Joshua Tree Park - breathtaking

Joshua Tree National Park

California 

May 29 - June 1 , 2009

We were eager to continue on our way once the brakes were fixed- what a difference that makes in the driving! We loaded up on groceries and made tracks out of Blythe.

More desert driving took us to the General Patton Museum. For Remy, an ex-tanker in the army, this was like a pilgrimage. Patton was quite a character, and the museum was excellent. The boys were interested in all the guns and military gear, while Liz patiently let all the boys be boys.

It was stinking hot, again, and we felt some trepidation about our plan to camp in the desert. That was allayed as we began the climb into Joshua Tree National Monument. We entered into one of the most beautiful places we have encountered on this trip. We now know what was the inspiration for the sets of all those Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons. Water was in short supply, but there was an abundance of massive boulder piles. We explored a few campgrounds before settling in Hidden Valley. Just in time- the weekend was upon us, and people were arriving in droves from all over!

We parked among the Joshua trees at the foot of a boulder pile. We were amazed at the abundance of life in the area, with birds, rabbits and ground squirrels sharing our space. The rocks are a destination for rock climbers from around the world and we heard many different accents and languages. The rocks made for some fun climbing, though it was easy to climb quickly into situations which in hindsight probably were not so sensible. We hiked into the "Hidden Valley" to check out a dam made by ranchers earlier in the century, back when rainfalls of 10-20" per year, instead of the now typical 2-5", made ranching viable. We were lucky enough to experience a rainfall while we were here- we felt honoured! And damp.

The rock piles in the desert made for excellent Airsoft terrain, so Remy, Hollis and Bowen spent time littering the desert with tiny plastic pellets and gaining a few scrapes and welts along the way. The smooth surface of some of the nearby boulders made great resting places for us to enjoy our breakfast in the morning or a glass of wine in the evening- we feel fortunate to be here without a care in the world and the time to appreciate the beauty.

Altogether, Joshua Tree is one of the more beautiful places we have visited with an almost magical quality to the atmosphere.

-Remy