Blogs from Joshua Tree National Park, California, United States, North America

So i set off with friends by road from San Francisco heading down the highway to Joshua Tree. Stopped at the ghost town of Calico on the way, arriving just in time for the sunset. We then continued further down, so total of 8hrs driving until we got to our travel lodge in Joshua Tree. For those looking for a pleasant budget hotel, this one on 29 palms avenue was definitely to be recommended! Hot tub, large rooms, bathroom, all the goodies and a hot tub and gym!!!! Not bad for 25 dollars per person a night! Next day we spent the day exploring the wonderland of boulders and amazing scenery in and around Joshua Tree National park. We even saw the San Andreas fault from a view point and down onto the Coachella Valley and ... read more

Ostersonntag gab es Besuch von saemtlichen Teilen von Chris Verwandtschaft, inklusive Hunde und Kindern. Mir wurde die Ehre zu Teil, Ostereier verstecken zu duerfen. Es gab kaltes Buffet und den ganzen Tag lang Trubel. Mit von der Partie war auch Tom, der schon in meiner Muencher Wohnung uebernachtet hat, als er in Deutschland war und seine Freundin Samira. Am Montag ging es mit dem naechsten Mietwagen zum Klettern in der Naehe von Malibu Beach, in den Santa Monica Mountains. Nach einigen eher mittelmaessigen Aufwaermtouren gelang mir eine 5.11a onsight. Dummerweise stuerzte ich beim dritten Versuch in einer wunderschoenen, 30 Meter langen 5.11d danach drei Zuege vor dem Anker. Nach einem Abendburrito bei Chipotle tranken wir noch bei Ryan, einem Kumpel von Chris eines seiner gruseligen, selbstgebrauten Bier. Nachdem Chris ein Telefoninterview mit einem potentiellen Arbeitgeber absolvi ... read more

Life is full of surprises. Some good, some bad. Joshua Tree National Park was a good surprise. We had planned to spend two or three nights, but ended up staying eight nights. There are two distinct areas, as the park includes both the Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert. We spent half our time camped in each. The Mojave section of the park is where the Joshua Trees are located. They are strange and other worldly. They are fascinating to look at, as each one is different. I tried to imagine traveling in this area before roads, compasses, GPS and road signs. Giving directions would be different with needing to rely on distinctive rocks, mountains, plants, etc. In other climates a fun thing to do is to see objects in the shape of the clouds. Here ... read more

We were up and packed early as we needed to be at the Keys Ranch Tour parking area by 12:45. Normally this would not be a problem, but “King of the Road” made several tactical driving errors that wasted at least a half hour. We did a quick gasoline before entering the “no resource zone”. The plan was to stop and unhook the trailer at Cottonwood Springs and then drive the almost 40 miles to Keys Ranch. As you might image after the mistakes, tension rode high in Trusty Tundra. The Cottonwood campground did not provide an easy park and go option, so with trailer we traversed the desert to arrive at Jumbo Rocks once again with limited time to spare. We found a 3 camping space drive out that allowed a quick (little or no ... read more

We left our camp site at Jumbo Rocks and headed south to Cottonwood Springs where Emily hoped to get tickets to the Keys Ranch Tour. They did not know whether there were tours on Saturday (our return day). The Ranger had to contact another location not by land line or cell phone or radio, but by the Internet using satellite. We saw no telephone lines or cell towers in our travels and the campground at Jumbo Rocks had nothing other than pit toilets to offer as as camper services. Yes, we were in Boondock country and now loving it. We were off to a few days in the area surrounding Salton Sea. This was a large below sea level inland lake (-228) formed by the overflows of the Colorado River. The area was once a popular ... read more

Conservation seemed to work as we started this day with a battery at 12 V, a full fresh water tank, and empty waste water tanks. This was a day to explore and explore we did as we hit 3 different trails all 1 to 1.5 miles in length. The beauty of the day was the different parts of desert life it showed while focusing on the people and families who lived here. This was also a glorious day with a slight breeze and 50+ temps. Sunscreen was in use and water was in our backpacks. First was a walk to Ryan Ranch, where a Ryan brother had raised cattle, provided water to his gold-mining brothers, and transported ore to the mill. A shell of an adobe house sat on a hill overlooking the valley below and ... read more