Joshua Tree National Park And Palm Springs

A Little River

A long-ish day in prospect and another with a, albeit self-imposed, deadline of a time to be somewhere later. Breakfast is poor, no real granola, and I had to ask for a banana that the server said were too green to be put out but which looked – and tasted – perfectly fine.

I drive off at 9.45 am. I filled up with gas last night on the way in – or rather I didn’t, as I’ll explain tomorrow – and decided to buy lunch on the way because of the heat. Because of the heatwave, even with the car’s air con keeping me cool, a sandwich and drink bought first thing are no longer cold by lunchtime in the footwell of the passenger seat.

AZ-95 S at Havasu Springs Resort

A few miles out of town there’s a gradual climb with some twisty corners as I round the bottom of Lake Havasu, or the Colorado River as it also is. There are no turnouts as usual and the road is tricky, with lots of traffic about – so no photos. They dammed the river at Havasu Springs Resort with the Parker Dam. I don’t see the Dam but there are loads of lake-side properties on the hills.

After the Dam the road, AZ-95 S, tracks the now dam-enfeebled Colorado River. It’s now a fraction of its former width and seems to have little flow, almost a lake, but I never get close enough for a good look as the road is high up the valley side. It is quite a pretty valley, shame the road doesn’t get closer. Also as the road is still quite twisty I can’t get a good look sideways either. There are a number of resorts and properties on the other side of the river. The river marks the California-Arizona border.

“I should be so lucky” *

I start to descend. The road passes through the town of Parker then crosses the river so I’m back in California. The road then turns left and becomes CA-62 W. It is also flat and straight again, out in the desert. But then I come across a section of road that resembles a rollercoaster as it, presumably, follows the contours of the sand dunes. There are places where I’m going up and down about half a dozen times in a row. It then becomes flat again only to go all rollercoaster again a few miles on. Why they didn’t level the road I don’t know.

About 60 miles further on I turn right, keeping on CA-62 W, where the road is now named 29 Palms Highway. 20 miles or so down the road I hit my first road works for a few days. But I strike it lucky. I see the STOP sign ahead wielded by a road worker. But as I slow down I catch sight of the end of the convoy just down the road. I’ve just missed it! But the road worker sees me, radios ahead to the pilot truck and opens the road. As I pull forward and open the passenger door window, he says “You can catch up, just stay on the right and don’t go too fast.” Thank you!

Talk about good luck because when I catch the convoy up, it takes seven minutes to reach the other end of the controlled one lane section. That means if I’d have been stuck at the ‘entry’ end for me, it would have been a 15 minute or so wait until the pilot truck returned again to take me through. And then the seven minutes to follow-the-truck. Why do they make the one lane sections so long? The bit of the closed road that they were working on today was a few hundred yards at most. Yet the total closure must have been about two miles long. So frustrating.

It Just Might Be My Lucky Day…

When I reached the other end, many of the drivers waiting to drive through were out of their vehicles and standing on the road, as if to say, “why the long delay?” Anyway, now properly on the move again my plan was to stop in the town of Joshua Tree, on the assumption it looked like it had shops, to buy lunch. I, for some reason, changed my mind as I entered Twentynine Palms when I saw a Circle K gas station and decided to stop there.

Inside I get a sandwich and drink for $7.49. I hand over a $5 bill then start to look through my loose change to see if I have the balance. But the young lady shop assistant quickly says “Out of five”. She then looks confused, and says “Give me a minute”. I do nothing. She then hands me $2.51 as if I’d given her a $10 bill. I do not complain. As she was clearly not all there in the mental capacity department I make a quick judgement that trying to explain and sort it out would be too complicated. I leave the shop having made a profit on lunch… 🙂

15 miles on I arrive in Joshua Tree to find it has no shops that I can see and just two gas stations. So it was a good job I stopped earlier. I might have been out of luck for lunch if the two stations hadn’t had much choice. I turn left into Park Boulevard.

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree NP leaflet

Five miles later the Ranger Post to get into Joshua Tree National Park comes into view, my last Park of the Parks & Forests road trip. There’s a bit of a queue to get in but as I move forward to number six in the queue a ranger comes up and asks if I have a pass. Which I do, I tell her. I’m directed around the queue and into the Park around 12.30 pm.

I stop at a couple of turnouts initially on Park Blvd but then remember that I’m on a time schedule and need to be leaving the southern exit/entrance by 4.30 pm latest. I’d researched a few places to stop at in the Park and worked out I had about 90 minutes of stopping time to play with.

So I ignore the various “Exhibit Ahead” signs by the road side and resolve to just stop at my planned stops. The first is Hidden Valley. After pulling into the parking lot I find a shaded spot with a table where I eat my lunch. I share the table with a little Chinese girl, probably about three years old, who keeps saying “Hello” to me. I reply back.

Her large family are on the table next to mine. Why this little girl is sitting here on her own I have no idea. Lunch done I take a short walk into the Hidden Valley. There’s a mile and a half nature trail around it. But it is 100º F / 38º C and I’m also not sure I’ve got time. So I just stay near the entrance and take a few photos.

Hidden Valley panorama

Incredible Landscape

Just a few miles into the Joshua Tree National Park and it is an extraordinary landscape. Yes, there are lots of Joshua Trees but also loads of amazing rock and large boulder formations. There are single smooth rocks, then half a dozen clustered together and then huge mounds in incredible shapes. I think to myself it’s almost an alien landscape! Really weird. But good.

Next up is Keys View. This involves a five mile drive up to a scenic viewpoint. And what a view. Looking out across the Mohave Desert, an information board points out the San Andreas Fault, Coachella Valley and Palm Springs in the distance. Unfortunately at 2 pm the sun is shining directly into my eyes and it is very difficult to make out any detail on the far side of the desert. I think you’d need to be here in the morning so that the sun is shining onto the San Jacinto Mountains, and not over them.

Keys View panorama

Skull Rock

It is a one way trip to Keys View and back. Returning to Park Blvd, I turn right to head to Jumbo Rocks Campground. There are more amazing rock formations here. Just a bit further on Park Blvd are more large clusters of rock in remarkable shapes and structures. But this collection also has Skull Rock, a rock that has been shaped by wind (and rain?) into, well, the shape of a skull.

Driving on to a point called Pinto Wye, the rocks fade away to leave just desert and a few scattered Joshua Trees. Here I turn right onto Pinto Basin Road to take me south. Down the road a bit is another clusters of large rocks, with another ‘famous’ rock, Arch Rock. I park in a campground parking lot and wander around trying to find it. Trouble is there are no signs saying “this is it”. I took loads of photos of weird shaped rocks but when I’m back home and Google it, I discover I never found the actual Arch Rock. Damn! There is also an Arch Rock Nature Trail that takes you to it but I never saw any signs for that either.

To Palm Springs and the Orbit-In Hotel

South of Arch Rock, the rocks disappear as do the Joshua Trees and I drive through what I might call a wilderness. There’s nothing to see really. Some hills either side of the road in the distance in a wide valley but that’s it. There are some good, fast and twisty sections of road as I drive gradually downhill to the desert floor. Inevitably however I end up behind some slow-coaches and there are no turn-outs or overtaking sections.

I exit Joshua Tree National Park just before my 4.30 pm deadline, so I managed my time and stops quite well. The southern exit of the Park is right by an entry slip for I-10 W, which will take me most of the way to Palm Springs, my stop for tonight. As you would expect there’s not a lot to see on I-10. Palm Springs is about nine miles left off I-10 and with cell coverage restored after a dead zone in the Park, I can fire Maps up again to deliver me to my hotel around 5.15 pm. The temperature is 110º F / 43º C…

The Orbit-In Hotel is a kind-of ‘60s décor style place. Brian the receptionist greets me and shows me to my room. There’s a pool and a bar around which the rooms are located. There are two sets of couples at the bar in swimming costumes sipping cocktails. Brian says he’ll make me one as well.

Now Then Brian…

So I just dump my bags and go to the bar. We all introduce ourselves and upon being asked, I give a brief summary of my travels. During which another guy arrives at the bar for his welcome drink. Soon after the couples go to their rooms but the later guy is interested in learning more about Joshua Tree NP as he’s thinking of going tomorrow. I pull up my Maps routes and offer some advice, which he seems grateful for.

The hotel advertised breakfast was included but a prior email suggested it might not be the real deal, saying it is coffee, hot oatmeal and honey plus yoghurt and soft drinks. I ask Brian if there is juice and fruit. “I don’t think so” he replies. He’s the regular manager so he damn well knows not. I find out in the morning there definitely is no juice or fruit.

He’s a hint Brian. When a guest asks for juice and fruit, don’t you think you should provide some? Earlier when he was serving my cocktail he said to me, “I sent you an email about your arrival time, didn’t you get it?” No Brian, I said, I’ve been driving all day and I don’t read emails when driving. His tone was accusatory and I didn’t like it. Who the f*** does this ponce think he is?

The time deadline I mentioned at the outset was that the hotel had made it clear that Reception closed at 6 pm. If you arrived after that there would be instructions provided as to how to let yourself in. I didn’t like that idea, an unattended arrival, just in case something was wrong or not to my liking. Therefore I decided I needed to be at the hotel before 6 pm, setting myself a goal of 5.30 pm, which I beat by 15 minutes. Not much leeway for error, but I got there in good time.

But as soon as Brian served me my cocktail at 5.30 pm he announces he’s leaving and would see us all in the morning. He clearly couldn’t wait to get out of the hotel. I thought his attitude was quite shitty actually. His “why didn’t you reply to my email?” left a very sour taste.

Where To Now?

So after unpacking I have to go out and buy some juice and fruit for breakfast, as given Brian’s uncommitted response I don’t want to take a chance tomorrow. I’m not happy having to go back out again when a hotel says it’s providing breakfast, when it isn’t. It’s the worst breakfast of the trip. Actually, no. It’s not breakfast at all.

When back in my room with my breakfast purchases, I discover that the bar I had selected for dinner has in the time since, closed for good. So I need to find somewhere else. Which I do, and at 7.45 pm I walk back to downtown and to The Village Pub, a sports bar. With a seat at the bar, I have the usual negotiation about which beer to have, settling on an Aurora Hoppylis Draft. Even after sampling I wasn’t too sure about it to be honest, but I thought I’d try it for a pint. It was OK but for my second of the night I’m back on the Lagunitas.

I realised that I hadn’t had ribs for dinner many times on this trip. The Pub’s website said they served ribs and that was one reason I chose it. But they are not on the menu. The bar lady is sure they serve them but when checking with a supervisor is told to go to the kitchen and check in person.

Huge sigh of relief when she returns to say they are available tonight. When they arrive they are super-meaty and super-tasty. Excellent!

Whisky Talk Again

I end up talking to the guy to my right, similar age to me I guess, maybe older. We get on to the subject of whisky, and specifically single malts versus blended whisky. He says he’s not really a liquor drinker but he didn’t know what the difference was between them. When I explain he’s very interested and keeps saying “Thanks for educating me”, not only to me but to everyone else around the bar. Only passing on the facts…

A young couple had sat down on my left when I was chatting to whisky man. Alec is in the military and stationed in barracks at Twentynine Palms. His girlfriend Casey didn’t say what she did. They are in Palm Springs for the weekend. Alec says there’s nothing to do at his military base at weekends “apart from get a tattoo”. Sounds a fun place.

We get talking about Joshua Tree National Park amongst other things. Despite the Park’s proximity to his base, he’s never been there. I explain where I went and what I saw. He mentions he’s into camping so I tell him about all the campsites located among the rocks and other places.

He’s really keen to find out more and wants to do it, but Casey is lukewarm to the idea. Clearly not a camping girl. They say they intend to bar hop around town this weekend, so they bid me farewell. Which coincides with the bar area turning itself into a disco for the night. So time for me to leave as well as the DJ turns up the volume.

Back To The Hotel

After settling my check I leave the air conditioned comfort of the bar and go out into the still very warm night air. Once I turn left off S Palm Canyon Drive, the buzz and music from the many bars on the road starts to fade away into relative silence as I walk back to the hotel. They turn off the street lights on the side roads so I’m walking in almost total darkness.

Safely back in my room, I do some diary, re-pack my dirty clothes into my suitcase as I dump the car tomorrow, then go to bed. It’s been a long day, nearly 290 miles in total and 7½ hours on the road. But Joshua Tree NP was, for the afternoon, absolutely amazing. It needed getting to of course and there is nowhere to stay in the Park, apart from camping, so I needed to travel there first and after onto somewhere else.

From what I saw of Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree towns, I’m not sure I’d want to stay there. Palm Springs however has always been one of the cities mentioned as worth a visit in California, so here I am.

* I Should Be So Lucky by Kylie Minogue