January 15, 2020 - Malibu, Calif.
January 16-20, 2020 - Palm Springs, Calif.
January 21-23, 2020 - Joshua Tree National Park
Exploring the land by day and the starry sky by night
After our visit to Pismo, we spent a few days in Malibu and Palm Springs, Calif., visiting family. We took in a UCLA vs. Stanford basketball game and also got a taste of the LA traffic. Our days in Palm Springs consisted of morning walks (with a bit of geocaching), pool and hot tub time, happy hour, and going out to dinner. Not a bad gig if you can get it. After a few days of rest and relaxation, we were ready to hit the road again and go exploring. (To the Harding family — hugs & kisses and thank you for a wonderful time!)
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| The namesake of Joshua Tree National Park |
According to folklore, when Mormon settlers first saw the Joshua Tree, it reminded them of Joshua, who lifted his hands to the sky in prayer. In contrast, the Joshua Tree reminds me of the cat from Bloom County.
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The Joshua Tree reminds
me of Bill the Cat. |
It’s certainly an unusual looking tree, and no two look alike.
Environmental journalist and natural history writer, Chris Clarke, has spent 20+ years researching the origins of the name of the Joshua Tree. In this 2013 article, he describes the history behind the nomenclature. For whatever reason, the name Joshua Tree stuck, and the tree and the park have inspired artists and musicians such as the band U2 ever since.
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| I never got tired of the desert landscape at Joshua Tree. |
Today, the park’s diverse desert landscape — a transition desert between the Mojave in the north and the Colorado desert in the south — attracts a variety of wildlife and plants as well as human visitors from all over the world. Rock climbers especially like to scale the challenging large rock formations.
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| Most campsites at Jumbo Rocks were along the roadside. |
We arrived at Jumbo Rocks campground shortly before sunset and noticed everyone wearing parkas and knit caps. When I stepped out of the van, dressed for Palm Springs, I understood why. As soon as the sun sets, the temperature drops. We settled in and enjoyed the night sky. Venus appeared first. Then I could see the faint three stars of Orion’s belt. Slowly, as the night progressed, stars, planets, and occasional airplanes illuminated the entire sky.
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| We had the roads mostly to ourselves biking in Joshua National Park. |
The first thing we wanted to do was — finally! — try out our new bikes. We rode from the campground on the paved park road to the unpaved Desert Queen Mine Road. It was in decent condition with just a few sandy spots that caused me to fishtail now and then. Car traffic was minimal. A car may have passed us a few times, but honestly, I don’t remember. There was hardly any other bike traffic either, which surprised me. The scenery was so intriguing, and I kept my eyes open for signs of wildlife and kept scanning the landscape. That’s when I ran into the sand and almost wiped out a few times. We rode to Pine City, a backcountry camping registration site.
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| Taking a break at Pine City |
We continued on the one-way Queen Valley Road, which brought us to the trailhead of Wall Street Mine Trail. We hiked to the old mine site and learned about the feuds for water rights. Apparently, a guy shot and killed another guy arguing over water rights. After serving his prison term for murder, the shooter returned to the site and erected a monument commemorating his shooting of his enemy. Talk about toxic masculinity.
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| Some not-so-hidden history from the old mine |
Along the way, we met an Aussie who is biking across North America. He had already been to Alaska. He specifically mentioned Fairbanks and Juneau. (Read the following with an Australian accent.) “I picked berries they-ah. And ate salmon from a jah.” This guy (we didn’t get his name) is traveling by bicycle, and his girlfriend is traveling alongside by van. She works remotely, and the two of them rendezvous now and then. After chatting with the Aussie and hiking to Wall Street Mine, we rode our bikes back to the campground via Bighorn Pass Road. This area is home to bighorn sheep, but we did not see any.
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| A good place to rest from biking and hiking |
That night, we enjoyed another beautiful night sky with a campfire this time. The next day, we tried riding the Geology Tour Road, an unpaved road for four-wheel-drive vehicles. Unfortunately, it was too sandy and washboardy for our hybrid bikes. We turned around after two miles of a downhill slope and had to climb our way back out. It was good gear training.
When we returned to camp, we hopped into the van and rode to Hidden Valley and Barker Dam Trails. We hiked them, and then we rode to the Cholla (pronounced choy-ya) Cactus Garden.* On our way back to the campground, we stopped at Skull Rock and watched the sunset. Back at camp, we enjoyed another fire and the beautiful night sky.
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| Cholla has become my favorite cactus. |
We had been looking forward to this part of our trip for a long time, and Joshua Tree didn't disappoint us. No wonder many of my friends list this park as one of their favorites. Many others have it on their bucket lists.
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| Skull Rock is the most popular attraction at Joshua Tree. |
*Since this day, I have learned there are many types of cholla cacti. I think most of these are called Teddy Bear Cholla because of their fuzzy covering.
#joshuatreenationalpark #vanlife #me2ak #ontheroad
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