The Joshua Tree is to the Mohave Desert what the Saguaro Cactus is to the Sonoran Desert. That’s what it said on the sign. The Joshua Tree is actually not a tree, its a Yucca plant. They only grow about an inch a year, and can grow to be over 40 feet tall. I have seen these trees before, but I never realized they were part of the Mohave Desert System.
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| Hidden Valley trail |
What was most impressive to us, in Joshua Tree National Park, was not the Joshua Trees, although they were plentiful and interesting to see, but the boulder configurations. Every where we turned there were huge rock formations.
We checked in at the Visitor’s Center to get a game plan together for the day. We decided to walk several trails- the first one was the short Hidden Valley Trail, where the boulders were so inviting, it was difficult to resist climbing. Somehow, it feels like a Disneyland for adults, although most of the boulders would require some serious rock climbing experience to climb.
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| The San Andreas Fault line from Joshua Tree |
Driving to the top of one of the several mountain peaks within the park, our view of Coachella Valley was impressive. The San Andreas Fault, which is over 500 miles long and reaches across the state of California, is clearly visible as a line of raised earth along the center of the picture. It’s a little spooky to realize that the valley is growing by about two inches a year, due to the action of the Pacific Ocean Crust sliding past the North American Crust. That action is what causes many of the earthquakes in this area.
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| Lost Horse Mine |
Our second trail was longer, 4.5 miles, to the Lost Horse Mine. It was named the Lost Horse Mine because a cowboy was looking for his horses that had disappeared overnight while he was camping in the area, when he came across a sign post marking a gold claim. He bought the claim and over the years, 10,000 ounces of gold were taken out of this area. There are actually over 300 mines in Joshua Tree National Park, but very few produced any gold. What we’ll remember about this trail is the fact that we froze our butts off. At this elevation the temps were in the mid 40’s and the wind chill was probably in the 30’s because it was pretty windy!
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| time to turn this sucker around |
For our next adventure we decided to stay in the truck. We headed down a road called Geology Trail Rd., an 18 mile auto drive that shows off some of the unique geologic features of the area. 4 wheel drive is recommended, so off we went down the sandy, one way, unpaved road. Unfortunately, the box with the brochures that explain what we would be seeing, was empty, so we took the tour without the information. Almost halfway through, we realized the sign should have also said “and if you are a dually, don’t bother!” The road got so narrow, we definitely added some “Texas pin striping” to the truck. That’s when the shrubbery intrudes so far into the “road” that it scratches down the side of the truck. When we found a wide spot in the road, we turned around and carefully made our way back to civilization.
All in all we saw a lot in one day, and will try to extend our stay where we are so we can do some more hiking in Joshua Tree. After doing a drive by one of the campgrounds and hearing Elaine’s opinion about the National Park campgrounds, we have decided that no matter what they say, we don’t fit in their sites.
