Family Trip to Joshua Tree Nat’l. Park
In our first whole-family trip since the Hawaii wedding trip last February, we flew to Palm Springs (California) and spent the better part of a week hiking in the high desert of Joshua Tree National Park. It was phenomenal in many respects: we shared the trail with family and enjoyed some fantastic hikes in a wonderland of unimaginable rock formations and unfamiliar desert flora. After being grounded for months by a few surgeries, this trip was a tonic for us; just what the doctor ordered.
We had no inkling that Joshua Tree Park was so immense and so different from the desert trips we had previously experienced (Tucson) . The park encompasses over 800,000 acres of high desert (above 4000 feet in elevation) that bleed into both the Sonoran and Mohave Deserts. When hiking there, it becomes apparent that each elevation change supports a different range of plants and new geological formations. This was new.
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First Impressions
Our younger son Wyatt and his wife Sara had suggested this trip. They chose the location and found the rental properties in which we stayed. We felt confident that their choices would be well- researched and that we had no worries. This proved to be true, but there were still some surprises….
Our introduction to Palm Springs was the first surprise. Long known as the home of celebrities (it has road names like Barbara Stanwyck Road, Bing Crosby Drive and Bob Hope Drive), we might have expected a lush desert paradise. Rather than an oasis, what we first saw, as we drove away from the airport, were beautiful snow-capped mountains in the distance, but with hundreds of wind turbines between us and those mountains. There were also stagnant clouds of dust amongst the wind monsters. (Later we would find out that we were indeed in a wind tunnel and that these turbines were very active. It was when they were not that the dust clouds hung in then air. The day after we arrived I went back to the airport and drove through my first brown-out; dust so thick that I could not see 50-feet in front of the car.)
Fortunately, we were staying north of Palm Springs, in Morongo Valley, far away from the wind and the dust. We were located midway between Palm Springs and the Joshua Tree National Park.
The next surprise, when we reached Morongo Valley, were the side roads (dirt), which were far rougher than we had ever experienced. The GPS was unaware of these conditions, so when we could not reach our destination, after two attempts, we had to find a third way which was passable. (The owner of the house Wyatt rented wrote “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER go on Navajo Trail”, which turned out to be better than the two routes we had attempted.)
Where We Stayed
Once we reached our lodging, we easily forgot these inconveniences. Wyatt & Sara had found two houses that were comfortable, quiet, and in a beautiful setting. The main house (named Rancho Contento) was staged throughout with cowboy kitsch, including lassos on the walls, lighted shotgun shells surrounding a bathroom mirror, saddles in the hallway and a plunger with a rifle stock. It also had a hot tub, which got a lot of use.
Since there were initially 12 of us, and the main house had beds for 10, we stayed in the second house which was called Pink Galaxy, was also highly adorned, but with backlit coolie hats and cowboy hats on the walls. It also featured a backyard observatory, complete with a visiting alien, a hot tub, ping pong table, and lounge cushions for viewing the distant hills.
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Where we hiked
We hiked a number of different trails in Joshua National Park. The natural rock formations, unique vegetation and constant light changes prompted us to take many photos. Rather than put them all on one overwhelming page, you can click on a day or a hike and the appropriate photos will appear in a new tab in your browser:
