Joshua Tree NP – April 3-5, 2009

We spent a weekend out in Joshua Tree for Ryan’s birthday in April 2009. While there, we checked out the Wall Street Mill, and then took a zaggy walk through the Wonderland of Rocks to Garrett’s Arch, purportedly the largest natural rock arch in the park. We also took a walk a bit more in the northwest area of the park. That evening we sat around at the rental house, had some food and drink, and played some games, and the following day we went out to the 49 Palms Oasis and I did that walk again.

I think this is the only image I shot this trip that actually has a Joshua tree in it

Liana flew down to LA, and we drove out to Joshua Tree, where we met up with Danny and Ryan and Tim (Cornelia came down later) at the house that Danny and Ryan had rented. The next morning we drove into the park, and towards what I had always thought of as the Barker Dam parking area, as I’ve done the Barker Dam loop hike a few times now. From there, we instead walked towards the Wall Street Mill, which I had actually never been to before, before heading off north into the Wonderland of Rocks, the big crazy rock jumble at the northern part of the park. The mill had all sorts of crazy leftover equipment, which we spent some time enjoying.

Strongest for the money, you betcha (SO STRONG)

Standing atop the stamp mill. Stamp!

The boys in the car. Somehow, I don’t think they’re going to get too far.

Ryan had a book that talked about a natural arch, rare in the park, called Garrett’s Arch. My GPS mapping shows that we “only” did 3.9 miles to the mill, and to the arch and back, but this was over, under, through, and past all sorts of monzogranite boulders, so it was a bit more of a walk than it sounds.

Ryan scooting under some rock. Why, hello down there!

Sometimes, you just have to do things yourself.

We used my GPS to locate the arch, in addition to the map we had, and did have to wander around a fair bit, but finally we located the proper canyon, and went down it far enough to get to the right angle to see the arch.

The red dot is Ryan, who managed to get to the top of the arch.

At that point, some of us (ie, me) collapsed and ate some lunch, while Ryan and Tim (at least) wandered over the arch, and Ryan climbed all the way up to the top. We then meandered back out, and saw some neat bones on the way out. We then met up with Cornelia, and went on a bit more walking in – somewhere in the park that I barely remember. We then went back to the home, where we had dinner and played a game until late. The next morning we spent some time walking around in the area near the house, before heading out for the day.

And sometimes, cacti surprise you.

I do not know what he was thinking about.

We then went out to the 49 Palms Oasis, the second time for me, I guess, that I had done this trail. It was a great day out, and when we got there, we clambered over the rocks a bit, and sat and had some snacks. We enjoyed the cool air, and also took some group photos. There were lots of palm fronds down, and at one point I had Ryan and Liana “fanning” me, and we took a couple of posed photos of this. When I got back to see them, I noticed that two of them lined up really really well, and I made them into an animated gif of my being fanned. Possibly my first last and only animated gif. Whee! On the way out, I got an awesome photo of a barrel cactus flower, which I thought was pretty beautiful. After that, we headed on back home.

Ryan, pondering his photo

Palms in the oasis. They fought fire…and won!

Right up close, you can even see the cross-hatching on the spines. Craziness.