5/23–5/29/21

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One Month

I stood there at Lipan Point for a while, enjoying resting my legs at the end of my 3.5-day, 57.5-mile trip through the Grand Canyon, when finally I realized that today, May 23rd, marked exactly one month since I had left Pennsylvania for this massive road trip. It seemed like it had gone by so quickly, and yet, paradoxically, felt like so much had happened in just a month.

Satisfied with this and with my experience here in the Grand Canyon, I hopped my car and drove 250 miles south to Phoenix, where I was planning to stay with a couple of friends – Cole and Heather ­– for a bit. After a month of sleeping in my car, in a tent, and under the stars, I was excited to spend a few days in a real house with a real bed, with running water and plumbing, with A/C and heating (not that I’d need heating in Phoenix, but I’d wished for it a couple of times in Bryce Canyon).

Phoenix

I arrived at my friends’ house just after sunset, was greeted with a warm welcome (and fantastic leftovers), took a much-needed shower, and then quickly fell asleep. The next day we all worked remotely from different corners of the house, but even the occasional brief conversation throughout the day was nice. I was definitely craving some social interaction at this point, which surprised me a bit, as an introvert.

That night I had been planning to edit photos while my friends were out for some plans, but instead I just got takeout and watched Netflix (for the first time in a month). Don’t judge me.

On Wednesday, my last night in Phoenix, Cole, a whiskey aficionado, gave me a sampler of some of his favorites from his whiskey cabinet. (Although “cabinet” doesn’t really do it justice; it was impressive.) The big standout was Del Bac, a mesquite-smoked single-malt made in Tucson, Arizona. I liked it so much I picked up a bottle the next day on my way out of town (along with Salad and Go, because it was really tasty and didn’t make me feel as horrible as In-N-Out).

On Thursday I packed up and left for Joshua Tree National Park. I have to say I was a bit reluctant to leave good company and a good home to live alone in my SUV again. It helped having a schedule to stick to, knowing that if I strayed, I would miss out on some destination I had planned to see.

It was pretty wild to me when I finally crossed to border into California. It’s difficult to put the significance into words, but I think I had built it up in my mind as epitomizing the West. I mean I was almost as far west as I could go on this continent before hitting a little something called the Pacific Ocean, and it took a while for it to set in that I had driven the entire way. (Though I suppose I could go farther west if I went up to Alaska, but let’s save that for another trip.)

Joshua Tree National Park

I planned to walk the California Riding and Hiking Trail, which, at 38 miles, is pretty much the longest uninterrupted hike through the park. As a bit of history, it turns out the California Riding and Hiking Trail was once intended to be a continuous 3,000-mile loop around California for, you guessed it, horseback riding and hiking. But this vision was eventually abandoned as funding fell through, and shorter segments, like this one, were developed instead.

There are no water sources in Joshua Tree National Park, which still blows my mind as an east-coaster. So for a trip lasting more than one day, caching water along the route becomes necessary (unless you want to carry 30 pounds of it, like my unhappy companions in the Grand Canyon last week). Luckily my planned route crossed a couple of roads, so I cached a gallon at both of the blue water markers on the map above, while also starting with six liters in my pack (which all sounds like a lot of water for only two days, but you’ll soon understand why I wanted so much).

Food storage was also a consideration in Joshua Tree, as the rodents will certainly chew through anything they can to get to your food, and hanging food bags from the Joshua trees is not permitted. I could have used a bear can, which would be unnecessarily heavy and bulky. But luckily, after the previous weekend in the Grand Canyon, I had experience using a Ratsack, which is basically a food sack made of chainmail that rodents can’t chew through. So for this weekend, I bought one from REI instead of renting one again (which last weekend had cost me as much as it would have to just buy one in the first place).

After caching my water early Thursday morning, I drove until I got cell signal, called an Uber (yep, you can call an Uber from Joshua Tree National Park), and headed toward North Entrance Backcountry Lot to leave my car. The Uber driver picked me up and shuttled me over to my starting point at Black Rock Campground. This was hands-down the easiest time I’ve ever had planning transportation for a point-to-point route.

Day One: Black Rock Campground to random-spot-off-the-trail-just-past-Keys-View-Rd (20 mi, +2,782’ / -2,392’)

Turns out this was also some of the easiest hiking I’ve ever done. As you can see from the elevation change stats above, the trail is very flat. It’s also very well-marked. And there was nothing in particular about the terrain that would make it difficult (unlike like the soft sand in Zion, for instance). So even after caching water, catching an Uber, getting a late start, and taking a mid-day siesta, I was still able to do 20 miles before dark.

Honestly, the part that interested me the most today was the awesome cloud formations.

Though the variety of shapes that the Joshua trees took caught my attention as well.

I arrived at my first water cache shortly before stopping for the day. I found it knocked over, with large indentations in the jug. It was pretty evident something had tried to bite through it to get at the water (unsuccessfully, luckily for me). I had read about this online, but it was still surprising to me. The next day when I would arrive at my second water cache, I would find the jug ripped open, with ants swimming around in it. And that’s exactly why I planted two caches and carried so much water to start.

(Prepare for a short tangent, or skip it if you prefer.) Proper backcountry food storage is always stressed; if it’s not stored properly – via hanging, bear can, etc. – animals can get at one’s food, which is not only inconvenient (at least I see having no dinner because a squirrel ate it as inconvenient, at a minimum), but also potentially dangerous for both humans and animals. After learning to associate humans with food, animals will become pests and begin to frequent human campsites looking for food. And I for one would rather not have Smokey the Bear wandering through my campsite or Jerry Mouse crawling over me at night. However, I’d never even heard of needing to store water properly. But here in Joshua Tree, where water is scarce, animals would apparently go after one’s water as well. So I stashed all of my water containers in my Ratsack, alongside my food, that night and placed it all right next to my sleeping bag while I slept out under the stars.

Day Two: random-spot-off-the-trail-just-past-Keys-View-Rd to North Entrance Backcountry Lot (18 mi, +644’ / -2,115’)

Okay, I take back what I said about yesterday being the easiest hiking I’ve ever done. Today was the easiest hiking I’ve ever done, with only 644’ of cumulative elevation gain over 18 miles. I got an early start in the morning and was back at the car by noon.

Could I have slowed down to savor it all? Sure. But it was hot (and would only get hotter) and I was totally exposed to the sun (which made it feel even worse). And to be completely honest, I had had my fill of Joshua Tree by that point. Certain parts of it were very beautiful, such as the strange rock formations, the clouds, the sunsets, and the Dr. Suess trees; but at the same time, much of it was dry, barren, with small hills and prickly shrubs – that part wasn’t especially attractive to me. It’s possible that I was just ready to be done with desert trips (which was true; I don’t think the desert is quite “my jam” like the mountains are), but even so I don’t quite understand why people rant and rave as much as they do about Joshua Tree. Not to compare, but the Grand Canyon and Canyonlands held my attention much longer. Though I suppose there is something to be said here for personal preference. Who knows, maybe funky trees and rocks are more your jam than vast canyons.

So I went to Joshua Tree Coffee Co, got an iced black coffee, and chilled out in the shade that afternoon.

Stats

Miles driven this week: 712
Total miles driven so far: 4,110
Miles hiked this week: 38
Total miles hiked so far: 206.75
Elevation change: +3,426, -4,507’
Total elevation change so far: +40,382’, -44,133’
Nights slept in Obi the Subaru: 2
Nights cowboy camped: 1
Nights slept in a house: 4
Total nights slept in Obi the Subaru: 23
Total nights tent camped: 2
Total nights cowboy camped: 6
Total nights slept in a house: 6
Time since start of trip: 37 days
States visited since start of trip: 10
Number of roadrunners seen: 1