1 Week, 3 States, 3 Deserts

Written March 21st

A desert, by definition, is an area of land that receives less than 10 inches of rain per year. With that limitation one might assume that all deserts are pretty much the same, especially ones that lie roughly on the same longitude. The last couple of weeks proved that assumption entirely wrong.

Since leaving Ash Meadows, we've driven east through Nevada, and Arizona to New Mexico and through the Mohave, Sonora, and Chihuahua Deserts. They may all receive less than 10 inches of rain per year, but due to differences in temperature range, and the timing of those 10 inches (or less) they are noticeably different deserts.

Mohave Desert (in bloom)

Driving through Nevada and then South-western Arizona we were in the Mohave Desert.  The landscape was a lot like what we'd been living in for the last three months. We were surrounded mostly by mesquite trees, occasional Joshua tree forests, creosote bushes and an occasional cholla or beavertail cactus. This being the year of the super bloom, ie the year after record fall rains, there were also lots of wildflowers. Acres of desert gold, desert ghost, phacilia, and other wildflowers.

The Mohave, the driest and most extreme desert, receives an average of 5 inches rain per year, generally in the spring and fall. Temperatures range from 20 degrees on January and February nights to as high as 130 in July and August. This creates a distinct landscape, a barrenness relieved by the occasional plant.

The cactus jungle that is the Sonoran Desert

Driving east through Arizona and into Tucson we were in the Sonoran Desert.  The Joshua tree groves were replaced by short then soon, towering Sonoran Cactus. Prickly bear, fishhook, barrel, organ pipe and lots of other cactus plants all crowded together. Succulents like agave, and yuccas also forced their way in to the wild plant jumble along with ocotillo, a tall, thin cactus-looking plant sporting red blossoms at the tip of their long spikes.  Hiking through this intimidating jumble looked impossible, if not painful. The Sonora desert is like the rainforest of deserts. It receives approximately e3 - 16 inches of rain, and temperatures are more moderate. Desert plants not fond of freezing temperatures thrive in the climate as do birds and animals. We spent a day at the Desert Museum just outside Sonora National Park in Tuscon. Five hours of walking through bird aviaries, cactus and agave gardens, desert reptile and mammal displays and we hadn't even begun to get a handle on the Sonora Desert's diversity. 

Chihuahua Desert

We hit the road, again heading east and into New Mexico. Plants began to thin out, the Sonora cactus disappeared and the remaining desert plants desert spread themselves out a bit thinner. Creosote bushes and mesquite once again appeared. And everywhere there were bright yellow desert popChihuahua's temperature range is closer to that of the Mohave, but days spent in the extremes are fewer. A more defining characteristic of this desert is that it has a monsoon season in July and August. What rain does fall, about 10 inches per year, the majority of it falls in those two months. Oh, and in the spring there is a lot of wind. Lots of wind. We stopped at the welcome center just over the line in New Mexico. The woman at the desk was less than welcoming but did manage to tell us that "The Wind" was coming. She couldn't tell us when, or from where, or what kind of wind it was going to be, just that "The Wind" was coming. Her ominous sounding prediction was made more so by frequent highway signs warning that "Dust May Blow" and instructing drivers to "Pull completely off the Highway during periods of Low Visibility". Well, the wind has arrived. It's blowing about 30 knots out there right now with gusts up to 45. Tonight they're predicting gusts as high as 60. There's something that happens with jet

Preview of hikes to come !

stream and land temperatures that really packs the isobars close together. If you're in a dusty area, and there are a lot of those in Southern New Mexico, then you could get a brown out. If there isn't any dust, you still have to keep an eye out for blowing debris and keep your own stuff tied down.
pies.  The

Tomorrow we're heading into the Gila Mountains. We'll be out of the desert and into the trees for the first time in over five months. It's going to be an adjustment.