Joshua Tree National Park

I had planned to journey to Joshua Tree National Park on Saturday but woke up to the sound of rain pattering against the window and after a quick consult with my Weather Channel app, I realized that I would have to journey through ice and rain for about 2 hours to get there so instead I went back to bed and watched the This is Us (LOVE that show!) marathon all day and now I am caught up and ready for the new shows to start.

After being a lazy bum all day on Saturday, it felt really good to get out and be active on Sunday.  The weather was a bit cloudy in the morning but cleared to beautiful sunny skies in the afternoon so I definitely made the right choice in waiting a day.  I chose to enter at the Oasis Visitors Center and grabbed a map there to plan my day.  I started my day at Split Rock and was amazed by a rock climber that was going up between the two rocks.  I'm pretty sure I ate too much during the holidays to even think about fitting between those rocks.  There were lots of people rock climbing in this area in particular but I just hiked around and up on some rocks to get a better look of the giant rocks around me.  I am not sure exactly what I was expecting when I entered the park, probably more sand and very flat with a few cacti and, of course, Joshua Trees scattered around but I was amazed by how much of a change in elevation the place had and changing from huge rocks and mountainous dry landscapes to flat planes with desert trees.

 Split Rock- if you look really closely you can see a guy climbing up the middle

My second stop (after a little backtracking) was at the Cholla Cactus gardens.  This is a spot to not miss if you make it out to Joshua Tree.  A pathway wanders through hundreds of cacti.  I imagine when they are in bloom it must be incredibly spectacular because just wandering around and seeing cactus after cactus was pretty amazing.  A short way down the road was the Ocotillo Patch.  These are trees that resemble dead branches during the dry season but after rain look a bit more like flowering cactus I am told.

 Cholla Cactus Garden

Ocotillo tree

I made a brief stop at Skull Rock because it is literally just off the road which makes it easily accessible but also crowded before moving on to Keys View that overlooks the San Andreas fault line and you can even see the town of Palm Springs out in the distance.  At 5185 ft it is one of the highest points in the park but is easily accessible with a 1/4 mile round trip paved but steep trail to the top and the view is incredible.  It is another must see if you are visiting the park.

 Skull Rock

 One of the many Joshua Trees that the park is named for.

 Overlooking the San Andreas fault and Palm Springs

My final stop for the day was a hike around Hidden Valley.  It was a relatively easy hike with many rock climbers working their way up the rocks around you.  It was busy enough that I felt safe being by myself but not so busy that it felt crowded.  There is a path to follow but it is all sand and was easy to get off the path without realizing it so I ended up following the guy in front of me and trying to not let him get so far that I couldn't see where he went.  He probably felt like I was stalking him but I made it out!  I had no cell phone reception for the entire time I was in the park so I definitely had to remember my old school map skills but at the same time it is nice to get away from technology for a day.