Arriving in Joshua Tree

We arrived in Joshua Tree late Friday night. Our flight from Calgary to Palm Springs was delayed over an hour because of blowing snow and cold temperatures. I couldn’t wait to get to the desert.

It was dark when we got to the house we had booked on AirBnB. There are no street lights here and no other houses close by. This house sits on 7.5 acres of desert. We used the light on our phones to find the front door and get in. 

The house itself is small. Shaped roughly like a square with two bedrooms, one in each corner of the square, a kitchen and eating area in another corner and a living room in the fourth quarter. The only bathroom is off the kitchen. Patio doors off two sides of the house lead to big outdoor living areas.  We quickly got ready for bed and passed out in the king sized master bedroom.

The next morning, the views out the windows were amazing. Sitting at the dining table, you look out across a desert landscape to big hills in the distance. The road runs along the valley bottom and a few houses dot the valley. It’s all scrubby desert bushes and cacti and sand. And of course the Joshua Trees, which are the tallest plants, grow at well spaced intervals giving the whole place a professionally landscaped feeling.

We are close to the edge of the National Park and the main road through this area leads to the western entrance to the Park. Despite the traffic on this road, the house is quiet. The loudest noise is the chirping of the small birds that fly past in busy flocks.

The outside living areas here are really amazing. The pool is huge and deep. The cover retracts automatically when you enter a code in the control panel. There is a hot tub and numerous sitting areas, including one with a propane fire table. I hope we can use that one a lot!  

On our first day, we headed into the town for breakfast and were surprised at the crowds! It was Saturday after all and a big farmer’s market was set up in a parking lot just off the highway.  

We found a lovely bakery with lots of homemade goodies and bought a loaf of bread, a pie and some breakfast hand pies. Then we walked through the farmers market and found homemade jam, salsa, guacamole and lots of fruit and veggies. What a great find! We went to Yucca Valley to the Walmart to get the rest of the food and drinks we wanted and then headed back to the house.

We spent a glorious afternoon outside in the warm sunshine reading and drinking a couple beers. Unfortunately Dan got a little too much sun and burned his stomach, chest, neck and face. I hope he can stand to wear a climbing harness tomorrow morning! We are meeting our guide at 8 am in the town.

I’m really looking forward to climbing with a guide tomorrow. We hired him to give us the inside scoop on Joshua Tree climbing - style, ethic, best places for sun/shade/avoiding crowds and, most importantly, to refresh and advance our trad climbing skills. I’m hoping he touches on anchor building too for trad climbs where there are no bolted anchors. I also hope he can tell us about where to eat here. We love that locally owned bakery we found yesterday morning but we couldn’t find a good spot for supper so we ended up at Applebee’s. Meh. I would much rather find local restaurants using fresh locally produced ingredients to create simple, tasty real food.

Looks like we’re going to get a gorgeous day, sunshine and clear skies. Chilly morning, only plus 7. Definitely jacket weather to start. The expected high of 19 would feel pretty hot. We might be looking for shade in the afternoon.