Welcome to Joshua Tree. Sorry about the shutdown. Now, about the toilets …

Joshua Tree National Park, a popular area for rock climbers, remains open, but the federal government’s partial shutdown since Dec. 22 has cut back its services. “I’ve gone through 500 rolls of toilet paper,” said Rand Abbott, a Joshua Tree rock-climber and volunteer who started restocking park toilets on Saturday, the first full day of the shutdown. In the shop, De Luca said, he and colleagues are emphasizing leave-no-trace practices and recommending WAG bags — “a bag that you go to the bathroom in for sensitive areas where there are no bathrooms.” De Luca thinks “the park needs to shut their gates.” “We’re seeing so much damage. A lot of our foreign guests don’t understand a government shutdown, but they’re happy they’re able to see some parts of the park, that it isn’t completely closed.” Happy to see that everyone kept on-trail and on-road even without official enforcement #DeathValley #shutdown pic.twitter.com/m1YFM3JHDj — Pamela Ban December 25, 2018 christopher.reynolds@latimes.com Follow Reynolds on Twitter: @MrCSReynolds