Joshua Tree

A relaxing long weekend in Joshua Tree checking out some easy hikes.

Surprisingly, it was raining when we left the house at 6:00am. When we arrived in Joshua Tree, the road was wet, which was quite unexpected. However, as always happens in Southern California, the clouds burned off by the afternoon.

Our first hike of the day was the Barker Dam loop. The reservoir formed by the dam had a considerable amount of water in it. It was a very unusual sight for Joshua tree.

Taking a break at the reservoir created by the Barker Dam.

Because of the (relative) abundance of water in the area, there is a lot more vegetation than in most other parts of the park. It very much seemed like an oasis in the desert.

Barker Dam Loop GPS

A wide variety of spiky cacti.

The second hike of the day was the Wall Street Mill trail, starting at the same trailhead as the Barker Dam Loop. This was a trail to an old gold mine, with many of the original structures still somewhat intact.

In the distance, what looks to be interesting climbing.

While the trail was located in a wide valley, off in the distance I could see some appealing cliffs. If anyone can ID the above area, that would be great!

Wall Street Mill GPS

Flowering cactus.

The third hike of the day was a very short loop at the Cholla Cactus Garden. Each of the sections of the cacti were a different colour, with the higher sections being lighter.

Cholla Cactus Garden GPS

Cholla Cactus Garden.

That evening, we had a very traditional Chinese hot pot Thanksgiving dinner.

On day two, we only had one longer hike planned, and that was the Panorama Loop.

Slowly heading up.

The first third of the 10k loop is a very gentle uphill amongst typical desert floor vegetation and rocks. But as we got higher, we started to crest over larger and larger hills until we eventually made our way up to an unnamed peak above 5000', from which the views of the rest of Joshua Tree park were quite nice.

A side summit, where we had lunch.

It was nice to spend a quiet weekend away from the craziness of Southern California.

Panorama Loop GPS