Photo from Hidden Valley - Note Birdlike rock near top Joshua Tree RV Campground Tues – Thurs, March 13,14

After our jaunt to Star Mount and another quick night in Indio, we headed to Joshua Tree. It was a nice ride and not too long. We found a great café, Crossroads Café, and stopped for lunch. We had to wait for a table and got into a conversation with a grandmother and her grandson. After being seated next to each other, the conversation continued and we joined forces and ate our meal together. They were both great people. Aren, the young man of 21, was very into sound and recording, so he and Yeti got on like a house on hire. His grandmother was quite the enterprising and traveling sort. It was neat that a young man chose to visit his grandmother on spring break! He goes to college at BU in Boston!

After this great lunch, we checked into the RV park. The manager, Bri, was really nice. We had a space with power so we could test the equipment using AC. Once we were all set, we headed into the park for a short hike. We chose the Hidden Valley and though only about one mile it was so beautiful. Surrounded by the JTNP’s fascinating piles of boulders, this little valley offers a place of great beauty and solitude. Many varieties of cactus, Joshua trees, live oaks etc. Very much worth the walk. A good choice for an introduction to Joshua Tree Nat’l Park.

Back at the RV camp, we met Charlotte, a young French woman traveling solo in the western U.S. She is very nice and is going all over the west visiting many national parks. She tours by bus, train, car (Uber) and getting rides! Quite the adventure. We invited her to hike with us the next day.

Unfortunately, Yeti had a terrible night’s sleep; he had trouble breathing and ended up sitting up in the car. So, Charlotte and I went to do the Willow Hole hike in the park. IT was delightful and quite easy. For the first two miles it was quite flat wandering through desert – cactus (prickly pear, barrel, beavertail), chollo cactus, Joshua trees, and Ocotillo. It ended winding through a narrow wash and canyon at an oasis of Willows – clearly there was more water in this little canyon – lots of green vegetation. We went a bit further on a use path through the Willows up to a viewpoint of the next very boulder canyon. Here we stopped for a snack. Well worth the extra couple of tenths. The return is by the same route.

We went to the same café for a late lunch with Charlotte. She booked an Uber to take her to Palm Springs where she will ride the tram up the mountain. She plans to come to Montana and we told her to let us know. We can get her up to Glacier.

Cottonwood Campground March 15, Thurs evening

We had booked the one night at Cottonwood Campground so we could do a section of the Desert Trail that Yeti would have hiked – Lost Palms Oasis. After getting to camp quite early, we set up Yeti’s tent. It was very windy, so we had to anchor the tent with rocks. We decided to do the longer hike to Lost Palms instead of a shorter loop. Good decision. It was a lovely hike, varied and many wildflowers. The first couple of miles were fairly moderate, with small ups and downs through washes. The last mile was a bit more strenuous, but the end was a big pay-off. The palms are located in a deeper canyon, some even growing out of the rocks. We had lunch here and then returned the same way. Yeti had a bit of a scare with the pacemaker (?); we are not sure exactly, but he felt a weird “electrical shock-like” and moment of dizziness. It passed quickly and that was that. Hmmm, a bit scary.

We both got into Yeti’s tent and hunkered down for the night. It started to rain after midnight and rained all night!!!! Thank goodness we did that hike on Thursday. Yeti went to sleep in the car, so I could be in the center of the tent. If I’d brushed up on the walls I would have gotten soaked.

Joshua Tree RV Campground Fri-Sat, March 15-17 It’s back to the RV park in Joshua Tree. We woke to more rain, a soggy tent – it had leaked! Luckily, I didn’t get wet. At around 6:30am, the rain lessened and we quickly packed up everything, soggy tent and all. We drove back to Joshua Tree (the town) and headed to Crossroads Café for breakfast. Today is going to be a chore day: we sorted out a bunch of stuff to send home to give us more space in the Taktic on top of the car. The RV manager gave us a dome tent to use and said we could keep it. Some tourists from overseas had left it there – they did not have room to take it back home. So, we have inherited another tent! Drove to Yucca Valley to UPS to send the stuff home – lots of the hiker food we won’t need. I have been planning the next jaunt to Death Valley. We will be at Stovepipe Wells, a nice hotel, for my birthday!! I had to cancel our original reservation and was lucky to get this one.

We will move to Twenty-nine Palms on Sunday and hopefully Karin and her husband are coming to visit. We’ll do a hike tomorrow in the park. It is supposed to be dry and get warmer over the next few days. I hope that means a great wildflower display in Death Valley!