A gem in the desert

Smoke Tree

Sometimes you stumble on the most wonderful things accidentally, and that's what happened to us yesterday. Looking for something else to see except dates I found a small notice about the California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera), a tree endemic to the southwestern US. I got really curious when I read that stands of it could be found in the hills above the Coachalla Valley. The word 'oasis' was mentioned, and this time it didn't apply to something man-made like Indio and the surrounding communities whose lushness we saw all around us but was a natural occurrence. 

 

We got directions at the tourist information, housed in a historic garage at the edge of old-town Indio, which has much more charm than the modern part of town dedicated to the shopping malls, restaurants etc. necessary to cater to the masses of people coming to this area for recreational purposes. 

Not long after we crossed the I-10 on our way north the developments with their beautifully kept lawns and trees got less and finally stopped altogether. Climbing, we soon found ourselves surrounded by the most barren desert again. The few shrubs looked dry and dead. After a few more miles we turned off onto winding Thousand Palms Road. Now, the shrubs on the side of the road started to show more and more signs of life. Nothing, however, could have prepared us for what we saw when we turned the last corner before the parking lot to the preserve: a thick stand of the most exotic looking trees greeted us. It was no fata morgana: they were quite real. 

We parked our car – no shade in sight on the small parking lot – and walked downhill into the palm grove to check in at the visitor centre. Shoulder to shoulder the palms stood, forming a thick canopy that provided much appreciated shade. Long trunks were mostly hidden by 'skirts' or 'petticoats' of dead leaves that stay on the trees for decades. These provide shelter and nesting for a variety of wildlife, from orioles to western yellow bats, cactus wrens and big horned owls. The silent desert had burst into song as soon as we entered this magical place.

The volunteer at the visitor centre, housed in a cabin part of which was originally built in the 1930s, recommended a 2.5 mile trail that would lead us through the grove into the desert, to another grove, and back to the visitor centre. It would, she said, give us a good idea about the place, and if we took the time to climb to a small vista point we would be able to see this unique place from a different angle.

The path descended through the shady grove, sometimes aided by boardwalks where the ground was muddy or even wet. Groundwater is close to the surface here, due to the location right above the San Andreas fault. This is what makes it possible for these trees to grow here even though their root system reaches down no further than eight to twelve feet.

Once we left the grove the heat hit us with full force again: no shade anywhere. The shrubs and trees – smoke trees, arrow weed, brittlebush – were quite dry for the most part; only the creosote bush showed not only leaves but was ready to burst into flower. Some were covered in yellow blossoms already. California is into its third year of drought, so there was no evidence of the multitude of flowers that would bloom once it rained: desert gold poppy, desert verbena, sand blazing star and Canterbury bells, among others.

Often zebra-tailed lizards darted across the trail, nodding their heads when they were stopped for a moment, and once we found the much bigger desert iguana seeking shade under a creosote bush, which could well have hidden its burrow.

Just when the heat seemed unbearable we entered another cove of palm trees, this time even with a pond with clear, warm water. Who would expect something like this in the middle of a desert?

The Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve is part of a bigger preserve that was set aside to protect the fringe-toed lizard, a threatened species that lives in the dunes adjacent to the oasis. It is good to know that no development can destroy this amazing landscape!