Visiting Joshua Tree National Park
When the topic of the United States National Parks comes up, our minds go to places within the vastness of this country that have been decided by many to deserve preservation for all to enjoy and experience in their natural state. While the world around them continues to progress and develop, we always have these special places that give us a view into how breathtaking the US has always been and a reminder why we need to actively take steps to preserve it. As we drive through these various landscapes in our 1970’s VW bus that feels like a moving time capsule, it makes us smile to think of how many decades people have been enjoying these parks and gaining appreciation for what we’ve preserved and the history behind it. We are so eager to continue learning and appreciating nature as we set out, wide-eyed through this country, to take in all we can with our little air-cooled VW to carry us through it all.
Arriving at a National Park that is familiar to us felt good and overall- comfortable. Joshua Tree is the closest park to our hometown of San Diego, so it’s the one and only park that we’ve visited a handful of times before. Familiarity was a much needed feeling as we began the transition into our completely unfamiliar lifestyle of living in a van. We knew cell service would disappear once we passed through the gate but we weren’t bothered, we knew where to go and left our map locked away in the glovebox.
The towering Joshua Trees with their wild outstretched arms and incredible rock formations set in a high desert landscape will always leave us in awe no matter how many visits we make. Familiarity won’t be so prevalent at other parks in our future but we are optimistic we will make it work together just as we have so far with so many other adventures in the past. Last time we were here it felt like a vacation, this time it feels like living- with extra moments to really breathe in all we are experiencing. An adventure with no thought of “let's do this before we have to head home” but instead “have we done everything we want and where to next?” We are so grateful for the opportunity to take these places in without the rush of cramming it all into a one weekend trip.
While Joshua Tree National Park is known for its stunning sunsets (which we enjoyed many of), don’t be hesitant to rise early to catch a sunrise. As we drove through the park with the first light of dawn, the Joshua trees in our rearview mirrors were nothing but silhouettes on the barely lit horizon as we headed to our viewpoint destination. Skull Rock can be an intensely crowded place on weekend days and evenings, but on a cool Monday morning, we had no traffic to sit in and no effort was needed in finding a place to park. The bus was left along the road near the trailhead as we took a short walk before climbing up some of the grippy rocks so common within this park and laid out our blanket before setting up to watch the sunrise over the large granite formations this place is so well known for. Seeing the sun light up these boulders one by one as a pink sky began to turn blue felt so peaceful as we gazed over the landscape covered in Joshua Trees and Mojave Yucca and took in the striking uniqueness of where we were.
Our hands are scraped and chalk remains under our nails but we couldn’t be happier. Gorgeous weather with our closest friends climbing in a place that is so special and historic to the climbing community made for a day we won’t soon forget. While we love the time to ourselves on this trip, it’s hard to see our friends go home and difficult to not wish that they could continue onward with us on the road. However, it fills us with gratitude knowing that we have so many more adventures to come, and that our friends can meet us at any park in the near future. It hasn’t fully hit us yet that this isn’t just another short trip where we go home and reset and plan to head out again. No, this time we simply continue without set deadlines to be anywhere or places to report back to. Today made us thankful for those whom we surround ourselves with, who are always pushing us to try new things and take on hobbies we thought were out of our reach.
This place was difficult to leave. Although we had checked off all activities on our list of things to do, from sunset hikes to afternoons spent on ropes climbing rock faces, there is a magic to Joshua Tree that makes you want to stay. To remain and see one more day of sunrises or sunsets and simply spend more time feeling so at peace amongst the rocky desert landscape covered in such strange desert trees. Yet we head east, excited for desert scenery we have yet to experience together down unfamiliar roads, knowing there is so much more ahead of us.
