On our trek east (after backtracking west to Chino to spend my birthday with my dad) we decided to stop and visit Joshua Tree National Park. We found a spot near the south entrance — free, of course — and fully intended to stay a couple of weeks enjoying what the park has to offer. Sadly, the wind picked up and did not subside…50-60+ mph winds almost non-stop! By the third night it was SO brutal that Jim decided we should hook back up to the truck just so the LCC didn’t blow over. The next day we got the heck outta there.

But before our exodus…

On the first morning after finding our new place to call home, we went back to Indio for groceries and then drove to the west entrance of the park to get our pass and see some sights. After getting a senior lifetime pass to *all* national parks for just $10(!), we drove south through the park.  We didn’t stop since we knew — at least we *thought* we knew — we would have plenty more opportunities to explore when we didn’t have perishables on board.

The next day we decided our first outing would be a hike up Ryan Mountain, a climb that was a 1,200′ increase in elevation in 1.5 miles. The path is steep but has been improved with rocks placed to form “steps” in many places. We stopped a couple of times for a brief rest and some water. It took us just a little over an hour to reach the top. The view was spectacular and was a nice reward for our hard work.

We hope to return to Joshua Tree some other time and do more hiking and some 4-wheel drivin’. If we happen to get blown away next time and only get to do one more thing, what would you suggest?

20160206_161404-120160206_162131-120160207_14112720160207_14151220160207_14180820160207_14202720160207_14250720160207_14352820160207_15223620160207_14492020160207_14525520160207_15223620160207_15294620160207_15341620160207_15355020160207_15355920160207_15375020160207_15390820160207_15400220160207_15460820160207_152949-120160207_162439-120160207_16590920160207_165941End of the trail…this one, at least. 🙂

sail4free
sail4free@zoho.com

6 thoughts on “Joshua Tree National Park

  1. what , wait , what did you do..?

    did you , it looked as if you moved the rocks around..! oh my gosh, I don’t believe it..you are not suppose to, yikkkes…if you move the rocks around it will upset the spirits, and thus very strong winds will blow, jeeeze you guys are lucky, you dont have any idea how darn luckey you are..!
    it is not the end of the world, however it came close, very close to becoming a real disaster…be careful out there my friends, be very very careful…Love always…

  2. Wow Karol, I wish you would have told us not to move the rocks *before* we climbed all the way up there to do that…and then almost got blown over afterward! We’ll try to remember your sage advice in the future. 🙂 All the best to you!

  3. During the 1980s I delivered trucks and remember sitting in a truckstop in that area that had dinosaurs as decorations. Victorville? And passed by the cacti of the Joshua forest. Always figured there was whole forests of the cacti. Judged by what was viewable from the interstate highway. Then the dry salt lakes near Twenty nine palms. Happy Easter!

  4. Thanks Samg for your comment. We’re not familiar with Victorville but we entered Joshua Tree through the West entrance and there are definitely many more (and much larger!) Joshua Trees in the town of Joshua Tree and closer to the Northern part of the park. We camped just outside the South entrance (just North of I10) and there wasn’t that much to see there. After three days/nights of katabatic wind we were kinda’ done and desperate to get somewhere warmer and not so windy. We will return but we’ll probably try to find some FREE camping closer to the West or North entrances.

  5. Hi Annie & Jim

    While my RV adventures revolved mostly around preparation for the event, it was in large part down to you and Jim that I was able to remain focused on finding a way out of the loss of my home to forclosure. Although we are yet to meet in person, I feel I know you very well and that you are both my kind of people. Thank you so much for the privilege of getting to know you and may you have many more sunrises and adventures, may you always make the most of each day and may you both ride into the sunset together, happy being alone.

    1. Hello, Leigh!

      Thank you so much for your kind words. We both are happy to be part of your life, even in a small way. We sincerely hope to get to meet you in person one day and share a toast to good health and long, happy lives.

      Take care,
      Annie & Jim

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