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Just got back from a herping trip to the Mojave, Palm Springs area and the Borrego Springs area. It was quite a productive trip even though it was hot.
The following sequence is from the Kelso Sand dune area in the Mojave Natural Preserve.
Phrynosoma platyrhinos

This Masticophis flagellum was also found in the Dunes. We saw about 5 of these crossing the road in the early hours of the morning but we couldn't get near them. This guy was trying to hide in a bush when I spotted it.

In the Dunes we also found Desert Iguanas, Leopard Lizards and the Mojave Fringe Toed Lizards. (too quick to photograph)
We then move up to the higher elevations where we found this Speckled rattler, C. mitchellii. It was DOR but too mangled. It was the only one we found and it was so different from the animals we find in San Diego I wanted to get a record of it. There were also quite a few Desert Spiny lizards here also.

Heading south from the preserve we encountered a second specimen of one of our target species, the California Desert Tortoise, G. agassizii. This was a real thrill for me because I'm really into tortoises and I've always wanted to see one of these in the wild.

We had to wait nearly an hour for this guy to come out of its shell.

The tortoise was the last thing we found during that day. We then proceeded to Whitewater which was kinda depressing because there was basically a traffic jam of herpers on the small road. We got there at sunset and all we saw was one Coleonyx.
The next day we headed down Dillon Rd on our way to the Chuckwalla Mts to look for... what else...? Chucks. We didn't find any there because it was late in the day but we did find some on the way there. It was a pair also but all I have now is the picture of the male. We also saw a huge male in the Mojave but it was too far away to photograph but it was unreal. It was about 12 to 18 inches long and the body was totally orange.

In Palm Springs we went to the 1000 Palms Nature Preserve where we saw about 5 species of lizards. This is also an area where you can see the Coachella Valley Fringe Toed Lizard but we didn't see any. Many of the lizards are easy to approach like this Zebra Tailed lizard, C.draconoides.

From Palm Springs we then headed south to Borrego Springs where we were going to look for the final target species, the Flattail horned lizard, P. mcallii. It didn't look good because it was hotter in the Borrego Desert than in the Palm Springs area and it was also mid day but we thought to give it a shot anyway. Under a bush I found this guy trying to beat the mid day heat and it was the iceing on the cake. It was a nice conclusion to a great trip.

This is just another view.

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Great trip and pics. I love that coachwhip! Congrats on what appears to be a pretty productive outing. Andy
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Andy Maddox
The Reptizone

Who are you who can say it's ok to live through me? Alice In Chains

Sounds like a great trip Ed. I bet you went nuts when you found that tortoise!