Joshua Tree

a national treasure

By Ellie Pritts

July 3^rd, 2018

threatened beauty

Joshua Tree National Park is 700,000+ acres of surreal desert dreamscape paradise. It's been a US National Monument since 1936 but didn't become a National Park until 1994. It's named after the unique trees found in the park (you're gonna see tons of them in this post.)

I recently learned that these iconic Joshua Trees, aka Yucca Palms, are predicted to be dramatically affected by climate change: "There is concern that they will be eliminated from Joshua Tree National Park, with ecological research suggesting a high probability that their populations will be reduced by 90% by the end of the 21st century."

With this in mind, I'm aiming to visit and capture the park's unique beauty often, for as long as I can.

round one

The first time I visited the park was on a last minute whim with my friends, recording artists Muki and Phebe Starr (you should definitely check them out, so talented!) They were in town from Australia and wanted to visit the park and take some photos.

It was a fun-filled afternoon complete with impromptu stops along the way for photo ops and milk shakes. In the end, I don't think we spent more than an hour or so at the park, just long enough for me to get a taste of it before heading back. I was determined to come back and stay for a long weekend ASAP.

desert camping

The second and most recent time I visited Joshua Tree was at the end of June. It was only slightly less impulsive than my last trip, with me booking a camper for the weekend on Airbnb the night before we left. There were actually a surprising number of available places to stay! I remember thinking it was kind of remarkable. But there is a very good reason why there were so many places available last minute on a weekend...

it's really, really hot in the desert

Yes, I'm stating the obvious here. I knew it was gonna be hot, it's summer in the Mojave Desert. I checked the forecast before deciding to take this trip. This somehow does not mean that I was actually prepared for how hot it was. It was not like the heat in Chicago, or the heat we complain about in Pasadena, or even the heat I've experienced in Texas. It was it's own brand of heat that started way earlier in the day than I had ever really experienced and scorched until sun down. But once the sun went down, it was lovely. Perfect for a trip to Pappy and Harriet's for a show and dinner (not pictured, sorry).

our tiny super cute trailer turned daytime sauna

starry nights

Joshua Tree is known for it's incredible star gazing. It really is a sight to behold! This was another thing I prepared for, the phase of the moon and rising times weren't totally in our favor if we wanted that crazy sky full of stars. The moon rose around 10 p.m and was just starting to wane, so it was still quite bright. But I enjoyed the moonlit nights around the campfire. It actually made it a little less scary at night for me. I'm legitimately still afraid of the dark as an adult. I blame my parents for letting me watch Candyman at the tender age of 8.

endurance vacationing

After my first (sleepless) night on account of me thinking every noise outside the trailer was an axe-wielding murderer, I embraced getting a super early start to our first day of hiking in the park. We got there before the attendants were working, and well before there were any lines to get in. It's probably the smartest decision I made.

We decided to call it quits when the temperature climbed towards 100. We were pretty gross; covered in sweat and several layers of sunscreen and dirt. We had gnats hovering around us the whole time ala Pig-Pen. I unfortunately inhaled one right as we ended our last hike of the day. I was very much looking forward to using our outdoor (!!!) shower to cool off and clean up. When we got back, I realized that all the water for the shower must have dried up. It was the hottest time of the day, and our camper was an oven. I couldn't even open the door with my bare hands. It was at this point that I made the second best decision of the trip; getting a motel room for our last night.

ascending the gloriously terrifying Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

calling audibles

We had to find indoor activities to fill our time in the afternoon heat, which led us to bowling on our last night. It was actually pretty great, I'd highly recommend checking out Yucca Bowl if you want a no-frills, non-cosmic bowling experience.

We also opted out of an extra morning of hiking in Joshua Tree in lieu of a trip to Palm Springs to ride the aerial tramway and do some *light* hiking in a completely different environment; an alpine forest. You can see a photo from the tram ride above. I didn't take a lot of photos because I was basically gripping any hand hold for dear life. If you haven't taken the tram, I couldn't recommend it enough. It is breathtaking! And also a lot more thrilling than I though it would be. I loved it.

in conclusion

Although this trip did not go totally according to plan, I'm logging it as another successful adventure. I will definitely be visiting again, probably in the fall.

My brief time in the Mount San Jacinto State Park at the top of the tramway was really inspiring. I've been doing a lot of desert travel lately, I think I'm ready to explore more forests. My next dream trip? The Hoh Rainforest in Washington.