I'm still recovering from this place. It was gorgeously enchanting. The first time I saw photos of Joshua Tree was about two years ago, and I knew immediately that I needed to visit. But in reality, photos can't convey its beauty: the endless landscapes of rocky hills, the thousands of Joshua trees, the gardens of cacti, the little brown lizards that scamper as you walk, the bright pink and yellow flowers that catch your eye as you hike through the sandy trails. It's something that needs to be experienced first-hand (though I hope you enjoy my photos, nonetheless).
Day One: We flew into LAX last Wednesday evening and drove to Pasadena to stay with my wonderful cousin Christine. In the morning we began our trek out to the park - a 2.5 hour drive from Pasadena/Los Angeles to the town of Twentynine Palms. On the way we passed this incredible wind farm in Palm Springs (in the Coachella Valley). There were thousands of wind turbines - it was a surreal sight.
We arrived at our campground, Indian Cove Campground, which cannot be described as anything less than majestic.
Our first hike after setting up camp was to an oasis - that sounded like a good idea after setting up camp in the 95 degree heat! The hike was called 49 Palms Oasis. The sun started to dip down below the hills towards the end of the hike, casting shadows across the trail and lending us some cooler air! We saw lizards, a chuckwalla (I think), and a quail family!
Day Two:
On our second day at the park we wanted to hike but didn't want to undertake a HUGE trail, so we decided to drive through the park and stop at the pull-offs and hike the smaller trails of the park. I highly recommend this method because it is easy, requires no planning (just a good map of the park), and in the heat of the day it allows for a combination of exploration and rest/relaxation.
We stopped at Keys View to take in a view of the San Bernardino Mountains:
Day Three:
On our last day at the park we drove south, out of the Mojave desert and into the Colorado desert. The southern part of the park is much drier and there are no Joshua trees there.
The Chola Cactus Garden was one of our stops along the way:
We enjoyed seeing all the different plants and animals along the drive, stopping often to look at a lizard or a cool tree like this one:
Lastly, we went to the Lost Palms Oasis at the southern edge of the park where we saw HUGE California fan palms!
Our trip to Joshua Tree was amazing - I highly recommend a trip to this amazing place, and soon! Because of climate change, the Joshua tree is threatened. So get yourself to the desert, quickly!
After Joshua Tree, we went to Channel Islands National Park, which you can read about in my next post!
Post Comment
Post a Comment