Joshua Tree National Park

I am trying a slightly different format for this post. After hiking Cuyamaca Peak and driving the Pines to Palms Highway, I arrived a Joshua Tree National Park with about five and half hours of daylight left, in which I managed to squeeze five short and one moderate hike. This post covers all of them. At almost 3 miles and with a healthy climb, only the moderate hike, Ryan Mountain, justifies a separate post, which I'd do if someone expressed interest.

I didn't have high expectations heading into the park. Unlike other National Parks that I've visited (Yellowstone, Crater Lake, Hawaii Volcanoes), Joshua Trees' namesake attraction seems outright tame, a mangle-armed yucca that looks interesting but hardly the foundation for an entire park. However, the Joshua Trees are just one small attraction in the expansive park. Others include desert–actually two, the Mojave and the Colorado—mountains, desolation, and a spectacular sunset.

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From the moment I exited the freeway and began up the long, slow incline through the park's back entrance, I knew I was in for a treat. I calculated that at only a quarter-mile in length, I could brave the 104-degree temperature to hike the first available trail, Bajada Nature Trail, which had plenty of trailside signs dedicated to the hotter Colorado Desert. A long drive way, but still in 104-degree heat, the Cholla Cactus Garden didn't have any signs, but set amid a forest of demented little cacti, it led through a much more interesting scene. My inability to locate the Arch Rock Trail was disappointing, but I did have a fun off-trail scramble trying to find it.

In the nearly two hours it took to hike the Ryan Mountain Trail, I only saw one other person. Not many people are loopy enough to visit a desert park in July and of those that do few hike long trails up mountains. Little daylight remained when I finished Ryan Mountain. With what remained I hiked through Hidden Valley, a perfect hike for the end of the day, and still made it Keys View for the sunset.