Tourist First: California: Joshua Tree

Sunday, February 25, 2024

California: Joshua Tree

Joshua trees and time-worn rocks along the Barker Dam trail at Joshua Tree National Park.

Winter 2024 seemed like a good time to try to see two of California's desert parks, Joshua Tree and Death Valley. It also seemed like a good test of the practicality of the electric car we had just bought, a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6. We'd be seeing signs like "no service next 56 miles," and we knew that service in 2024 seldom includes electric charging stations.

We had been to Joshua Tree National Park twice before, both times as part of trips to Palm Springs. We realized this time that we had hardly experienced the park at all. Now, for the first time, we stayed in the community of Joshua Tree (at the Bungalows at Joshua Tree Retreat) and entered the park through its main gateway, the West Entrance Station. The Visitor Center is in town on Park Boulevard, which leads to the park and is the park's main road. Our previous visits hadn't included Park Boulevard at all. This time, instead of a few hours, we were there for three nights and two full days.

The area around Joshua Tree is, for lack of a better word, funky. There's the 1950s Hollywood crowd's boozy airstrip roadhouse Copper House; Noah Purifoy's sprawling Outdoor Desert Museum of Assemblage Sculpture; a French-themed breakfast-and-lunch diner called La Copine in Flamingo Heights (don't expect flamingos); a couple of rough but friendly beer-and-hamburger places in town; and where we were staying, a "Mentalphysics" 150-acre compound dating to the 1940s when it was founded by the British-born, Tibet-inspired Ding Le Mei (Edwin John Dingle). I don't know if it has all of Joshua Tree's vortexes, but it uses signs to mark the ones it has. Its meatless restaurant, Food for Thought, has decent breakfasts and lunches and no hint of indoctrination.

The park itself is huge, with lots of trails, scenic views, rocky mountains that look ready to disassemble and interesting desert plants, including thousands of the iconic Joshua trees, so named because someone once said they reminded him of the prophet Joshua raising his arms to beseech God. I think our two full days gave us enough time to explore the park pretty well, though more determined (and better fit) hikers may want more days on the challenging and remote trails.

The car, by the way, did great, though recharging isn't nearly as easy as filling up a gas tank. A few times, we avoided or backed out of roads that really needed a higher-clearance vehicle.

Here are some photos:

Rocks at Joshua Trees are almost like fluffy
summer clouds -- you can imagine them as
castles, animals or whatever.

Part of the Hidden Valley trail. Hidden Valley
had been an isolated area surrounded by steep
hills until in the early 20th century a farmer
blew open an entrance to allow his cattle access
to the valley's grasslands.

At Keys View, the vista goes all the way to Mexico, but we found this peak
too cold and too windy to enjoy in February.

I thought these looked a bit like ears.

Look out below! Cap Rock threatens
to squash those vehicles, but so far it
hasn't followed through.

Skull Rock is just a few steps from Park Boulevard, making it easily the most
accessible attraction at the park.

At many places in Joshua Tree, visitors are welcome to scramble over all the rocks they want.

When scrambling over rocks, remember that you have
to be able to get back to your car in one piece.

These are chollas at the Cholla Cactus Garden, a natural garden that spreads over several acres.

Chollas have little yellow flowers.

Not surprisingly, Joshual Tree is a
destination for rock climbers. The
Wall Hall of Horrors is an extremely
narrow slot canyon which can be climbed
with one's feet on one wall and hands
on the other. Rock clambering is required
to reach it, and we didn't.

More rocks along a trail. You'd think that snakes would be out basking in the sun,
but we saw very little wildlife, mainly ravens and gophers.

This work is called "65 Aluminum Trays,' one of
countless such works at the late Noah Purifoy's
Outdoor Desert Museum of Assemblage Sculpture.

These toilets are the centerpiece of a much larger work
called simply "Collage."

"Spanish Arch" seems to be composed
of architectural salvage.

The cafe at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center
serves breakfast and lunch most days.

Signs such as this are sprinkled around the retreat
center's 400 acres. I did not pick up on any vibes.

This meditation labyrinth takes you on one path to an altar of sorts in the middle where
previous visitors had left religious icons, money and other objects, Unlike a maze,
this labyrinth offers no choices, You just keep on the path without stepping over
any boundaries until you reach the midde. Then turn around and leave the same way.

This pyramid is made of wood covered with something akin to plastic or vinyl.
I guess one could meditate in the small room inside.

One of many art pieces scattered around
the Joshua Tree Retreat Center

All charged up and ready to go. The
other end of the charger is plugged into
an outlet on our patio at the Bungalows.
The loan of the charging cord and the
electricity were included with the room.

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Argentine Patagonia

They are called what they look like: Mexican hats. They occur naturally in the highlands above the town of El Calafate. The water in the distance is glacier-fed Lago Argentino. An hour's drive east of El Calafate, near the headwaters of the lake, visitors can hike on the Perito Moreno glacier and take a boat ride among icebergs that have fallen off the several glaciers in the Parque Nacional des Glaciares. El Calafate is basically a summer (Nov. to Feb.) tourist town, and there are a number of hotels at all price points. We stayed at Esplendor El Calafate, a very stylish hotel with a full restaurant and bar. The South American picker-upper drink mate is available at breakfast. The hotel is an uphill walk from the commercial area, but that's not much of a drawback. Click on the photo to visit the Esplendor online.

Dominica

Probably the greenest island in the Caribbean, in terms of color and ecological awareness, is Dominica, just north of Martinique. It was named by Columbus, who sailed past it on a Sunday. The island nation is one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, but it is rich in friendly people and natural attractions, including a boiling lake, hot and cold waterfalls, a parrot jungle and hill after hill of dense green jungle. There is also a cable-car ride through the jungle canopy (http://www.natureisland.com/AerialTram.html). I wrote about Dominica years ago, and much of that article is still relevant: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/26/travel/winter-in-the-sun-an-island-where-less-is-more.html?scp=2&sq= Unfortunately, one of the hotels I mentioned, Petit Coulibri, has since closed. Fortunately, there's still a wonderful eco-resort called Papillote Wilderness Retreat http://www.papillote.dm/), four acres of lush gardens, hot-spring-heated soaking pools and modest cottage rooms.

Palm Springs

Palm Springs, Calif., is a great destination for nature lovers -- Mount San Jacinto State Park is a wonderful gondola ride (shown above -- click on it to visit its website) away, and Joshua Tree National Park is a short drive away. It's also a great destination for naturists; there are several major clothing optional resorts in the area -- and for fans of Mid-Century Modern architecture. For a dose of mid-century style, stay at the Orbit In (http://www.orbitin.com/), which does ask that you keep your clothes on.

Pompeii

If you're driving from Naples to the Amalfi Coast, and it's hard to imagine anyone who wouldn't want to visit the Amalfi Coast, you should plan to spend a night in the modern city of Pompei, adjacent to the ancient city of Pompeii. Above are the murals depicting an unknown ritual in what's called the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii. If you can, devote most of a full day to exploring the site. Afterward, you'll want a good hotel. Click on the image for info about Hotel Amleto, a small and friendly hotel in the heart of the new town and an easy walk from the ruins.

St. Vincent

This is one of the "rooms" at Petit Byahaut, an isolated (access by boat only) eco-resort on St. Vincent, the largest island in the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Bequia, mentioned above in this column, is one of the Grenadines. The photo above is of the living deck and doesn't show a relatively enclosed area that had a real bed. Did you notice I said "had"? That's because the place has closed. To read about the property in its heyday, click on the image for a New York Times article I wrote. The article has a link to a slide show with more images of the resort.