Joshua Tree National Park & Palm Springs

My college roommate, Kim, reached out to me a couple of weeks ago to see if we could do a girls' weekend. Of course! She flew in and we spent the afternoon catching up. 

We headed out mid-morning on Friday and had a blowout just before Quartzite. We waited close to an hour for the AAA truck to come, then two of America’s finest pulled up behind up. The first ran my plate, then came over and after giving us a bit of a hard time, change the tire for us. The AAA guy showed up right after they finished. We went into Quartzite to the tire shop (surprising there was one as ‘fine dining’ there was Subway). Grabbed sandwiches then the car was done. Apparently there was a fault in the tire and there was a bubble that with the heat from the drive blew out. The hole in the sidewall was the size of a golf ball!

We were good as new and on the road again. We had two more hours and drove into 29 Palms at around 5 pm. We checked into our hotel, a little motel called the Harmony Motel, known for being the place where U2 stayed when they were filming their Joshua Tree images. It’s a cute little 7-room motel with character. The grounds are nice, and it had some cute little touches. Not as fancy as many hotels, but we loved the fact that when we asked if she had a trail map, the gal in the office handed us a Joshua Tree trail book that we could borrow! We of course stayed in the room that Bono stayed on (from U2). Of course.

She told us we could have driven through the park to get here instead of going around like Google Maps suggested. We decided to take a quick drive through some of the park before dinner, and it was beautiful! Lots of interesting rock formations and Joshua Trees everywhere after we drove 10-15 minutes into the park.

We left and grabbed dinner at the Palm Kabob House in town, which was highly recommended on tripadvisor. It was yummy! Kim got a gyro and I got a salmon kabob with rice. Two guys there recommended some hiking trails for us tomorrow. We drove to one and the ranger said he was locking the gate. It apparently doesn’t open until 6:30 to 7, and we’re hoping to get started earlier as it’s so hot. We’re reviewing our handy little guidebook to decide where we’ll go.

We haven’t gotten internet to work yet and are both tired, so I’ll post this tomorrow when I have the chance. We’ll hike and explore the park then will check out and head to Palm Springs.

It’s been so much fun catching up with Kimmie again. I met her in college and we lived together for a while. I think she was one of the only roommates I liked living with, and the only one for sure that I still talk with! It’s been (gasp!) 24 years. She lives in India now but is back in the US for a visit and asked to come visit for a girls’ weekend. I of course said yes! I haven’t seen her for four years so it’s so wonderful to reconnect.

Joshua Tree National Park became a national park in 1994, though it had been a National Monument since 1936. It is slightly larger in size than the state of Rhode Island. The park includes parts of two deserts: the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the park as well.

It takes around 15 minutes of driving into the park before you see Joshua trees and then they are all around. There are some beautiful rock formations as well with some interesting shapes. 

We woke up really early and decided to get out to hike before it got too hot. We first went to Keys Point and enjoyed a view of the Coachella Valley. We had trouble finding the trailhead, and after reading a sign about aggressive bees, encountered a few and decided to pick another spot. We drove to Ryan Mountain which was a gorgeous hike. We climbed a mountain then circled around the back of it and walked along a ridge for a while before hitting a peak. The hike wasn't long-- only a mile and a half, but took us a little over an hour and a half. It was gorgeous and worth doing.

We met a couple from New Hampshire (funny, as Kim and I are from Massachusetts, right next door) and a man from Germany. We climbed down and went to Hidden Valley, the highest rated hike on tripadvisor. It didn't disappoint and was really gorgeous. Very easy loop hike but the rock formations, trees and views were stunning. We then went to the Barker Dam trail and saw some petroglyphs (disappointingly colored back in so people can still see them) and the dam, which was built to hold water for cattle. The hike was nice with gorgeous rock formations.

It was around 10:30 and getting really hot. And we had to check out of our hotel, so we did that then headed into town for lunch. We decided to go back to the Kabob House and got salads with chicken shawarma which was amazing. We got a side of falafel and it was really light and different. Very good and we both enjoyed this place. I got a juice with carrot, orange and ginger and enjoyed it. Who knew? I don't eat carrots but in juice, it's pretty ok.

We decided to drive back through Joshua Tree park to see a couple of areas that were recommended: two areas with a lot of cholla cacti, and ocotillo cacti. The first was impressive and they were as far as the eye can see. The second was less so, and the ocotillo were all burned out and dried up. Just the wrong time of year for that. The drive through this part of the park was long and they were repaving the road, making for some nice driving but some of the trip was all gutted up and not so fun. We hit I10 and drove down to Palm Springs, checked in to our hotel the Palm Mountain Hotel and Spa and decided to walk around a bit before dinner to explore.

There's not much to this town. Some shops, restaurants, spas and casinos. We are both glad we have stuff planned tomorrow! Our restaurant reservation tonight (Falls Steak House) is literally right across the street from the hotel, which is great. Someone recommended it so we're going for it! 

We're mapping out our hike for tomorrow then getting ready for dinner. It's going to be an early night but we'll be up early tomorrow hiking before it gets too hot. By 10 am it's steamy here! We really want to go to Indian Canyons, which was highly recommended, but it opens at 8. So we're checking on options and then will head there around that time. We have spa day (afternoon) at 2 at a place with mineral springs. Can't wait! It'll feel good as we're both stiff from the hike today.

I'll post more tomorrow! S