Joshua Tree National Park Nov. 21 - 25, 2001 [Joshua Tree Gallery] [Back to Photo Page]

Joshua Tree National Park, located in Southern California, encompasses some of the most interesting geologic display in California's deserts. Two deserts, Mojave Desert (High Desert) and Colorado (or Sonoran) Desert, come together at Joshua Tree National Park. The Joshua trees, growing in the higer, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert, are the foremost attraction in the park. Bellow 3000 feet, the drier Colorado Desert is indicated by much sparser plant life and is dominated by the creosote bush. The moderate weather here in winter makes it a nice destination for our Thanksgiving vacation this year.

Getting there ...

The Second Day ...

• Mojave National Preserve
  We first visited Mojave National Preserve on our way to Joshua Tree National Park. There is a road with an interesting name "ZZYZX" on the boundary of the Preserve. We entered the Preserve via the Kelbaker Road which traverses the cinder cones and lava beds in the desert.

• Kelso Depot
  

  Now nearly a ghost town in the center of Mojave National Preserve, Kelso was once a thriving railroad and mining community of 2000 people. Built by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1924 to serve the steam locomotives from Los Angles to Salt Lake City. There is a plan to restore the depot and makes it the Preserve's new visitor center.

 

• Kelso Dunes
  One of the most spectacular and popular sights in the area, the 600 foot high dunes are surrounded by 45 square miles of sands, and are visible from miles away.

• Joshua Tree
  The weather was changing fast on the way from Mojave Preserve to Joshua Tree. When we were approaching Joshua Tree, it was vey windy and the visibility was poor due to the sand storm. We arrived at Twentynine Palms (a small town just outside the park) at about 2PM. We checked in the hotel, and the hotel manager said he has never seen the weather like this before. We had a suite with 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, a kitchen, a TV and a VCR (which we found very valueable during our stay). It's a nice home for us for the next 3 days. After we took a short break, the weather has calmed down quite a bit, and we headed to the park.

• Split Rock/Skull Rock
  

  We went to Split Rock area as our first stop in Joshua Tree. The rock formations here are interesting and there are many easy accesses to those rocks. We spent about an hour around the rocks, and Linus and Iris had a good time climbing those rocks. But it was too cloudy and the light was too flat for any good rock photo opportunities.

 

 

• Sunset
  When we drove back, I saw the sky turn red gradually from my mirror. I could not resist to stop by the road and walked into a field of Joshua trees. We were so lucky that the cloud has dispersed and the sun could peep through cloud now. It turned out that it was one of most colorful sunset I've ever seen.

It was Thanksgiving night. Instead of having turkey, we have prepared our own firepot dinner with all good stuffs we brought from home in igloos.

The Third Day ...

• Sunrise
  

• Fortynine Palms Oasis
  This oasis, where water-loving plants thrive and thirsty animals come to drink, is accessibly by a 1.5-mile moderately strenuous trail. The trail climbs initially with a good view of 29 Palms region, and then descends to a valley where you can see a group of palm trees in the distance. It's a good feeling to see an oasis with trees when you hike in the desert. Now it's a piece of cake for Linus to hike a 3-mile round-trip trail like this one.

• Indian Cove
  

  Indian Cove is not only a favorite camping site, but is also a popular site for rock-climbing enthusiasts. We had a picnic in the camp ground area, and saw many rock climbers on their way to the top of the rocks.

• Hidden Valley
  We drove into the Park from the West Entrance Station. The altitude is around 3000 feet , and the Joshua trees grow into what could almost be called a forest. Joshua trees grow in one stalk for several years, usually until a flower is produced. After flowering new branches can take off in any direction. The shapes of Joshua trees are only limited by your imagination.

We stopped at Hidden Valley and took a 1-mile nature trail which takes us into a rock-enclosed valley rumored to have been used by cattle rustlers in the late 1800's. After a few steps, Iris insisted to walk on her own. Although it is an easy 1-mile trail for us, it is not so easy for Iris with all those rocks, stairs, and all kinds of obstacles.

• Sunset at Keys View
  

  Keys View overlooks an expanse of valley, mountain, and desert from its elevation of 5185 feet. On our way to the top of Keys View, Iris fell asleep in the car already. Linus and Woanyu went up to the viewpoint, and Iris and I stayed in the car to take a nap. I didn't go up until it's close to the time of sunset. With just right amount of cloud covering the mountains, it was another colorful sunset today.

The Fourth Day ...

• Sunrise at Cap Rock
  I went to the Cap Rock and wanted to capture the rocks bath in the warm morning light. However, the sun only came out for a few minutes and only lit the distant mountains, and then hid behind the low cloud for the rest of the early morning. The Cap Rock didn't even have a chance to get any sunshine.

• Arch Rock
  Arch Rock is located in the White Tank Campground area. There are many interesting rocks including the formation of a natural arch. I had to leave my tripod and camera bag on the trail to climb the rocks beyond the Arch. Again, Linus and Iris enjoyed wandering among those rocks.

• Cholla (choy-ya) Cactus Garden
  After we crossed the transition zone of Mojave and Colorado Desert, the views were totally different. The lower altitude Colorado Desert is drier and more like a real desert to me. Cholla Cactus Garden has a short self-guided nature trail, featuring plants and animals (although we didn't see any) of the Colorado Desert, winds through this area.

• Cottonwood Spring
  

  We continued to drive south to the Cottonwood Visitor Center. After a short walk behind the visitor center, we went on to Cottonwood Spring and had a picnic in the campground. After lunch, we began to hike to the Cottonwood Spring Oasis from the campground. Cottonwoods were actually planted by the early settlers who came here because of mining interest in gold. After the hike (about 1.5-mile round-trip), we decided to go back to hotel early because Iris was already tired and fuzzy (and she fell down on the trail to Cottonwood Spring). We were lucky that when we got back at about 3:30PM, the weather began to change rapidly. It was windy (like the first day we got here) and began to rain! Yes, we saw the rain in the desert and we did not have to run for shelter in the field.

Last Day. Going Home ...

We left at 7:00 in the morning and hoped to beat the holiday traffic on our way home. The traffic condition was better than we expected except at a McDonald's along I-5 where we spent more than 40 minutes in the line to buy food. Linus and Iris both were very cooperative and didn't complain at all during the entire 9-hour drive. With a little bit traffic near Gilroy (HWY152 to 101), we got home before 4:00PM. Although there was a winter storm in Bay Area all weekend long, we enjoyed the wonderful weather in the desert for our Thanksgiving this year.

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