Joshua Tree National Park… At Last

What Is It About Joshua Tree?

On my first trip across the country, I passed through Joshua Tree National Park on the way to San Diego, California, from St. George, Utah. A casual look wouldn’t lead you to think it was anything extraordinary. There are no iconic vistas or legendary features. By all accounts, it’s a desert full of piles of boulders and fields of joshua trees, which are a variety of the yucca plant.

But, there was just something about the place that mesmerized me. While driving through and taking in the primary views of the northwestern portion of the park, I felt a desire to stay there and knew that I’d want to come back some day and camp overnight. When I began planning my second trip in the winter of 2019, a night in Joshua Tree National Park was the focal point of the proposed trip.

Needless to say, when I got sick in Arizona and was forced to skip my campground reservation in the park, the word “devastated” doesn’t do justice to the emotions I felt. Fortunately, my aunt suggested that I take a trip out for a night while I was staying in San Diego and, upon getting a spot in a campground, I would be on my way back after all!

A Relatively Short Road Trip + A Hike

After the three day marathon to visit Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, a three hour drive to Joshua Tree was a breeze. On the way out of San Diego, I stopped at a grocery store for water and a few things to eat, as well as a bundle of firewood (and a Duraflame log, just in case my fire starting skills aren’t up to snuff). Then, I was off to the park, forcing my maps app to take the back way that would bring me past Salton Sea, rather than highways most of the way.

The drive was beautiful. It didn’t take long for it to get interesting. Once I got east of the mountains, it took me north through two-lane highways almost the entire way. One place that really impressed me was Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which is just to the west of Salton Sea. The mountains were beautiful, the skies were huge, and the area was full of badlands. Not sure what I was expecting from Salton Sea, because the only thing I’d heard about it were some “unique” towns along its coast, but it was interesting finding a huge body of water, essentially an oasis, in the middle of the desert.

Arriving In Joshua Tree

To arrive in Joshua Tree National Park was surreal. The moment had been on my mind for over two years, maybe even longer if you count my immediate desire to return during my first visit. But to finally get there felt like tying-up loose ends, dotting a bunch of I’s and crossing a million T’s, all wrapped-up together. It was an ecstatic moment.

A Walk and a Hike

My first stop was the Bajada Nature Trail near the southern entrance of the park. It was basically a short walk, a way to stretch my legs and add another hiking pin on the map.

After that, I stopped at the visitors center to get my souvenir and stamp my passport(s). While I was at it, I talked to the rangers for a minute, asking for tips on camping in the desert and what kind of wild life I should be concerned about. They didn’t offer much, but they did say that there were no large mammals (e.g. cougars or bears) besides big horn sheep in the area, which made me happy.

From there I drove to my campsite to get the lay of the land. As opposed to the campground in Big Bend National Park, this time I did a good job picking a spot. The location was on the outside of the campground loop, right next to a trailhead and far away from the bathroom.

To prevent myself from thinking about it too much and getting spooked, I put on some sunscreen, filled-up my water bottles and headed-out on the Mastodon Mine Trail Loop, which I’d scoped-out the day before. The hike was about three miles long, passing through a mixture of sandy washes and paths through canyons of boulders. The ascent to Mastodon Peak was intense, especially given there’s no cover in the desert, but worth the effort because the views were great.

At the peak, I discovered my phone had a connection, so I sent-out some pictures and actually got a call from my friend, which allowed me to make some preliminary plans for the following day after my return. The rest of the hike was mostly downhill and relatively easy, but just as stunning as the first half.

Setting-Up Camp

The hard part for me was deciding how to set-up my tent at the campsite. Given how rarely I sleep in a tent, it’s a learning process each time I set things up. The main issues this time had to do with the slopes and direction of the wind: I didn’t want to sleep inverted or have the tent set-up in a way that smoke from the fire would blow into it.

Eventually, I got it right on all accounts. Most importantly, I decided not to use the outer shell of the tent and just rely on the mesh inner shell to keep the bugs and mice out. The weather was in the high-60s with a cool breeze and the outer shell made the tent uncomfortably hot. Given the fact I’d never set-up the tent this way, I was a little nervous, but the experience of literally sleeping under the stars and moon was great.

A Fire, Some Stars, But Mostly The Moon + A Mouse

As I wrote earlier, I bought a bundle of firewood at the grocery store, but also bought a Duraflame log, just in-case I couldn’t get a wood fire going. After splitting-up a couple of logs into tinder and making a classic teepee out of it, I managed to get a fire going with a single match… and a fire starter. So, good job outta me. As soon as I got the fire started, a brave kangaroo mouse came-out to explore my campsite. It was surprisingly bold, nearly coming right up to my feet at times, and hung-out nearly the entire night.

One of the reasons I wanted to camp in Joshua Tree National Park is because it’s a recognized “dark sky” park. Now, if I’d camped here a week and a half ago, when I was supposed to, there would’ve been a new moon and I’d have gotten the full effect of a dark sky in the desert. However, the moon was about 3/4 of the way full and it was so bright that I didn’t need to use a flash light all night long.

On one hand, this was a disappointment, but on the other hand it was still crazy to see the desert lit-up by the moon at night. For some reason, I found I had the motivation to take the Bronica out of the car and try taking some wild guesses at moon and star photography using the cable release switch. It will be interesting to see if any of those came out.

All that being said, the stars were still impressive, and, because I opted not to put the outer shell on my tent, as I laid down to bed and had a great view of the stars and moon the entire time.

Sunrise

One of the things that I’m still not used to is waking-up in a tent. This time, it was especially weird because I was basically sleeping outside without cover. At about 4:30 AM, I woke-up to find the moon about to dip below the mountains to the southwest. This gave me a little hope that I might see some more stars, if I stayed awake, but the sky to the east almost immediately began to grow brighter as the moon sunk below the horizon in the west. Because I couldn’t get back to sleep, I decided to set-up a GoPro to do a time lapse of the sun rise. After setting that up, I tried to go back to sleep, but didn’t have much luck. At around 7 AM or so I just decided to get up and start the day.

Driving To The Popular Parts Of Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park is a big park. The first time I visited three years ago, I intended to drive from the northern Twentynine Palms entrance, down to the southern entrance and then drive to San Diego. The rangers told me that I would miss all the good stuff, which is in the northwestern part of the park, so I opted to just drive through that area instead.

This time I was camping in the southeastern part of the park, so the beginning of the day amounted to driving from there up to the popular parts that I visited the first time through. Personally, I prefer the empty roads and wilderness of the southern part of the park, but anyone who reads my blog already knows this.

Cholla Cacti and Split Rock Hikes

Right before making the turn into the civilized part of the park, I stopped at the Cholla Cactus Garden walk. It was a short, half-mile walk through an endless field of cholla cacti. After that, I headed to the Split Rock Trail to take a longer, more rigorous hike. This hike was similar to the previous evening’s hike in that it was amongst the boulder-laden landscapes that symbolize the park for me. Along the way, I noticed that the lines created by the boulders remind me a lot of my own artwork and wonder if perhaps that’s a subconscious reason why I like the park so much. It’s almost like we vibe with one another. While it wasn’t that strenuous of a hike, it was hot and I was glad I kept adding the sunscreen.

Skull Rock and The Return to the Hall of Horrors

My plan was to take some pictures of Skull Rock with the Bronica, but as I got to that area, it was kind of overrun with cars and I drove past. Then, I figured I had to turn around and tough it out… I mean, how many times am I going to be here? After turning around, I found a spot and it was only a short walk to Skull Rock, which, yeah, kind of looks like a skull. After taking a bunch of photos, I departed and headed for the last stop on my list: The Hall of Horrors, which was mostly a stop for sentimental reasons because I visited it the last time through the park

Reluctantly Leaving

At this point, I was starting to feel the pull of plans I’d made the day before. No doubt about it, I could spend days in Joshua Tree National Park. Honestly, I think it’s my favorite National Park. While I don’t believe in a lot of metaphysical stuff or hocus pocus, I think that whatever energy this park has a lot of vibes with the energy that makes me tick. It may not have the canyon vistas or waterfalls or arches that make other places mega-popular, Joshua Tree is magical for me and I can’t wait to visit it again.