49 Palms Trail

At Joshua Tree NP there are a number of places in the park that you have to leave the park to get to. So we headed north and out of the park to the Forty-nine Palms trailhead. The trail is described variously as easy, moderate, and strenuous. Actually, it is all of the above depending on where along it you are. It starts as a steep uphill climb — 500 feet in .75 mile. At that point there are beautiful views back to the towns of Twenty-nine Palms and Joshua Tree and down into the valley where the forty-nine palms are located. The walk into the valley is an easy one with great views of red barrel cactus and varnished granite. At the palm oasis we didn’t see big horn sheep as had been hinted at, but did see lots of birds including hummingbirds, and many more people than I would have expected, even on a Saturday morning.

Following the walk, we headed down the road to Joshua Tree to do our laundry. The town of Joshua Tree right near the park road is a 1968 hippie enclave with a few shops attempting to make it a tourist shopping destination. Very nice laundry, reasonably priced with all machines working.  Further west on route 62 is the “modern” Joshua Tree with a Walmart, Home Depot, etc.

Before we returned to our campsite for the night we headed down the road toward Cottonwood Springs to look at the “Cholla Garden.” The garden is several acres densely packed with Teddy Bear Cholla. So densely packed that you can hardly walk among them. It is interesting that there are few cholla in the desert north or south of this area. The altitude, soil, and water available must be just right in this area plus Teddy Bear Cholla reproduce by pieces breaking off and rooting where they settle on the ground — not by seed dispersal — hence it makes sense they would live in groups. In another few weeks the cholla here should be in bloom and will be quite a busy place for bees — not for the bee phobic as the guide book says.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)