Haven't visited Joshua Tree? Shame on you
For nearly five thousand years, native tribes have resided in and around Joshua Tree National Park.
Of course, it wasn’t a park way back when the Serrano, Chemehuevi, Mojave, and other tribes called this magnificent desert home.
No, it was a place to raise families, hunt, gather, and live in one of the more unique areas of the Colorado Desert; that huge hunk of 7 million acres of desert located within the boundaries of San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial counties.
Today, Joshua Tree National Park comprises nearly 800,000 acres within that massive Colorado Desert.
That is a lot of acres. In comparison, my humble abode is situated on just two. I cannot imagine what it would be like using a hula-hoe on that much acreage come springtime.
Two hours of scraping the weeds in the yard leave me ready for a cold libation and a nap.
Laureen, my lovely wife, has visited Joshua Tree National Park, as have all my children and their spouses.
Me? Nope, never.
A two-hour drive through the quaint town of Lucerne Valley and I would have crossed through the rock gates marking this national park.
Shame on me.
Excuses? I cannot think of one that would hold a barrel cactus of water.
It was time - Laureen could not make the three-day planned camping trip, so I turned to my old traveling partner, Paul Bakas.
“Your truck and pop-up trailer?” He asked.
“Yep.”
“Are you cooking?”
“Yep.”
“Count me in.”
It seems that during the late 1920s, roads were being cut here and there through the desert to make it easier for travelers to come into the area and marvel at the rock formations dominating the park's western side.
Unfortunately, some of those folks were not going to sightsee but to steal.
The city of Los Angeles was booming, and the folks there wanted those strange but iconic cacti all over the desert near Joshua Tree.
Cactus poaching became a real challenge.
“Jed,” the cactus poacher was believed to have said. “We can make some good money with these big old cacti in LA.”
“Jed, I thought we were after cactuses,” the other poacher responded.
“That’s why I made it through the sixth grade, and you barely finished second grade. Cacti is plural for cactus.”
“Hmm, what’s a plural?”
So, out of concern for Jed and his nefarious partner, Minerva Hoyt, from Pasadena, brought attention to the desert's destruction. 1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt set aside those desert acres as a National Monument.
In 1964, the band, The Beach Boys recorded a song in honor of Hoyt.
‘The Little Old Lady from Pasadena’ was a huge success - then again, it may have been about an old granny driving a fast car.
Research is confusing sometimes.
In 1994, under the federal Desert Protection Act, the monument was redesignated as a National Park.
Over three million people visit the park annually, from day-time visitors to overnighters.
Many tourists come from around the world to gaze upon the unique animalia, Cactaceae, planta, and rock morphia.
I made that up last term, but how the rocks in the park obtained their various shapes had to do with morphing into this or that.
There was a long wait at the front gate near the town of Joshua Tree to get into the park, but since I had a Senior Pass, I was waved through quickly.
Probably thought they shouldn’t keep the senior waiting long, you know?
One of the first things I noticed when entering the park were the dozens of pull-outs with little kiosks explaining what the visitor is looking at in the distance or close up, for that matter.
‘This is a group of yucca brevifolia.’
‘This is Porcupine Wash.’
‘There is nothing to look at here. We just like to fool tourists.’
We stopped at nearly every turnout or parking lot to wander about nature's spectacular creations.
People were hiking, picnicking, and taking photos of people hiking and picnicking.
A lot of selfies were shot during the drive to our campground on the far end of the park near the city of Indio.
Not by Paul or me. No, from tourists who could not get enough of standing too close to a jumping cactus.
I have read too many tragic stories about folks taking selfies at national parks.
“Don’t worry honey,” one honeymooner once said to his bride, soon to be his widow. “I’m sure the rangers here at the Grand Canyon don’t mind if I step over the railing and take a . . .”
Tragic but somewhat humorous - yes, I expect emails for that.
According to the National Park Service, Joshua Tree is one of the premier places where people go climbing the often-bizarre-looking rock formations.
‘Joshua Tree welcomes climbers, boulderers, and highlighters worldwide. This high desert monzogranite climbing mecca is famous for its traditional-style crack, slab, and steep face climbing.’
I have no idea what that means. But we saw a lot of folks climbing rocks freestyle, roped up, and being yelled at by their partners.
“I said are you belaying me?” A husband shouted down to his wife on the ground with a rope in her hands.
“I thought you said, are you bugging me,” the wife shouted back.
“You better be,” he responded. “It’s pretty steep.”
“Babe,” she replied, “Let go of the ropes and take a selfie.”
With over 8,000 climbing routes, 2,000 boulder problems, and many natural gaps, the park boasts it is one of the best places in the world to climb.
It makes one wonder who went out and counted all these routes and problems.
The weather was perfect, high seventies and no wind.
We visited Quail Springs, Hemingway, Hidden Valley, and Hall of Horrors. We even stopped off at the Oyster Bar, which was disappointing since it was just another rock formation instead of an establishment for much-needed libations.
One of the most interesting stops was the picnic area below Cap Rock.
A short loop of a hike where visitors can view beautiful desert plants, and since this was a wet winter, everything was in bloom and will be for some time.
Travel tips: Heading to Joshua Tree this spring? Beat the crowds at a lesser-known park entrance
There was the desert sage, Indian rice grass, rock cinquefoil, and wooly marigold (not to be mistaken for a wooly mammoth).
Vibrant colors of pink, yellow, and blue sparkling in the afternoon sunshine made the hike spectacular.
Above the picnic area is a vast rock balancing against the face of a rock mountain. It looked like, at any moment, this humongous hunk of granite may fall.
But Joshua Tree has many such unusual and almost gravity-defying natural wonders. No wonder people from around the country and world flock here each year.
Skull Rock was by far the place where everyone stopped and wandered about the most.
A park sign states that the visitor is staring at Skull Rock.
Nope, Skull Rock is staring at the visitor.
Huge hollowed-out crevices mimic the human skull preciously and are a little creepy.
It reminded me of a million pirate films where the hidden treasure is below skull rock.
I had Paul break out a couple of shovels from the truck, but we got a stern finger wagging from a Park Ranger.
“Aye, Matey,” I said to Ranger Ruin-My-Find.
Having resided in Southern California for most of my life, I still could not understand why I had not visited this awesome stretch of nature just a few hours away.
We spent three days there - camping, hiking, relaxing, and never seeing the entire park.
Once the campfire was out, our camp's night sky was fantastic. There were so many stars that picking out certain constellations seemed impossible.
The International Dark-Sky Association states that the park is one of the best places in Southern California to observe the wonders of the cosmos. For some visitors, it is their first chance to see the Milky Way.
For me, there were so many stars lighting the night sky up I could only count two notches on Orion’s Belt.
The Joshua Tree experience could make a person slow down and contemplate how much beauty and wonder there is on this beautiful planet and the skies above.
Joshua Tree National Park is a must for anyone who enjoys being outdoors and viewing nature at its best.
John can be contacted at ‘beyersbyways.com’
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Haven't visited Joshua Tree? Shame on you
