Wild Moon
Mesa
Web Site:
http://www.rusticranchretreats.com
Wild Moon Mesa -Artist
Retreat & Desert Hideaway
Joshua Tree
Casita On 5 Acres of Land + Studio + Workshop + Loft
High Desert Lifestyle
 Joshua Tree. It's a
symbol of the High Desert, a cultural icon, a state of mind. It's
also the name of the community that welcomes you to Joshua Tree
National Park. You'll know when you arrive here, as the clutter of
civilization gives way to our beautiful vistas -- yucca, cactus,
desert wildflowers, fantastic boulder formations, and of course, our
famous Joshua trees.
Joshua Tree is a community of artists, musicians, working families,
businesspeople, telecommuters and retirees. Downtown has four art
galleries, a yoga studio, two outfitters, a bakery with a shady
courtyard for coffee and wi-fi, beautiful gift shops, great burgers
and great vegan fare, even a pizza parlor that dishes up home-cooked
Indian food. Saturday morning there's a Certified Farmers Market
right in town. A National Park Visitors Center is located right off
the main drag, so you can park there and check out the shops before
you head to our backyard, Joshua Tree National Park.
Joshua Tree is home to Copper Mountain College, offering Associate
degrees and certificates in the arts, business, technical and
medical fields. Also based here is the Hi-Desert Medical Center, the
primary regional provider of health services to more than 68,000
people. Cultural institutions include the Hi-Desert Cultural Center,
home of the Kaye Ballard Playhouse, and the Joshua Tree Retreat
Center, a world-famous meditation, yoga and conference center
designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and his son, Lloyd Wright.
In the relaxed town of
Joshua Tree, the unhurried pace does not always reflect the level of
activity that can be found here. Located at the west entrance of
Joshua Tree National Park, internationally known for it's
world-class rock climbing, the park also brings those
who come to
discover photography, astronomy, and a host of other desert
adventure.
But beyond this
there is something more magical and incomprehensible that draws
visitors here. Spiritual seekers and creative souls also
converge here, tapping into the many vortices of natural and
creative energy, and reflected in the many art galleries, music
festivals, live theatre and other venues.
There are lodgings in Joshua Tree for those on a budget, for the
luxury-minded, and for everyone in between. Stay in a historic
rock'n'roll motel downtown, or a quiet B-and-B in the hills, or a
charming vacation home filled with the work of local artists. Who
knows? You may end up a resident, like so many of us who came here
first as visitors.
Joshua Tree is easy to get to: just 30 minutes from Palm Springs and
within three hours' drive of Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas.
Yet we're very far away. With our other-worldly landscape, starry
nights and desert quiet, we call our neighborhood Planet Joshua Tree
... Like Earth, Only Better. If you would like additional
information, please call or email the Chamber of Commerce. And be
sure to drop by if you're in town! The Chamber is happy to answer all your
questions.
A Desert Park
Joshua Tree National Park is immense, nearly 800,000 acres, and
infinitely variable. It can seem unwelcoming, even brutal during the
heat of summer when, in fact, it is delicate and extremely fragile.
This is a land shaped by strong winds, sudden torrents of rain, and
climatic extremes. Rainfall is sparse and unpredictable. Streambeds
are usually dry and waterholes are few. Viewed in summer, this land
may appear defeated and dead, but within this parched environment
are intricate living systems waiting for the opportune moment to
reproduce. The individuals, both plant and animal, that inhabit the
park are not individualists. They depend on their entire ecosystem
for survival.
Two deserts, two large ecosystems primarily determined by elevation,
come together in the park. Few areas more vividly illustrate the
contrast between “high” and “low” desert. Below 3,000 feet (910 m),
the Colorado Desert (part of the Sonoran Desert), occupying the
eastern half of the park, is dominated by the abundant creosote
bush. Adding interest to this arid land are small stands of spidery
ocotillo and cholla cactus.
The higher, slightly cooler, and wetter Mojave Desert is the special
habitat of the undisciplined Joshua tree, extensive stands of which
occur throughout the western half of the park. According to legend,
Mormon pioneers considered the limbs of the Joshua trees to resemble
the upstretched arms of Joshua leading them to the promised land.
Others were not as visionary. Early explorer John Fremont described
them as “…the most repulsive tree in the vegetable Kingdom.”
Standing like islands in a desolate sea, oases provide dramatic
contrast to their arid surroundings. Five fan palm oases dot the
park, indicating those few areas where water occurs naturally at or
near the surface, meeting the special life requirements of those
stately trees. Oases once serving earlier desert visitors now abound
in wildlife.
The park encompasses some of the most interesting geologic displays
found in California’s deserts. Rugged mountains of twisted rock and
exposed granite monoliths testify to the tremendous earth forces
that shaped and formed this land. Arroyos, playas, alluvial fans,
bajadas, pediments, desert varnish, granites, aplite, and gneiss
interact to form a giant mosaic of immense beauty and complexity.
 As old as the desert may look, it is but a temporary phenomenon in
the incomprehensible time-scale of geology. In more verdant times,
one of the Southwest’s earliest inhabitants, members of the Pinto
Culture, lived in the now dry Pinto Basin. Later, Indians traveled
through this area in tune with harvests of pinyon nuts, mesquite
beans, acorns, and cactus fruit, leaving behind rock paintings and
pottery ollas as reminders of their passing.
In the late 1800s cattlemen came to the desert. They built dams to
create water tanks. They were followed by miners who tunneled the
earth in search of gold. They are gone now, but they left behind the
Lost Horse and Desert Queen mines and the Keys Ranch. In the 1930s
homesteaders came seeking free land and the chance to start new
lives. Today many people come to the park’s 794,000 acres of open
space seeking clear skies and clean air, and the peace and
tranquility, the quietude and beauty, only deserts offer.
The life force is patient here. Desert vegetation, often appearing
to have succumbed to this hot sometimes unrelentedly dry
environment, lies dormant, awaiting the rainfall and moderate
weather that will trigger its growth, painting the park a profusion
of colors. At the edges of daylight and under clear night skies
lives a number of generally unfamiliar desert animals. Waiting out
daytime heat, these creatures run, hop, crawl, and burrow in the
slow rhythm of desert life. Under bright sun and blue sky, bighorn
sheep and golden eagles add an air of unconcerned majesty to this
land.
For all its harshness, the desert is a land of extreme fragility.
Today’s moment of carelessness may leave lasting scars or disrupt an
intricate system of life that has existed for eons. When viewed from
the roadside, the desert only hints at its hidden life. To the close
observer, a tiny flower bud or a lizard’s frantic dash reveals a
place of beauty and vitality. Take your time as you travel through
Joshua Tree National Park. The desert provides space for
self-discovery, and can be a refuge for the human spirit.
Wild Moon
Mesa
Web Site:
http://www.rusticranchretreats.com
Wild Moon Mesa -Artist
Retreat & Desert Hideaway
Joshua Tree
Casita On 5 Acres of Land + Studio + Workshop + Loft
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