[pct-l] Burning Deserts

[brick@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Brick Robbins)]

At 02:41 PM 2/5/03, christin pruett wrote:
>Is the Colorado desert a portion of the Sonoran desert?  What types of
>vegetation are found there?  Any Joshua trees?  I have been in Joshua tree
>NP and always thought that was part of the Mojave.  Maybe there is no
>clear delineation between these two areas.  I guess I'll have to hike
>southern CA to find out.  Thanks for the info.


The division between the Colorado Desert, and the Mojave, is elevation. The
Mojave is usually called the "High Desert" by the locals here in So-Cal.
The Colorado, is the "Low desert." Joshua Tree National Park lies on the
boundary between the two. You should have noticed the sharp drop off on the
southwestern edge of the park, overlooking Palm Springs

 From a practical point of view, the High Desert is usually $^%&*^ hot in
the summer and @#$%% cold in the winter. The Low Desert is even hotter in
the summer, but is usually rather pleasant in the winter (vis a vis Palm
Springs Resort. You don't see Mojave or Lancaster, CA advertised as winter
get aways....)

 From http://www.desertusa.com/du_sonoran.html
=====
The western part of the Sonora Desert (sometimes called the "Colorado
Desert") is closer to the source of Pacific storms and is noted for
spectacular spring flowering of ephemerals when there is winter-spring
rainfall. (This phenomenon is not limited to here.) However, the western
portion is relatively depauperate, lacking many of the species such as the
Saguaro that depend on good summer rainfall.
=====

Comment: All I do to answer most questions like this is go to
http://www.google.com and enter a few search terms. there is no reason you
couldn't do the same. In this case, the search for "colorado desert sonora"
yielded the answer on first try.

This link will do the search for you
http://www.google.com/search?q=Colorado+desert+sonora
--
Brick Robbins                       mailto:brick@fastpack.com