Tree and Sea (level): Two California National Parks (April 12-April 17, 2021)
“Some National Parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong” - George Carlin
News Flash! We’re still in the desert. It’s of course warm and dry and we haven’t seen one drop of rain since we left Lockhart TX nearly three weeks ago. Neither my sinuses nor my dry flaky skin is happy about it but we’re super happy to have finally made it to the first few National Parks on our agenda. Not only have we been fortunate enough to visit two National Parks over the last several days, but we also managed to score camping spots IN the National Parks. Reservations for these spots don’t come easy. Six months to the minute before our stay I was glued to our computer as the reservations opened up. I got lucky and we were able to spend two nights in Joshua Tree National Park and three nights in Death Valley National Park, both located in Southern California.
Joshua Tree is obviously named after the unusual “not a tree, not a cactus” plant that grows abundantly there but in addition to that, Joshua Tree is loaded with other interesting landscapes that surprised us – mounds of huge boulders, unique mountain ranges, and beautiful vistas. There are several campgrounds in the park and the one we stayed at was aptly named Jumbo Rocks. The campsites in Jumbo Rocks were interesting as they were simply pull-offs along the road that wound through piles upon piles of huge boulders. This meant we had vehicles and pedestrians pass by within inches of the slide side of our camper. There were absolutely no hookups in the park and no bathhouses provided but we easily survived with our onboard electric, water, and holding tanks. After settling in our first day, we stopped at the visitor’s center and then hiked the Skull Rock Trail which was the closest trail to our campsite. It was an easy hike and like the drive into our campsite, wound in and out of massive boulders. That evening, after finishing up dinner a little later than we would have liked, we raced about 15 miles through the park to Key’s View, a vista that overlooks Coachella Valley where the sunsets were rumored to be spectacular. Through no one’s fault but ours, there were no parking spots available when we arrived so Charley let me out of the Excursion and I was able to grab a few pictures of the setting sun while he circled the parking lot. We probably spent a total of three minutes there because the sun was setting just as we arrived but I still got some pretty good shots. Maybe being fashionably late to California sunsets is the way to go.
Our only full day in the park started with an early morning rise-and-shine to watch the sun come up. There was a little hill just behind our camper and it was the perfect spot to watch the sunrise. Also that morning, we completed three short hikes. The first two, Barker Dam and Wall Street Mill started at the same trailhead which we accessed by taking a “short cut”. Our shortcut was over a washboard dirt road at about 3 miles per hour. I was pretty sure something on the Excursion was going to jiggle loose by the time we got to the end of it. In spite of the fact that it was slow going, it did cut several miles off the drive to the trailheads. Barker Dam was a 1-mile loop hike that led past a man-made dam constructed by early cattle ranchers. Per park service publications, this was a good spot to see some bighorn sheep but we had no luck in that department. The Wall Street Mill hike was a 2.2-mile out-and-back hike to the remains of a historic gold milling site. Along the way, we saw an old homestead, abandoned cars, and what was left of the old mill. Our last hike that morning was over the Hidden Valley Trail. This was a one-mile loop hike through a rock-enclosed valley that was once rumored to have been used by cattle rustlers. After our morning hikes, we headed back to Key’s View so that we could see it during the day and to check our phones for messages as this was the only spot in the park we received cell service. While there we enjoyed our picnic lunch and several people who passed by commented that it was a perfect lunch spot. After lunch, we made stops at Ryan Ranch, a historic adobe settlement, and then a quick stop at the Hall of Horrors, more huge boulders that could be climbed on and through. Then we tackled the most strenuous hike that Joshua Tree has to offer, Ryan Mountain. It was getting late in the day and we had done a lot of hiking and walking already so we set out with the idea that if we got tired, we’d just turn around. Trust me – I wanted to give up several times but kept reminding myself that I’d probably never get a chance to hike that mountain again. We were able to complete all three miles of it in about two hours and enjoyed amazing views at the summit including many of the areas that we had visited earlier in the day. We departed Joshua Tree after breakfast the next morning for what should have been a four-hour drive to Death Valley.
For some reason, the trip to our campsite at Furnace Creek Campground in Death Valley took a whole lot longer than google said it should. We always expect trips to take longer while towing but this one took much, much longer and we aren’t sure why. At any rate, we managed to get to Death Valley and get set up before dinner time which is always a goal for us. Death Valley is an incredible place! It holds the title as the hottest place on earth (134 degrees in 1913) and is also home to the lowest point in North America, Blackwater Basin which sits 282 at below sea level. In addition to those impressive stats, it’s also the largest National Park in the lower 48, covering 3.5 million acres! To put that into a little perspective, once we entered the park, it took us an additional hour and a half to drive to our campground. We were able to visit Blackwater Basin along the way so we didn’t have to drive the additional 40 miles round trip once we got settled in at Furnace Creek.
Our first full day in Death Valley was spent visiting several points of interest, the first being Salt Creek Trail, accessible by another but much shorter washboard dirt road. Salt Creek is a salt marsh and is the only place in the world that’s home to the Pupfish (similar in size and shape to a minnow). Pupfish are typically seen in the springtime and we were able to see many as we walked along the boardwalk. We also made a stop at the Harmony Borax Works exhibit. The “White Gold of the Desert” was mined by the Harmony Borax Works from 1883 until 1888 when borax was discovered elsewhere and it became less profitable to mine in Death Valley. After lunch at “home”, we visited “The Oasis at Death Valley” a concessionaire authorized by the National Park Service. In other words, it’s a for-profit company that’s authorized to run a resort on National Park property. It’s located right next to Furnace Creek Campground. We visited their general store, stables and enjoyed an afternoon cocktail overlooking the 18 hole “below sea level” golf course. I found it rather funny that – and this is not a complaint, just an observation - the Park Service doesn’t provide bathhouses in Furnace Creek due to a lack of water yet the resort next door waters their grass and palm trees. We managed to snag one of the few full hookup sites in Furnace Creek so showers weren’t an issue for us though. We did enjoy our time at the Oasis and it was nice to pretend we weren’t in the desert for a little while.
Our last day in Death Valley was spent visiting three other “must-see” sites. First, we stopped at the Golden Canyon trail. We walked a short distance into the canyon but decided not to hike all of it because we weren’t prepared for hiking – no backpack, first aid kit and I didn’t wear my hiking boots. I don’t know what I was thinking but lesson learned – always be prepared for a hike. Next, we drove the nine-mile one way (paved - hooray!) Artists Drive through the mountains. It’s called Artists Drive because the mountains vary in color due to mineral deposits. I didn’t take long to figure out why vehicles over 25 feet were prohibited as it was super curvy but it was a fun, scenic drive. The last place we visited was Zabriskie Point, a viewpoint overlooking the badlands. The views were amazing and we could see several brave hikers on the tippy tops of nearby mountains. I’ll leave you with a “Death Valley Pro tip” – make sure your fuel tank is full before entering the park. The one and only gas station, run by the Oasis, charges $5.50 per gallon for diesel. Thankfully we didn’t have to purchase any.
I think our visits to Joshua Tree and Death Valley were just as long as we needed them to be. Although there were lots of things we didn’t do and sites we didn’t see, we managed to see and do everything that we wanted to and we’re satisfied with our lengths of stay at each.
Our next stop is not a National Park – far from it in fact :)
