Week 34: the one with the adventurous yucca!
Joshua Tree National Park, California
Hi friends! Hi fam! Can you believe it’s been 34 weeks since we sold our house in Austin, Texas to travel full time? Yah, I can’t either!
This week we stayed in Joshua Tree National Park the whole time — although we did move to different campgrounds.
Before we dive in to the weekly recap, I just had to add a bit about Joshua Trees: They’re not actually trees! Nope, they’re yuccas, which are a member of the agave family. Joshua trees are indicator species of the Mohave Desert, but can also be found in the Sonoran Desert.
Just how old are they? According to the park website:
Judging the age of a Joshua tree is challenging: these “trees” do not have growth rings like you would find in an oak or pine. You can make a rough estimate based on height, as Joshua trees grow at rates of one-half inch to three inches per year. Some researchers think an average lifespan for a Joshua tree is about 150 years, but some of our largest trees may be much older than that.
They’re just so cool, amiright? Each one seems to have it’s own personality!
Geology Tour Auto Trail
Tuesday was super windy — and it was a cold wind! — so we decided to do the 18 mile Geology Tour Auto Trail (high clearance 4x4 recommended) so we could stay cozy in the van, yet still get to explore.
If you know me, you know that I LOVE rocks and geology, so this right up my alley.
We stopped to do some little hikes along the route and stretch our legs. Here’s J after he scrambled to the top of a rock:
I stayed down below LOL!
The biggest thing that I learned on the geology tour was that the cool rock piles and boulders found throughout park were formed underground then exposed through erosion.
Mind blown!
Skull Rock and Face Rock
We camped for a few nights at Jumbo Rocks Campground, which is loaded with — you guessed it — JUMBO rocks! Best of all, it’s just a short hike from the campground to Skull Rock and Face Rock. These are super popular destinations in the park and it can be really hard to find a parking spot to see them, so it was really great to be able to hike there from camp.
On our hike to Skull Rock I noticed some pine trees — turns out they’re Singleleaf piñon pines — so cool! Wasn’t expecting pines here.
I had to wait a bit for all the tourists to move to get a clear shot at Skull Rock, but it was worth the wait.
We were the only ones at Face Rock — I always think he looks like he’s smiling! Who’s with me?
Hall of Horrors
Thursday we moved on down the road to Black Rock Campground, stopping along the way for short hikes and sightseeing. One stop that cracked me up was the Hall of Horrors — I didn’t see anything horrific, just lots of cool Joshies!
They’re really dense in this part of the park!
The Adventurous Yucca
One of the stops had a sign for “The Adventurous Yucca” — and I just knew that would be the title for this week’s post!
It is like an adventurous yucca that has embarked on an endeavor to find out how many directions it can grow and to see what it can do in the way of forming branches. — William Collins O’Kane, The Intimate Desert, 1969
Love it!
Joshua Tree / Crochet Museum
We passed through the town of Joshua Tree on our way to the Black Rock and were sad to see that the showers at Coyote Corner are closed indefinitely. We got showers there back in 2018 and I was really looking forward to another one, darn! Even though we have a shower in the van, it’s still nice taking a longer luxury shower with unlimited water (plus there’s less to clean up).
I HAD to stop at the World Famous Crochet Museum next door — it’s so cute:
Here are just a few of the treasures we saw that day:
There’s even a crocheted museum inside! Recursion!
I’m pretty sure my Grandma had one of those crochet poodles.
Black Rock Campground
After our jaunt into town we headed to Black Rock Campground. The Joshua Trees are really BIG and grow in dense colonies here. I wonder if it’s because it’s at a higher elevation of around 4,000 feet?
Look at this beast! (The Joshie, not the J!) :)
I couldn’t stop taking photos!
We were treated to an amazing sunset Friday night. It started off lighting up the mountains:
Then the sky filled with pink and the grasses glowed:
Just so dang beautiful.
Needed that moment of peace.
West Side Loop / Hi-View Trails
Saturday was super cold and windy again, so we decided to go hiking to warm up. We started on the West Side Loop Trail and then Hi-View and the views did not disappoint!
This is looking towards LA and we’re guessing the sky is hazy from all the dust kicked up from the wind and possibly smoke from the fires. We were so sad to hear that another fire started earlier this week. Our hearts go out to everyone affected.
There were so many nolinas blooming like this one in the lower left, and the California junipers were loaded with berries.
What a great hike!
Hoping for SNOW!
It started raining as I’m typing this — the sound of the rain pattering on the roof makes the van feel all warm and cozy — and it makes me so thankful for this tiny home on wheels.
There’s nothing quite like rain in the desert. It smells so good, and things seem to green up overnight. The forecast is calling for a wintery mix of rain snow and I’m really hoping we get some. Snow in the desert is a rare treat, and I’ve never seen it with Joshua Trees.
Whelp, that’s a wrap for this week! We’ll be staying here in at JT a few more days so we can run some errands in town, then it will be time to head on down the road.
Thanks so much for following along on our adVANtures — it means so much to have you along for the ride! — Lisa & Jason
Sunsets, trees, and rocks. I’m smiling too! I’d wondered about you two ad-van-turers being cold so was happy to read about being cozy and warm in the van or hiking to warm up. Your newsletters are always a good read. Thanks.
I had the same reaction to the Hall of Horrors, just looks like more cool rocks, which I can’t get enough of 🤗