Visiting Joshua Tree National Park

We decided to stay at Twenty Nine Palms RV Park in California for three nights. That way we could do day trips into the park with the jeep. The temperatures were still cool, and I kept wishing that it would raise about 10 degrees. However, Rick was quick to remind me that it was the perfect temp for hiking, which we found ourselves doing quite a bit.

Day one we entered the North Entrance of the park, where I got my National Park Passport stamp. We drove the long southeast path toward Cottonwood Spring. Driving along we began to appreciate the Joshua trees in their funny, Dr. Seuss look as they twist and turn with greenery on the ends of their branches. They can grow to 40 feet tall, but only gain an inch/year!

Our next stop was the Cholia Cactus Garden. The garden is dominated by cholla (choy ya) nicknamed "Jumping Cholla" as they tend to stick to anything that they touch. We witnessed one woman using a pliers to pull the cactus barbs from her tennis shoes after getting too close! This reminded me to look, read, but stay on the path through the garden.

Upon arriving at Cottonwood Spring, we started another hike through desert and sand to the rock boulders, as we climbed higher. Rick stated that we never took up rock climbing because Jess would not keep her shoes on. I on the other hand was not sure that we were ever brave enough! The Cahuilla Indians inhabited this area before the gold mines opened.

We decided to drive back to our RV following the Old Dale Road. We had been told that it was a jeep trail, and that our vehicle would have no problem. That was true until we reached the border of the park! Around the corner opened up rough trails of rock and huge gaps. We did chicken out and turned around for a longer ride back.

Day 2 was spent in the northern section of the park. We had a nice 1.5 mile hike to see the Jumbo Rock area. Millions of years of change were evident as we walked around, past, under, and between the huge eroded monsters!

Rick decided to brave another jeep trail, and this one was much better as it was all in the National Park. It brought us to Barker Dam, an old cattle rustling area. The dam was built around 1900 to hold water for the cattle and miners. It was fun to hike through more gigantic rock, and then to come upon a wet area containing the old dam.

By this time, Rick was complaining of hunger. We drove to Hidden Valley picnic area where we made friends with a cute little chipmunk creature. It was a nice warm spot in the sun and all of the wind blocked out! Packing lunches and water was important as there were NO eating spots in the park.

No, we did not see every spot in the park, but did cover a lot of ground! We both agreed that it was worth seeing. The different terrains were fun to see and explore. The amazing desert plants that are able to survive, and the "few" animals that we spotted helped us gain a better understanding of southern California and the Joshua Tree National Park.