Snow in the Mojave Desert!

The Mojave Desert almost always brings to mind an image of vast empty lands colored with a bit of desert vegetation that prefers to stay close to the earth and dry mountains in the distance. That’s what I’ve seen of the desert when I’ve tripped to Las Vegas, Death Valley and on the way to the rocky attractions in the Utah-Arizona border. However, November before last, I got to see some snow in the Mojave Desert.

We were on our way back to California after our Thanksgiving-break to Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley. We’d been staying in a lovely place in Page, AZ and we had heard of a snowstorm that was brewing, which was expected to affect movement in the area. As such, we had made some changes in our itinerary and left the area earlier than planned, not wanting to be stuck there. Little did we think we’d encounter another storm — a smaller one — in the Mojave Desert.

The surprise that was in store was quite a pleasant one but part of the package was the traffic that wasn’t really a surprise given the driving conditions. Anyway, here are some sights from California State Route 58 from that fall Day:

A Rain Shadow Desert turned White!

I had not seen the area look like this. There was snow in the Mojave Desert and the arid landscape had turned white and bright. White was all I could see as far as my eyes could travel. The whiteness had blurred the lines between the usually dry land and the sky that also looked milky, now. The fallen snow had also made the creosote bushes look like they were growing cotton. Even the spiky leaves of the Joshua Trees were sporting white!

Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert (pronounced /moha: ve/) of the American Southwest occupies parts of California and Nevada, and bits of Arizona and Nevada, too. This arid area lies in the rain shadow region of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

It is home to some of the hottest and driest parts of the United States (the lowest point of the US is also within it). And it’s said to receive less than 2 inches of rain a year.

You might also want to visit:

Come, see what Death Valley holds
Delving Deeper into Death Valley

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