Floating Upstream: Spring 18: Joshua Tree & Palm Springs

With our first summer adventure less than thirty-six hours away, it is imperative that I bring this blog close to the present moment. With that in mind, here is a cursory photographic review of our spring.

Part One of Spring Break took us to Joshua Tree National Park.

Sava marked a milestone by requesting, and receiving, a solo tent for his twelfth birthday. It is a light and claustrophobic little thing, and he loves it and takes it everywhere we go. The deal he's been promised is that he can bring the tent anywhere; however, whether or not he gets to use it depends on whether the campsite has enough space left over after we have pitched our other two tents. So far, he has used it twice, the first time during our epic trip to Joshua Tree for spring break. On that trip, he got to sleep both in the lap of a Joshua tree at Black Rock campground and at the foot of some spectacular rock formations in Indian Cove campground.

There is too much to say about Joshua Tree, and the best way to sum it up is by noting that it was, quite possibly, our favorite camping trip ever. As one friend who saw pictures from the trip remarked, the landscape in the park looks like it belongs to a book by Dr. Seuss. (Many of the pictures of rocks that follow also have a kid in them; our kids brought their climbing shoes, and we made frequent stops to let them scramble.)

a hike right out of the Black Rock campground

Hidden Valley Loop

Barker Dam loop

the blossoming cactuses!

can you spot both kids?

saying hello to the cholla cactuses

The first campground, Black Rock, was a bit on the tight and noisy side, but the second--Indian Cove--exceeded every expectation. That campground is essentially a vast circle of piles of rocks, at the foot of which humans have carved out tiny spaces to pitch their tents. The sites can be close but are separated by rocks, so there is an eerie sense of privacy and isolation. We loved our site (and Sava wants to return to exactly it), but we also identified a cluster of three other sites that would be great to book together with friends. The light in the morning and in the evening was particularly enchanting, and the star-gazing at night was unlike anything we'd ever seen. The only drawback? Kids disappeared up and behind rocks for what felt like hours. I purposely chose not to worry about where they were because if I tried to follow their movements, I ended up paralyzed with fear.

somehow, in the tiniest campsite we've ever had, Sava was able to find a spot for his own tent

when not scrambling, she spent time on the rocks reading and writing

By scrambling like goats, they discovered a fantastic spot at the top of the rocks right behind our site, where, with much cajoling and against my every will, they dragged me one night to watch the sunset. Cursed with a worsening fear of heights in middle-age, I nearly died of fright going up there. To make it up to them for acting like a total party-pooper, I repeated the trip the following morning and accomplished it with slightly more grace and poise. Pictures of those two escapades below.

Rado took these without my knowledge or permission, and they do not convey adequately the extent of my fear

the view away from our side of the campground (where there are still a few tents)

the view towards our campground; we watched a stray coyote roaming between the sites down there

To sum up: Indian Cove rocks. We want to go back there soon.

And just a few more images from the park . . . We did the 49 Palms Oasis hike, which is exactly what it sounds like: a hike through the desert to an oasis that has (at least) 49 palms. None of us had ever seen a real oasis, so this felt both unreal and miraculous.

people have died on this hike; it is really important to carry water

barrel cactus: large and majestic in real life

One child got a Junior Ranger badge out of all this, and all of us left the park vowing to return very soon.

While camping at Joshua Tree, we also got to visit the legendary Pappy and Harriet's restaurant in Pioneer Town, where just last year Paul McCartney played in a venue that cannot possibly hold more than a couple hundred people. Unfortunately, we ate too early for the live music.

a bit hungry after a day of scrambling in the desert

*****

Part Two of Spring Break took us to the strangely appealing city of Palm Springs. We came with very low expectations and felt somewhat justified when we first entered town--miles upon miles of golf courses and condos did not look exactly promising. However, here are the things we discovered that made us fall in love (a little) with Palm Springs and promise each other that we'd return: 1) the town's lively downtown, with fabulous food and European-style night life; Sava especially liked the latter; I think he discovered the inner European in himself during those late evenings strolling along the main drag; 2) the unexpectedly beautiful hikes along the cool canyons that surround the town; that Native Americans lived here for centuries is not surprising; that white people came and thought that building a city in the midst of the desert is a good idea can only be interpreted as unabashed hubris; 3) the San Jacinto Mountain State Park that rises 6,000 feet above the town--reachable by cable car and home to a Yosemite-like kind of landscape; this mountain, home to snow, feeds the springs that then trickle down to the canyons in the desert below; we'd like to return there and explore at our leisure. Without much ado, here are some images that hint at the beauty of the place.

The hiking: