"Aargh - git ta work, ya lizard countin'
Geo-monkeys!"
As mentioned earlier, we have a Group Site (G02) ,
with a capacity of 20 people/11 vehicles, set aside at Cottonwood
Group Camping area. This is a tent only area, so if
you're of the RV, pop-up tent trailer, or 5th wheeler
persuasion, you will need to make your own arrangements at one of
the other campgrounds in the park. Reservations can be made
online at Joshua Tree NP Campground
Reservations. Keep in mind that April is considered the
"high" season for the Park, so the earlier you get in your
reservations the better. The traditional passing of the ammo
can will be made to offset the cost of the Group site.
For those individuals that are not too keen on
sleeping on the ground, and being lulled to sleep by the howling of
coyotes, there are numerous accommodations at the nearby towns of
Indio(~25 miles) and Palm Springs(~50 miles).
The Group Site is reserved from April 18 and
departing on April 21. You are welcome to come share our
campsite for any of that time, but in order to log an Attend on
this Event, you must participate in the VIP/CITO activities of
April 19.
The What:
Bio Blitzing: As explained to me, the work
will entail walking into some fairly remote location (1-2 miles),
and doing a biological survey of an area. We will break into
4-5 groups (depending on how many we have) and be responsible for
doing an inventory of plants and animals that we encounter in these
various grids. The Park Service has asked that we bring our
GPS units with us (that shouldn't be too hard), in order to
waypoint various items for reporting purposes. The nuts and
bolts of how this will be done will be explained by the onsite
project manager on Saturday, or if I get more details, I will
update the Description.
Update 4/16/08: The work portion of this
trip will be in the Pinto Basin area just North of the Cottonwood
Campground. We will be parking at the Turkey Flat Backcountry
Board which is located approximately (and don't quote me on
this...I'll try and update this if I get better information) N33
54.358 W115 50.855. There should be a wide pullout for
parking at the Backcountry Board. We will meet promptly at
8:00 am at the Turkey Flat Backcountry Board.
We will walk in approximately 0.5 mile to an
area called the Sand Dunes, which lies to the Northeast of the
Turkey Flat Parking area. The work will take about 5 hours,
plus or minus. If time allows, we might do some counting in
another nearby area
How To Get There:
I'm not sure I can state it better than the Park
page itself:
Joshua Tree National Park lies 140 miles east of
Los Angeles, 175 miles northeast of San Diego, and 215 miles
southwest of Las Vegas. You can approach it from Interstate 10 .
The Cottonwood Springs entrance (the Southern entrance to the park)
is 25 miles East of the town of Indio The closest airport is in
Palm Springs. Public transportation to the park is not
available.
This helpful map might help you get a rough idea of where the Park
is.
