Our supplies were bought – including a lot of drinking water for our soon-to-be hikes in the desert – a minor problem with the RV was solved, and we hit the road. In just over 35 minutes we left Nevada and entered yet another new state for us, California. We also left Highway 15 and traveled the rest of the day on state roads, which are our favorites. The first one took us straight through the Mojave National Preserve, (ironically, the temperature was in the 80s F, whereas in Las Vegas it was in the high 90s and over 100 F). The preserve is a 1.6 million-acre park, home to canyons, mountains, and a good number of Joshua trees. The road was sparsely traveled, which made the ride fun and the views more interesting. We stopped for lunch, enjoying the splendid silent and peaceful surroundings.
We arrived at Joshua Tree National Park in early afternoon. Joshua Tree, in southeastern California, was set aside as a national monument by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936 due to its variety of animal and plant life, most especially, the unique Joshua tree. Found only in the Mojave Desert, the Joshua tree is really not a tree, but a species of yucca that can grow to over 40 feet tall at the rate of an inch a year.
Joshua Tree was designated a national park in 1994.
The park covers 792,510 acres, 80% of which is managed as wilderness. Within its borders, the Mojave Desert (western part of the park, more than 3,000 feet above sea level) meets the Colorado Desert (eastern part of the park, below 3,000 feet above sea level).
Our first stop after entering the park and a drive of a few miles was a look-out called Quail Springs. What immediately gets one’s attention in this section of the park are two things: the kind of out-of-this-world looking Joshua trees (the National Park Service has described the Joshua tree as something that looks like it came out of a Dr. Seuss book; a lot of the bent limbs are due to heavy winds) and the magnificent rock formations that tower above. These rock piles began their life as underground volcanic activity, which was pushed up, and as it came into contact with groundwater, the chemical weathering caused the rocks to break into wide cracks and round edges. Almost like someone had placed a bunch of blocks on top of each other. (This, of course, in no way does justice to the wonderful explanation we received from a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic park ranger.)
A bit further down the main park road, we stopped and took a one-mile loop trail in and out of Hidden Valley where – according to the stories – cattle rustlers would hide their stolen cattle. Additional sources claim that in 1936, Bill Keys blasted a hole in the rock walls to provide better access for his cattle herds. (Until then, this rock-enclosed valley was actually quite hidden.) This hole in the “wall” is the key access point to the hiking trail of Hidden Valley, a gorgeous walk which winds among the massive boulders.
We also attempted to drive to Keys View (according to the park brochure, it offers stunning views of valley, mountain, and desert), but the road was closed due to excessive bee activity at the site. Evidently, cars at Keys View attract swarms of bees who are drawn to the water in the cars (which, as the ranger told us, “freaks out the visitors”), and the rangers are hoping that if they eliminate the cars for ten days, the bees will go elsewhere.
We spent our first night in a beautiful campground just outside the park which boasts a lake (man-made and stocked for fishing for the attraction; we are in the middle of a desert). The campground is full of flowering bushes and trees for shade, ducks by the lake, and a large facility where they have a music festival every year. Sima even saw a tortoise during her morning walk. Right now, there are only about ten campers in this park but then again, who would come to the middle of the desert in the summer?
Day 2 of hiking in the desert
In the higher elevations of the Mojave Desert the temperature today was between 85- and 90-degrees F, but in the lower elevations of the Colorado Desert, where we spent most of the day, it went as high as 106 F (according to the RV’s thermometer). As the rangers warn, bring plenty of water, a good hat with a wide brim, long pants, and suntan lotion – and we did. We were not sure which pithy saying applies to us most, “we are made of sterner stuff,” or “mad dogs and Englishmen” — and RVers named Bill and Sima, but we were out there determined not to miss a thing.
We drove the length of the park (on Park Blvd.) stopping a few times for short walks. The first was at Jumbo Rocks, a huge group of rock formations for which the park is known, similar to those we saw on our drive the first day – but these were all in one area. Walking through the Jumbo Rocks campground that is nestled among the formations is both humbling and awe-inspiring. How they came about, science can explain. That they dwarf us and make us feel a small part of the beauty around us, well, few words can adequately explain that feeling.
An interesting note: Joshua Tree, with its hundreds of rock formations, has become a leading destination for rock climbers from all over the world. Partly, because when other rock-climbing sites are covered with snow, these are not, as they are not so tall. And partly, because the different routes (and they are mapped; 5,000 so far) up the various rock formations offer something for climbers at all levels.
Our next walk was in the Cholla Cactus Garden, on a trail through thousands of densely concentrated naturally growing cholla cactus. They are dark on the bottom, lighter on top, as water is drawn to the top. The dark does not mean they are dead, just very dry. Some of these dry, dark parts are dropped by the plant and lie on the ground till the next rain. Then, they root and grow new plants at the spot they were dropped; this accounts for their dense concentration.
Cottonwood Spring, a steep walk past a fan palm oasis with many cottonwood trees, brought us to a magnificent view. The trail went on but the direction signs were missing and, considering our talent for getting lost even when the directions are plentiful, we decided to return to the trailhead. But the panoramic view from on top was stunning.
Our next walk was the Bajada, a trail featuring plants of the Colorado desert. Most of the plants were totally dried out until their rebirth when they get some water. (A little is all they need, as the park averages about three inches of water a year.) But these plants are patient and according to the signs along the trail, feature beautiful flowers during the winter and spring.
On our way out of the park we took a short, easy walk to Ryan Ranch which was set up to supply water from the local creek to the gold mines in the area and to raise cattle to feed the miners. When the mine played out, the Ryan brothers continued as a cattle ranch. The mud used to create their adobe house was filled with gold dust and their house was thus named the gold house.
As a side note, the chemicals used to mine the gold were very destructive to the eco-system and there are still warning signs preventing visitors from entering certain areas in the park due to a chemical health hazard.
On Friday we drove to the Bullhead City, Arizona municipal campground, a place we have been to before and liked, so, since it was on the way we decided to spend Shabbat there. However, last time we were here it was a delightful February, this time it was 108 degrees F. Add to that Sima’s cooking for Shabbat – and even though it made a valiant effort, the RV’s air conditioner couldn’t keep up in the afternoon. But we have our spot under beautiful palm trees, overlooking the Colorado River.
Saturday night: The air conditioning worked fine; we went from being hot, to being comfortable, to being cool, to being cold in the early morning, to being warm again in the afternoon (our RV air conditioner has only two setting, on and off). We took advantage of the morning temperatures (maybe around 80 degrees F) to take a few walks around the campground, but spent most of the day inside reading. At 9:30 pm, we watched an impressive pre-July 4th fireworks display (we think from Nevada, the other side of the Colorado River) from the campground.
