"I Speak For The Trees" Joshua Tree National Park

(Joshua Tree National Park, California) 55 degrees, blue skies

Joshua Tree (on right)

Dr. Seuss felt it was important to protect trees in the book “The Lorax”. We are so happy this National Park protects these beautiful Joshua Trees. They are a member of the yucca family and are spectacular. 

The park is huge and covers over 794,000 acres. There are lots of hiking trails and several visitor centers. There are even two deserts, the Mohave and Colorado. We were surprised by all the massive boulders piled up everywhere. It looked like a massive dump truck had emptied them all around the park in all shapes and sizes. 

Hidden Valley Trail

We are continuing to travel with our friends J.C. and Bev. Unfortunately, Bev did not get to see much of the park due to catching a very bad cold. There were a lot of folks at the Indio Rally that could not attend due to this mean bug. We hope she gets better soon!

J.C. and John had fun pointing at rocks and saying what they thought it might represent. The one below looked like a big Hershey Kiss, one of John’s favorite treats.

We hiked several trails (Hidden Valley, Barker Dam, Key View, and Skull Rock), all well marked. Getting out of the car and hiking the trails really gave us a completely different perspective of the park.

 

Skull Rock

J.C. & John

John at Key View Overlook

Barker's Dam

We stayed four nights at one of the campgrounds in the park called Black Rock. It is the only campground that can accommodate a big rig ($15/night or $7.50/night senior or access pass). There is water available for fill up at several places and a dump site, however, there are not any hook ups at your campsite. Although the views were spectacular, the road was in very bad shape and it took some very careful maneuvering to get into our sites. It was also very difficult to level our rigs.

J.C. and Bev and are teaching us how to boondock. This means camping without any hook ups (no electricity, sewer, or water). We have only tried this a few times and usually just for one or two nights.

They have given us lots of great tips to reduce the drain on our batteries. For example, keeping the water heater off until about 15 minutes prior to needing hot water. Another great tip is to turn off the invertor at night. Both of these items requires a lot of energy and quickly deplete your batteries. To recharge the battery you have to fire up the generator. It can be loud and annoying but essential if your batteries are getting low or when running big drain items like the microwave or hair dryer. J.C. and Bev have six solar panels that keep their generator usage to a minimum.  It's been very interesting learning more about boondocking and solar.  This lifestyle has a lot of interesting learning curves. 

Our rig from a distance

Our next stop is Quartsite Arizona, also known at the “Q”. We’ll be joining the Escapee’s Boomers group out in the desert for a few days of more boondocking and fun. This is a huge annual event where thousands of RV’s gather every January. Check back soon for all the details. We have heard so much about this event and are excited to be able to attend.