2022 Parks Road Trip Diary: Days 71-73

Joshua Tree exists at the intersection of the Mojave and Colorado deserts, and is known for its distinctive rock formations and of course, its Joshua Trees, the spiky-looking half-cacti, half-trees. We only spent a little more than a day at this park, but a climber could probably enjoy ages here looking for paths up all the massive piles of granite boulders.

Day 71 (evening): A Warm Welcome to Joshua Tree

After a five hour drive through nowhere, CA, we arrived at Joshua Tree. We’d escaped the blistering heat of Death Valley, but it’s not like it was all that pleasant here – we were still dealing with high 90s℉ temperature and sun. Sunset was on its way, though.

not suitable for hugging, but fine to pet

We chose Hidden Valley Campground to set up camp. Its campsites are awesome, all of them nestled somehow into the large boulder piles (actually eroded monzogranite) that make up the classic Joshua Tree scenery. And though it’s one of the most central campgrounds, it was pretty empty, again likely because the heat was pretty rough around this time of year. But the solitude was a nice additional feature.

how i am when no one's looking
the view east, facing away from our campsite

Once night fell, the temperature actually became pleasant, and we sat outside on our camp chairs stargazing. With a clear sky and no moon in phase, it was perfect for seeing the milky way. Highly recommend. 🌌

Day 72: Everything Revolves Around the Sun

sunrise over the joshuas

After researching the hikes in the park, we realized there really weren’t many. Joshua Tree is not a hiking park; it’s way more of a climbing park, as in ropes and belays and all that. Sounds fun, but we didn’t have the equipment or the knowledge to do it. It seemed like we’d be able to fit the rest of the hikes / attractions all into a single day. Plus, it was going to get hot again, and we didn’t really want to be outside during the 11PM-4PM window.

We started with Ryan Mountain (2.9 mi, 1000 ft elev gain) since it seemed to be the most popular hike in the park.

It was already getting hot despite starting early. Here’s a sign from the Ryan Mountain trailhead if you think I’m just whining:

there is only one thing we say to death †

† youtube

A ranger told us to be aware of rattlesnakes too, because he knew they were actively nesting nearby. So many ways to die here.

It was a cool hike, I guess. Definitely nice views of the park from the peak. You can see so many of the rock pile formations scattered neatly throughout the park, looking like cairns built by giants. It’s almost hard to believe that they aren’t human-made.

at the peak
rock pile formations for days

No rattlesnakes. I was a little bummed – I wanted to see one just to feel like we were being a little dangerous. But we did encounter a desert horned lizard, which was cool.

like a baby ankylosaurus

Next, we chose to hike Lost Horse Mine (4.2 mi, 500 ft elev gain). It was okay. It was a not-so-scenic walk out to an old gold and silver mine that operated around the early 1900s. Even if you’re into the history of it, it felt a little like, “we walked 1.5 miles in the heat for this?”

lost horse mine

There were a handful of better-looking moderate hikes in the park (Fortynine Palms Oasis, Lost Palms Oasis Mastodon Peak), but they were all such a long drive away, and we were short on not-brutally-hot morning time.

Around our area there were plenty of short easy walks around the rock pile formations, but our morning time was already expired. So we did the only thing we could: check out the visitor center near the park’s northern entrance, then kill a few hours at the Starbucks in Joshua Tree (the town of the same name, outside the park). In other words, seek air conditioning.

After heading back to camp, the plan was to make dinner and then walk the Hidden Valley trail (1 mi, 100 ft elev gain) during sunset.

I made us pull over on the drive to Hidden Valley to try to get a great sunset picture over the rock pile formations. The pics didn’t end up being anything special, and the time lost there meant it was almost dark when we started walking through Hidden Valley. Sorry. 😓

We couldn’t really see anything on the later half of the walk, but at least I got my cool sunset picture:

cool sunset picture

Day 73: A Rock I Just Had to Climb

The sunrises at this camp were so nice, I can’t get over it. Because it was so warm and the weather was clear, we left the rain fly off again, making it really easy to wake up with the light. And I loved our view!

all this picture needs is a dog and a cup of coffee and it's ready for reddit
enjoying our last morning here

We were leaving today, but I had this nagging feeling that we didn’t really experience what Joshua Tree had to offer. It was clear that most of the fun was in climbing the big rocks, and I began to wonder if there were some that I could climb without any equipment. I was sure there were some heights I could reach without being too risky.

And how fortunate: we had a big rock playground right behind our campsite!

how can you look at this and not be tempted

I hit some dead ends and had to reverse sometimes, but overall it was a success, and this thirty minute excursion I did on a whim ended up being my favorite part of this park.

caught sight of judy packing the car from atop the boulders
...and judy caught sight of me
artsy photo from a boulder plateau

Once we were all packed, we hopped in the car and headed off on the six hour drive to Sedona. Bye Joshua Tree!

you are now entering Arizona

post originally written 12/23, backdated to match reality