he showed his true colours and walked off in a huff (do coyotes huff?):

Damn Ranger!             Oh Hi - are you new to the park?

We drove out to the Keys View – at 5185’ it give you great views of the Coachella Valley, the San Andreas Fault, and hazy views of  Palm Springs, Palm Desert and the Salton Sea (not pictured).

Looking west from Keys View across the valley

Palm Springs and Desert Palms

The flaw (centre)

On the way to Keys View we stopped to walk the Hidden Valley Trail. Yes, it is out of order to talk about Hidden Valley now. Yes, I am too lazy to fix the problem. If you find the chronological inconsistency uncomfortable feel free to forget you read the above and return after looking at the next entry. I’m already confused so I’m just fine with it.