gunrunner99
Observer
The girlfriend and I needed a quick trip to get away for a couple days. We didn't want to spend the whole trip trying to get there so we settled on Joshua Tree. I have lived in SoCal most my life and have to sadly admit this was my first trip there.
Upon arriving about 8am Friday morning we quickly came to the conclusion our plans would have to change. All the campgrounds were packed. There we tons of cars driving around asking every campsite if they were leaving. After looking at a couple sites we decided to just get a camp site outside the park so we could get setup. We stayed at a campground called Joshua Tree Lake. It was about 15-20 minutes from ether the 29 palms gate or the Joshua Tree gate. It was not an ideal place but worked just fine. It was $10 a night. I think we got charged extra for the dog. An interesting mix of dirt bikers, hippies, people just staying one night and climbers.
We quickly got our truck unloaded and began to relax. We headed into the park and did some looking around. I didn't realize how amazing this place was. There were postcard worthy photos everywhere.
After realized the puppy was not going to do well hiking around the place we decided to head off on the geology loop. I was a very nice drive. I would recommend 4 wheel drive or at least all wheel drive as it did get a little soft in some spots. I had just been out to Berdoo Canyon the week before so it was nice to see where it comes into the park at.
This was a perfect time of year as all the flowers were blooming. Lots of color everywhere.
It seems that the off highway trails were the only place to find some solitude this weekend.
Friday night we headed back fairly early to just relax. The campground was nice with showers and clean (most the time) bathrooms. There were a lot of people there so this was probably a tough task.
Saturday we headed out for some more exploring. After seeing a couple stops we headed out to check out Old Dale Rd. It was a pretty easy dirt road for about 12 miles definitely had some washboard effect to prepare to rattle the teeth a little. After about 12 miles it starts to head up hill via a much smaller and more technical trail. As my truck is not yet outfitted to tackle any real serious offroading we turned around and headed back. Also lunch was calling.
Just past this sign maybe 1/2 a ile it starts to get a little tougher.
I am really glad we went we had a great time and got to see some awesome climbers. We are definitely going to have to head back. We headed out around 8:30am on Sunday to beat traffic and it worked. We didn't hit any traffic on the way back to south Orange County.
Upon arriving about 8am Friday morning we quickly came to the conclusion our plans would have to change. All the campgrounds were packed. There we tons of cars driving around asking every campsite if they were leaving. After looking at a couple sites we decided to just get a camp site outside the park so we could get setup. We stayed at a campground called Joshua Tree Lake. It was about 15-20 minutes from ether the 29 palms gate or the Joshua Tree gate. It was not an ideal place but worked just fine. It was $10 a night. I think we got charged extra for the dog. An interesting mix of dirt bikers, hippies, people just staying one night and climbers.
We quickly got our truck unloaded and began to relax. We headed into the park and did some looking around. I didn't realize how amazing this place was. There were postcard worthy photos everywhere.
After realized the puppy was not going to do well hiking around the place we decided to head off on the geology loop. I was a very nice drive. I would recommend 4 wheel drive or at least all wheel drive as it did get a little soft in some spots. I had just been out to Berdoo Canyon the week before so it was nice to see where it comes into the park at.
This was a perfect time of year as all the flowers were blooming. Lots of color everywhere.
It seems that the off highway trails were the only place to find some solitude this weekend.
Friday night we headed back fairly early to just relax. The campground was nice with showers and clean (most the time) bathrooms. There were a lot of people there so this was probably a tough task.
Saturday we headed out for some more exploring. After seeing a couple stops we headed out to check out Old Dale Rd. It was a pretty easy dirt road for about 12 miles definitely had some washboard effect to prepare to rattle the teeth a little. After about 12 miles it starts to head up hill via a much smaller and more technical trail. As my truck is not yet outfitted to tackle any real serious offroading we turned around and headed back. Also lunch was calling.
Just past this sign maybe 1/2 a ile it starts to get a little tougher.
I am really glad we went we had a great time and got to see some awesome climbers. We are definitely going to have to head back. We headed out around 8:30am on Sunday to beat traffic and it worked. We didn't hit any traffic on the way back to south Orange County.
