As the temperature continued its gradual rise in the Mojave desert, we entered into July and the Monsoon season began. Finally the rains poured and it was an amazing spectacle. Lightning crashed and thunder boomed, the streets roared with water, and 30 minutes later it was over. A few more storms had come and gone through our office but luckily we hadn’t been caught in any of the flash floods.

A storm system north of town.

The summertime in the Mojave makes seed collecting difficult both for the heat and the lack of flowering plants. However the early monsoon season was a pleasant surprise as we wait for the ephemeral post-rain annuals to pop-up in August and September.

The sky after the monsoon had passed.

One nice break from the heat was an education program we had put together. The Needles public library hosts a summer reading program for children and Steve and I were given the privilege to create a presentation. We chose Animals of the Mojave: Past and Present. We talked about the extinct Shasta ground sloth and prehistoric horses, rattlesnakes, scorpions and mountain lions. We had the kids attention, especially with all the skulls we had brought, but what really got them excited was Lipton, the baby desert tortoise. The kids had fun, we had fun, the parents had fun, and everyone learned some more about the desert wildlife.

The house and visitors center at Mitchell Caverns

One week I had talked to Chris, the NPS liaison in our office about Mitchell Caverns, a cave which had been closed to the public for years. She had put me in contact with a guy looking over the property and he invited me out to help with a vegetation survey in a nearby canyon for exchange of a tour of the “closed” park. In the surrounding area there are badgers, bighorn sheep, and gila monsters and within the cavern there are ringtails and a type of Niptus beetle found nowhere else in the world. Aside from the caverns, there are 4 houses standing that were built by hand in the 1930’s  by Jack Mitchell, and the walls contain volcanic rock, petrified wood, and even petroglyphs (wrong, yes, but pretty amazing). I had a tour of the caverns and watched an outstanding sunset from high up in the Providence Mountains while hanging with Chica, the adopted ranch dog. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Snakes are also quite fond of the temperature in the cavern.

Chica hanging out looking for lovin.