Joshua Tree Spring Break
Mar. 24th, 2011 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brdgt
I'm back! I posted an album on facebook if we are friends there, but here we go for LJ's sake:
We left Madison around 11:30PM Thursday March 10 and drove through the night to Kansas where we had breakfast and continued down through Oklahoma to Amarillo where we had dinner and then camped at Palo Duro Canyon State park. Palo Duro is the second largest canyon in the United States (after the Grand Canyon). Let's just say there is a big gap between one and two...
The next morning we grabbed an early lunch and headed toward Arizona, camping that night at Prescott National Forest, where there was some snow on the ground, but generally nice. Sunday morning we drove through some really deserted small towns until getting to 29 Palms, one of the entrances for Joshua Tree. We loaded up on water and park ranger advice (and thank you's for our protests because "this could be a domino effect if we don't stop them now") and headed into the park, camping at the Jumbo Rocks campground, the most beautiful designated campground I've ever seen:
The next morning I got up for the sunrise and a walk behind the campsite - the Joshua Trees were beautiful in the morning light.
On Monday we wanted to do a test hike to see how our packs were and our water capacity was, so we hiked about 8 miles out and back to the Lost Palms Oasis:
On the way back we did a side loop of Mastadon Peak. On the way back we passed some old mines and wildflowers:
We camped at Cottonwood campground that night (a RV centered campground, but being on the South side of the park, driving all the way back in would take an hour) and prepared for our first overnight - on the Lost Horse Mine Loop. It started on a trail, then an old road, and deteriorated so much that even with a compass, GPS, and topo map we got lost for about half an hour:
The hike was really nice though - a pretty slow increase in elevation, with some old mines, wildfire damage, and stunning views of the valley.
About 8 miles in we camped between two rock outcroppings:
The next morning I got up to watch the sunrise:
We hiked out, got lunch and shower in town, and then camped at Jumbo Rocks again. The next morning we deposited one car at one end of The Boy Scout Trail and then we began at the southern part of the trail, setting up camp a few miles in, and then heading back out with smaller packs to the Wonderland of the Rocks.
We passed signs for climbing routes:
And started encountering greener vegetation and interesting rock formations.
And water:
Unfortunately, since there was water in the canyon, we couldn't get through to the "Wonderland Connection" trail, but Nick and I scrambled about in the rocks anyway.
Then we threw around a frisbee:
And hiked back out, past more cool rocks:
And back to camp:
The next day we hiked out and grabbed lunch but all the campgrounds were full since it was Friday, so we backcountried it again on Boy Scout because it was close to where my climbing class would be the next morning:
On Saturday I had a 8-4 climbing class, where we did some bouldering and two top rope climbs. The first was a 100 foot 5.4. An easy rating, but twice as high as I usually climb. The second was a 5.3 and a few feet shorter.
Then we backcountried it again and broke camp at 7AM on Sunday due to sleet and 40 mph winds. We grabbed breakfast at a greasy spoon in 29 Palms, lunch in Vegas, tried to camp in Utah but were deterred by snow, drove through the night to Boulder and got there around 9AM. We got a motel there, spent a lovely day on Pearl Street and hiking behind NCAR, and left the next day, driving through the night, to get back to Madison around 7AM on Wednesday.
We left Madison around 11:30PM Thursday March 10 and drove through the night to Kansas where we had breakfast and continued down through Oklahoma to Amarillo where we had dinner and then camped at Palo Duro Canyon State park. Palo Duro is the second largest canyon in the United States (after the Grand Canyon). Let's just say there is a big gap between one and two...
The next morning we grabbed an early lunch and headed toward Arizona, camping that night at Prescott National Forest, where there was some snow on the ground, but generally nice. Sunday morning we drove through some really deserted small towns until getting to 29 Palms, one of the entrances for Joshua Tree. We loaded up on water and park ranger advice (and thank you's for our protests because "this could be a domino effect if we don't stop them now") and headed into the park, camping at the Jumbo Rocks campground, the most beautiful designated campground I've ever seen:
The next morning I got up for the sunrise and a walk behind the campsite - the Joshua Trees were beautiful in the morning light.
On Monday we wanted to do a test hike to see how our packs were and our water capacity was, so we hiked about 8 miles out and back to the Lost Palms Oasis:
On the way back we did a side loop of Mastadon Peak. On the way back we passed some old mines and wildflowers:
We camped at Cottonwood campground that night (a RV centered campground, but being on the South side of the park, driving all the way back in would take an hour) and prepared for our first overnight - on the Lost Horse Mine Loop. It started on a trail, then an old road, and deteriorated so much that even with a compass, GPS, and topo map we got lost for about half an hour:
The hike was really nice though - a pretty slow increase in elevation, with some old mines, wildfire damage, and stunning views of the valley.
About 8 miles in we camped between two rock outcroppings:
The next morning I got up to watch the sunrise:
We hiked out, got lunch and shower in town, and then camped at Jumbo Rocks again. The next morning we deposited one car at one end of The Boy Scout Trail and then we began at the southern part of the trail, setting up camp a few miles in, and then heading back out with smaller packs to the Wonderland of the Rocks.
We passed signs for climbing routes:
And started encountering greener vegetation and interesting rock formations.
And water:
Unfortunately, since there was water in the canyon, we couldn't get through to the "Wonderland Connection" trail, but Nick and I scrambled about in the rocks anyway.
Then we threw around a frisbee:
And hiked back out, past more cool rocks:
And back to camp:
The next day we hiked out and grabbed lunch but all the campgrounds were full since it was Friday, so we backcountried it again on Boy Scout because it was close to where my climbing class would be the next morning:
On Saturday I had a 8-4 climbing class, where we did some bouldering and two top rope climbs. The first was a 100 foot 5.4. An easy rating, but twice as high as I usually climb. The second was a 5.3 and a few feet shorter.
Then we backcountried it again and broke camp at 7AM on Sunday due to sleet and 40 mph winds. We grabbed breakfast at a greasy spoon in 29 Palms, lunch in Vegas, tried to camp in Utah but were deterred by snow, drove through the night to Boulder and got there around 9AM. We got a motel there, spent a lovely day on Pearl Street and hiking behind NCAR, and left the next day, driving through the night, to get back to Madison around 7AM on Wednesday.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-25 12:10 am (UTC)This scenery always says "home" to me (I was happy to get a small fix in Jan too). The desert is a completely different place, and I'm always surprised at how beautiful it is. I know that I love it, but when I'm there, I'm bowled over all over again.
If you don't mind, I might do something with some of your pics. I'm working on some backgrounds/desktops/screen savers to make me feel less disconnected from my favorite places.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-25 08:28 pm (UTC)I had never really experienced the desert before, but that night on the Lost Horse Mine Trail I feel head over heels - we all remarked within a 15 minute time span something to the effect of "wow, it's just so beautiful here!"
no subject
Date: 2011-03-25 01:10 am (UTC)::kisses::
no subject
Date: 2011-03-25 08:32 am (UTC)ive never been there... what amazing rocks! they look so full of stories.
beautiful photos!
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Date: 2011-03-25 08:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-25 05:50 pm (UTC)I missed you while you were gone!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-25 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-26 02:49 am (UTC)So glad you had a good time. We never made it to Joshua Tree, but it always seemed like such a wonderful, amazing place.