Joshua Tree

It's a dry heat - a boulder-studded, wind-raked Mojave heat, in which rock stars lie low, artists think big, marines train, weird plants jut toward the sun like beseeching biblical figures, and climbers cling to granite walls like insects stuck to flypaper, except the climbers are way happier. That's a notable thing about Joshua Tree National Park and the towns around it. While legions of Californians keep their faces to the beach, no matter the season, a certain stripe of traveler is powerless to resist the desert, especially in cooler months.

HAWAII Movie Filmmaker Catherine Bauknight will present "Hawaii: A Voice for Sovereignty," a documentary that raises awareness of issues that threaten the ancient and environmentally sustainable culture of native Hawaiians. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. TRAVEL Jill Swaim will offer a look at Road Scholar and its lifelong learning and travel adventure groups. When, where: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Westwood Branch Library, 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles.

A shallow magnitude 3.1 earthquake was reported Sunday afternoon 39 miles from Joshua Tree, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 1:45 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 0.6 miles. According to the USGS, the epicenter was 41 miles from Twentynine Palms, 41 miles from Yucca Valley, 43 miles from Barstow and 256 miles from Phoenix. In the past 10 days, there has been one earthquake magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby. Read more about Southern California earthquakes .

A picturesque canyon in Joshua Tree National Park that was scarred by graffiti will remain closed due to an extensive clean-up operation, officials said Tuesday. Rattlesnake Canyon was defaced by vandals who used social media to boast about their exploits, park officials said. The popular hiking area was shut down earlier this month and was scheduled to reopen today. But park officials said that the extensive damage will require that the area be closed for at least 30 more days while crews work to remove the graffiti.  Park rangers began noticing the scrawls in January.

What is it about Airstream design that continues to engender such passion more than 80 years after the trailer first appeared? Is it the alluring, streamlined aluminum shell? The cozy interiors? The nostalgia for a simpler era? “It's a part of American culture that transcends time,” said architect Matthew Hofmann, 29, who last month opened an Airstream hotel consisting of four tricked-out trailers parked midtown at the Santa Barbara Auto Camp   off De La Vina Street.

Now that it's officially summer, Californians are running for the hills, mountains, deserts and oceans for a bit of vacation time. But if you're one of those people for whom vacation means obsessively checking Gmail on your BlackBerry, the time away can be maddening. That cottage in the mountains is charming enough until Day 3 without cellphone reception. So we did some homework for those of you considering excursions into the boonies this summer. We compared the coverage maps of the big four cellphone providers (available on their websites)

British Invasion singer Eric Burdon, who sang with the Animals and then the funk band War, has listed his retreat in Joshua Tree for sale at $999,000. The Southwestern-style gated house, built in 2007, sits on 2.5 acres surrounded by native plants and encircled by an adobe wall. The 3,200-square-foot-plus courtyard-style home features four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a laundry room and an office. There is a studio with a woodburning stove. Outdoor amenities include a heated saltwater pool, a spa and a rooftop deck.

I enjoyed the article featuring Joshua Tree National Park and the Gateway Communities ["Between Rocks and a Hot Place," March 25, by Christopher Reynolds] until it became apparent that the writer erased the town of Yucca Valley from existence. I'm certain he noticed the town. He had to drive right through it on his way to Joshua Tree and to Pioneertown. He probably even filled up your car at one of our gas stations. But what he missed (and what your readers missed) were mention of the High Desert Nature Museum, Desert Christ Park, Old Town Yucca Valley and any of the 10 or so lodging opportunities in the town.

I thoroughly enjoyed the article "Camera Ready Inside Joshua Tree" (Weekend Escape, Jan. 13). As a graduate student at UC Irvine in the late '70s and early in 1998, I spent winter vacations in Joshua Tree. All my photos remind me of a totally alien landscape, almost prehistoric. The isolation of the campsites was something right out of Stephen King: the cold morning silence with not a breath of wind; weird rock formations; twisted and aged metal and wood in the most ungodly places; palm and Joshua trees; cactus; the occasional beer bash.

Joshua Tree boasts fabulous authentic Indian food in a small family-run restaurant called, believe it or not, Sam's Pizza. It also serves pizza and offers carry-out service. Open Mondays-Saturdays 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sundays 3-8 p.m. Sam's Pizza, 61380 Twentynine Palms Highway; (760) 366-9511, no website. Cheryl Kohr Redondo Beach

AFRICA Slide show Dave Garfinkle will show slides of his trip in June to northern and southern Africa, including Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. BACKPACKING Workshop Glen Van Peski will take you through the steps on how to pack lighter so you can do more. When, where: 7 p.m. Friday at the Adventure 16 store, 11161 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles.

Especially this week, a minute away from everything seems like a great idea. Fortunately, we have here “A Minute Away,” a newish video series in which our lens alights someplace interesting, settles in for 60 seconds, and watches closely while nothing much happens. No talking heads or music or mug shots. No crawling text-- well, almost none. Also, no one gets hurt. Just scenery and the sound of the wind and, this week, a distant climber groping for traction. We add another video every Friday.

Joshua Tree National Park has become a destination of taggers , and the graffiti has visitors and park officials outraged. "We come to this place because it's not as touristy as surrounding national parks, and you don't run into as many people. You kind of feel like you're alone. In ancient times. There's nothing like this place," said Butch Wood, 51, a guitar builder visiting from North Aurora, Ill. "You don't like to see the modern world intruding on history. It's a shame. " The graffiti in Rattlesnake Canyon, which meanders for a mile through the northern edge of Joshua Tree's Wonderland of Rocks, started with just a few markings but quickly became rampant.

JOSHUA TREE - Along the saw-toothed ridge of Rattlesnake Canyon, crude graffiti invades the crevices that offered shade to nomadic Indians trekking across the Mojave hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. "Skunk," "oatmeal cookie" and "punx" are scribbled in black spray paint on giant, earth-crushing boulders where ancient petroglyphs may have been etched by the Serrano and Chemehuevi. The damage goes far beyond a few lovey-dovey teenagers carving their initials into picnic tables.

Extensive stands of Joshua Tree National Park's peculiar namesake plants are festooned with clumps of white and yellow flowers that are drawing tourists eager to take in the scenery before the bloom wilts in the harsh desert sun. “It's one of the most prolific blooms we've seen in recent years,” interpretive park ranger Bret Greenheck said. “The bloom peaked a week ago at lower elevations, but trees on higher groundare still producing flowers.” “Some biologists think Joshua Trees bloom like this in response to stressful conditions such as drought,” Greenheck said.

A popular canyon area of Joshua Tree National Park has been shut down because vandals have defaced the area with graffiti splashed across rocks and archeological sites, officials said Monday. Rattlesnake Canyon has been shut down temporarily as park officials assess the damage, which apparently has been encouraged by people on social media sites, according to officials. "The continued malicious desecration of the national park has now impacted archeological sites," park officials said in a statement.  Park rangers began noticing the scrawls in January.

HIDDEN VALLEY Joshua Tree National Park in Riverside and San Bernardino counties Spectacular granite formations, combined with forests of bizarrely shaped desert plants, make Joshua Tree National Park a rock star. Climbers from around the world scramble across its boulder fields and ascend its spires and pillars. They're joined by hikers, campers, nature buffs and families -- about 1.2 million visitors annually. A favorite spot is Hidden Valley, a recreation area concealed by huge boulders.

With the exception of pathfinder John C. Fremont, who called them "the most repulsive tree in the vegetable kingdom," most California travelers have found Joshua trees to be quite picturesque. Mormon pioneers thought that the tree's outstretched limbs and bearded appearance resembled the prophet Joshua pointing the way to the promised land. The Joshuas have burst into an early bloom, and any doubts about the tree's beauty will vanish if you walk among them.