*miserychick is actually happy

I don’t have one yet, but if I did, an adventure in the desert would be on my bucket list. And now I can cross it off.

Joshua Tree National Park is definitely one of the must-see sites in Southern California. Pictures and videos don’t do justice (yet, you feel compelled to take them anyways) because it’s the scale of everything in relation to your body that is breathtaking. The rocks are as tall as three or four-story buildings, the desert land expands as far out as the eye can see (and beyond), the silence is almost absolute.

We had originally booked a campground at Black Rock camp site, but upon our arrival at the gear rental shop, Joshua Tree Outfitters (highly recommend, by the way), we asked for recommendations in the park and he pretty much told us to forget our reservation and head to Hidden Valley camp site instead. It didn’t take much for us to be convinced, we figured he knew what he was talking about. We ended up at this beautiful camp site #5 at Hidden Valley:

(that’s my tent, tucked in the rock corner)

With all of our food and gear enough for a party of 10 (there was 5 of us).

Hidden Valley campground didn’t have any water, which is why I had originally booked the Black Rock, this being our first time and all. But our nice rental guy (sorry, didn’t get his name) gave us 10 gallons of water, pre-filled in our rental jugs, so we were set and didn’t need to camp at a site that is right next to a subdivision. The camp sites at HV were all for car-camping, where you just parked the car right up to the picnic table. There’s a fire pit with a grill. Not quite what you’d really call “roughing it”, but it’s enough of an outdoor adventure for us city kids.

As soon as we set off for our first hike in the evening, hoping to catch the sunset, we spotted a bunny with super large ears:

The park map informed me that these are called black-tailed jackrabbits.  Cute.

The sun was actually going down before we reached the trail, so this was taken while we were walking on a pave road.  I think this is my best picture of Joshua Tree from the trip:

Because, sadly, and embarrassingly enough, I had the camera on a wrong setting for the desert sun, and all the photos after this were way over exposed and grainy. A case of photography FAILED.  tsk. tsk.

At Barker Dam Trail, we came across a patch of lush green areas, which was quite surreal after walking in desert land for a while. It’s green because this area had water. The dam was built in the 1900s by cattlemen, but ceased to be of used later in the century (from the sign explanation).

On Sunday, we went hiking at high noon, when it was estimated to be 106F/41C out. Our plan to go on hikes in the morning so we can find shady areas at lunch time didn’t quite workout since the trails we picked were so far from our camp site and, well, you can’t find shades when the sun is directly over your head (duh).

Key’s View overlooking Coachella Valley & Cholla Cactus Garden:
  

Mastodon Peak Trail & Mastodon Gold Mine (1919-1932):
  

View from Mastodon Peak, can you see the three little people (that’s Mark, Kate, and Manlio)? I climbed up to the peak (with Eric) and took this photo. Did I tell you this place was big?

We ended up eating our packed sandwich lunch in the car with the air condition turned all the way up. After a 3-mile hike in the sun, it was the best picnic plan we never thought of.

Well the great thing about getting there on Saturday and leaving on Monday is that most other campers leave on Sunday morning. So we got free left over firewood and almost the whole campground to ourselves by the time we came back from our adventurous hikes. I went walking around the rocks in Hidden Valley and spotted a place for us to watch the sunset:

That night we cooked an Italian-style meal of pasta and fresh tomato sauce, grill chicken and zucchini (on open fire), and salad. Yes, I brought the Aceto Balsamico di Modina to put on everything. Gourmet camping! A note about making fire in the desert: super easy! None of that fanning, blowing the amber, nursing the small flames… as soon as a couple of twigs caught on fire, it being super dry out, the fire lit up and stayed on as long as you feed it wood.

Just before the sun rise, rain started falling. We had been sleeping with just the mesh layer, and none of us bother the put the fly over the tents, since it was the desert and there was not any dew. I woke up in disbelieve, wondering if the world was ending. Mark, deep asleep next to me just murmured “is this real?” and went back to bed. Manlio, whose tent was all mesh and no cover at all, was heard saying “un-fucking-believable”. By the time we woke up, everything was dry as usual. There was almost no sign of rain except for a couple of drops of water on our tarp.

A field of Joshua Trees:

Last view of Hidden Valley

We found out that we went at the end of the camping season for JT. In May the weather starts getting hot and later in the summer, it would be too hot to camp. The fact that we went during the first heat wave for California summer was pure coincidence. In all of the research I did, many suggested that the desert is very hot during the day and gets very cold at night. For us, it wasn’t cold at night at all. The temperature was quite perfect, and beside that freakish rain we had, it remained dry throughout our time there… which translates to not a lot of sweating. So yeah, it was hot, I mean, it is a desert after all, but it’s nothing compare to the heat and humidity combination you get in Thailand.

For anyone planning a camping trip there, I would recommend camping at sites that are deep in the park. Bring lots of water and pack your own firewood. Good shoes, socks, and sunscreen are a must. Hats and sunglasses will come in handy. There’s a big Von’s grocery store in Yucca Valley town, which you can stop at before entering the park and don’t have to divert your route to Palm Springs (leave it to us city dorks to make that mistake). And, finally, camping rental gear: Joshua Tree Outfitters. Their kitchen box rental ($20 for 2 nights) made our camp a total luxury.

It was great fun in the sun, and definitely something to repeat in the near future.  Maybe once I learn how to climb outdoors…

As usual, all the photos are at my Joshua Tree Flickr Set.

Posted on Thursday, 28 May 2009 at 1:05 UTC