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A Desert Forest

Saturday, May 28th – Joshua Tree National Park - North to Joshua Tree National Park - South, California– Day 107

Our campsite was a large open dirt area with some scrub around the outside. In the dark we had managed to park beside the pile of horse poo and shaving. Horses were allowed in this site. Gen stepped in the middle of a pile. 


 The Joshua Tree National Park visitor centre was a five-minute drive away. The town of Joshua Tree was packed with college age millennials communing with nature. There was a market with kombucha, organic greens and a few small tortoises. It was all very pleasant but very busy. The laundromat was at the edge of the market, I charged the devices and did the laundry. Gen bought some produce from a guy loading a truck. I even snuck in to buy some watermelon kombucha. 

 The drive into the park was ten minutes followed by a ten-minute line to show our pass. A quick stop to fill up our water bottles and we were into the park. The amazing thing about Joshua Tree National Park is that you are on the border of the Mojave and Sonoran Desert and there are Joshua trees everywhere. The least dense forest you could imagine in a desert. 


 Our first stop was Quail Springs viewpoint. It was a quick lookout that highlighted the other feature that defines Joshua Tree, large boulders piled on top of each other. John was asleep but we all climbed through a narrow crack in between boulders went on top of the rocks. Everyone in the family loves climbing on rocks, especially a little boy named John. We went back to the car and carried on. Gen and I still weren’t totally sold on the park. 


 We stopped for lunch in a picnic area near the Hidden Valley trail. While Gen whipped up tuna sandwiches, Aisling and Charlotte were climbing up another rock face and sitting on a ledge. When John was finally awakened, he joined them.

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