We just got back from a Desert Field Studies Center in the Mojave Desert. We went there as a class for Cuesta College and had a blast!!! We started off the trip by meeting at Cuesta College at 6:30 am on Thursday April 30th. That means we had to get up at 5:00 am. Yikes!
Good thing our bags were packed and we were ready for the adventure. It took about 5 hours to get there with various stops on the way to see Joshua trees and Juniper trees. We already knew about those Junipers!
After arriving at the Center we got our room assignments, unpacked, and then were off to dinner. After dinner we had a lecture and then off to astronomy. We observed the Moon and Saturn including the rings that night. It was so awesome and really interesting!
Friday was a full and fun day. On Friday we went to the Lava Wash and hunted lizards. On the way to the wash we spotted a Desert Tortoise on the side of the road. It was about 8 inches long and estimated to be 20 years old. When we got to the site we started out lizard hunting. This entailed tieing a slip knot with dental floss at the end of a car antenna and catching all you could find. Neither Jake nor I caught any that day, but we had so much fun trying. After all was caught, we observed them and documented our findings.
After lizard hunting we came back to camp and had another lecture about desert fish and then off to dinner. After dinner, and when it was dark enough, we were off to scorpion hunting. Jake and I each had our black lights, which when shined on a scorpion will cause it to become florescent. That was fun until my shoe got caught in some barbed wire. I couldn’t see, and it ripped the front part of my shoe. Im just lucky it wasn’t my leg!
Saturday was our absolute favorite. Jake and I and our class woke up very early and we were off to the Kelso Dunes. Once there, we loaded up on water, our lizard nooses, and sunscreen (which I seemed to forget) and were on our way up the dunes. It was 1.5 miles to the top and 700 ft up – in sand. Jake caught a Leopard Lizard on the way up. He noosed it, and then wrestled it to the ground. Maybe not that extreme but it was a big lizard and it was quite the sight. We continued on our way and it was getting harder and harder for me.
I wanted to quit several times but Jake was there cheering and encouraging me on. Did I mention how wonderful he is? We both made it to the top and what an experience it was! Seeing the 360 degree view of the dunes was breathtaking. I would do it again! We also saw another tortoise at the dunes. After the dunes we visited the Vulcan Mines. It was awesome to see all the Iron filled rocks.
On our way back from that we see our instructor slam on his brakes and pull over to the side of the road (we saw this with the first desert tortoise). We assumed it was a large snake or something. We all get out and it was a Gila Monster. This was awesome because there have been no Gila Monster sightings recorded in 40 years.
Our instructor, who specialized in Herpetology, was in a state of euphoria. It brought him to tears. It was so incredible to see. We came home today after a 5 hour car ride. I would do it again in a second. We both learned so much about the desert life and would love to learn more in the future. Here are the photos from our trip. Hope you enjoy them!