Last updated: May 21, 2024
Place
Signs of Life, Self-Guided Tour Stop 5
NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
32.2545790855382, -111.19805849430244
Significance:
Tour stop
Designation:
NPS
Stop 5: Javelina Wash
The open area we are entering is called a “wash.” It’s basically a stream bed without a stream. The monsoon rain runs downhill as it falls on the sides of the mountain.Rivulets join together, increasing in size and intensity as they flow down toward this wash, which ultimately can become a roaring, rock-tumbling torrent. It tears away loose vegetation and soil, producing the open pathway that we see here. It not only makes it easier for us to travel through the desert in its channel, but also provides a highway for other animals as well. Here in the bottom of the wash is the best place to look for animal tracks, scat, or other signs of desert denizens. Keep your eyes open for lizards, butterflies, and the sheet-like webs of funnel-web spiders. These spiders are harmless and not related to the deadly funnel-web spiders of Australia.
The open area we are entering is called a “wash.” It’s basically a stream bed without a stream. The monsoon rain runs downhill as it falls on the sides of the mountain.Rivulets join together, increasing in size and intensity as they flow down toward this wash, which ultimately can become a roaring, rock-tumbling torrent. It tears away loose vegetation and soil, producing the open pathway that we see here. It not only makes it easier for us to travel through the desert in its channel, but also provides a highway for other animals as well. Here in the bottom of the wash is the best place to look for animal tracks, scat, or other signs of desert denizens. Keep your eyes open for lizards, butterflies, and the sheet-like webs of funnel-web spiders. These spiders are harmless and not related to the deadly funnel-web spiders of Australia.