B.R. Moon 1987 Journal 9 8 April Mitchell Caverns State Natural Preserve, Providence Mountains, San Bernardino county, CA. TION R14E Sec 21 W'/2. 1420 PST. Bruce and I hiked up the trail from the park headquarters toward Crystal Spring. The vegetation in the canyon is beautiful and lush compared to the lower creosote bush flats. Throughout the steep sided, rocky canyon were diverse growths of cacti and shrubs including Acacia gregii, Opuntia acanthocarpa, O. erinacea, Yucca schidigera, Y. baccata, Rhus trilobata, Echinocereus engelmannii, and many others. Up the canyon and mountainsides Pignons and Junipers formed an open woodland. About '1/2 way from the park buildings to the spring I found moisture under large boulders and what looked like forms of mosses and ferns growing at the edges of overhanging rocks. From John Kelso-Shelton, the park ranger, I learned that Jim Davis, the regional park supervisor with whom I had such trouble getting a permit to capture reptiles in the park, was not at all well liked by other park service employees, to put it mildly. John Kelso-Shelton, on the other hand, was very friendly and helpful to Bruce and me. He