Joshua Tree National Park 4/10 -- 4/13/2021 [Joshua Tree Gallery] [Back to Photo Page]

Joshua Tree National Park, located in Southern California, encompasses some of the most interesting geologic displays 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 higher, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert, are the foremost attraction in the park. Below 3000 feet, the drier Colorado Desert is indicated by much sparser plant life and is dominated by the creosote bush.

Getting there ...

It's a long drive (~ 8 hours including some rest stops) from the Bay Area to Joshua Tree National Park in the southern California.   We started early on the Saturday morning (after the weekly call with my parents), had a long wait for drive thru at a McDonald's at Bakersfield at noon, and finally arrived at Joshua Tree just before 4PM.

• Spirit Wind
  This was the first time that we used Airbnb for our lodging option.  Spirit Wind is a modern architecture on a 5-acre ground with lots of native cactus, Joshua trees and other native trees.   The check-in process was simple without any contact with any person (using Airbnb app and keypad at the door).

• Intersection Rock
  I headed to the park alone at ~6PM (since Woanyu had to stay home to have a Zoom meeting at 6-7PM).  Intersection Rock is centrally located in the park, and it has good combinations of the park's main features:  Joshua Trees and formation of rocks.

• Star trails
  

  I went to the front yard of our lodge after dinner to set up my tripod for some night shots.  After a few test shots, I set up the interval timer on the camera to start taking a series of photos (25sec exposure for each shot).  After about 2.5 hours until the battery ran out, I got ~ 280 photos which I can stack them later to create star trails (by a free software StarStaX).  After some tweaking in Photoshop, I think I am happy with the result.

The Second Day ...

• Sunrise
  It's a good sunrise with right amount of cloud for the golden light.  The challenge to photography Joshua trees is to find the "perfect" one:  you always feel the next tree will be better...

• Willow Hole Trail
  Willow Hole Trail is a 7.2-mile (11.5 km) out-and-back trail which travels through Joshua tree forests and boulder landscape.  The last 2 miles of the trail  is along the sandy washes into the Wonderland of Rocks, and it can be tough to walk through the soft sands.  The trail dead ends at Willow Hole where you’ll find lush Willow trees and occasionally water (but no water this time). This is the perfect spot for us to take a snack rest before heading back towards the beginning of the trail.

We finished the hike after about 4.5 hours (including a short snack break at the Willow trees).  We went back to our lodge to have a home made lunch, and had a relax afternoon at the hot tub to avoid the heat.

• Hall of Horrors
  We went back to the park in the late afternoon after 5PM.  The name of "Hall of Horrors" may sound daunting, it is actually an easy fun walk around great bouldering areas with narrow passages that you can scramble up and down these rock formations.

• Jumbo Rock
  We went to Jumbo Rock campground for the late afternoon light on the rock formation.  We were lucky to find the last parking spot just outside the campground (you need a campground reservation to park inside the campground), and walked toward the jumbo rock area.  The famous balanced rock and the weathered bonsai-like juniper tree (right behind the camp site #19) was bathed in the golden late afternoon sunlight.

• Sunset
  On the way back, I stopped at a few roadside spots to enjoy the last light of the day.

The Third Day ...

• Stars and Sunrise
  I got up early and went to photography the Milky Way at 4AM.  Boasting some of the darkest nights in Southern California, Joshua Tree National Park, an International Dark Sky Park, offers many visitors the rare chance to admire the Milky Way.
  

• Barker Dam
  One of the most popular trails in the park, Barker Dam Trail is an easy 1.1 miles loop wandering through Joshua Tree's iconic monzogranite boulders, namesake Joshua trees, a rock art site telling a story of the desert's human history, and past the historic Barker Dam.  Unlike our pervious visit in Dec 2010, there was no water in the dam this time in April.

• Wall Street Mill
  The Wall Street Mill was a complete and operable gold ore crushing mill featuring late-19th century two-stamp mill machinery.  The mill was built and operated by William Keys, a local rancher, miner and character, from 1930 to his death in 1966.  In the 1940s, Keys was involved in a dispute with Worth Bagley over access to the Wall Street Mill. Keys shot and killed Bagley in 1943 and placed a stone commemorating the event.
  

• Skulk Rock
  After a nice lunch break and another hot tub relaxation, we went back to the park in the late afternoon.  We passed by one of the most famous rock formations in the park, Skulk Rock, and had some easy rock climbing exercise around the area.

• Arch Rock
  Arch Rock trail is an easy 1.4-mile round-trip trail winding through sandy and rocky terrain to another famous rock formation, Arch Rock.  Arch Rock is about 30-feet across and shaped somewhat like a brontosaurus or an elephant trunk. Though certainly not in the same league as the spans in Arches National Park, Arch Rock is still a fascinating formation.
  

• Split Rock

The Fourth Day ...

• Sunrise
  I was thinking to take a break to sleep late as it will be a long drive home today.  However, I still woke up at 5AM and decided to go to the park for the last sunrise.  Although it was too clear to have a dramatic sunrise sky, it was always good to feel the first light of the day on your face.
  

Going Home ...

After a simple clean up for our Airbnb lodge, it's time to start the long drive back home.  During this pandemic year, we have revisited a few main national parks within our driving distance in California, such as Lassen, Death Valley, and Yosemite.  It is good to go back to these natural treasures and to enjoy places where we had a lot of memory with our family.

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