{"id":5414,"date":"2021-04-10T22:59:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T14:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=5414"},"modified":"2021-08-14T11:16:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T03:16:01","slug":"20210410joshua-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/10\/20210410joshua-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 1 of 2021 Joshua Tree National Park Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

First day of my April 2021 southern California trip. I would spend the entire day visiting Joshua Tree National Park, taking a few popular hiking trails like Hidden Valley, Ryan Mountain and Lost Palm Oasis.<\/p>\n

\"Field<\/a>

<\/br>Field of Joshua Tree<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Flowers<\/a>

<\/br>Flowers outside Airbnb Home<\/br><\/p>\n

I picked mid-April to visit Joshua Tree National Park as its usual wildflower season. Unfortunately, it had been a dry winter and not a lot of flowers were blooming in the park. Ironically and disappointingly, the best blossom I saw these days were the plants outside my Airbnb house.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

Saturday, April 10, I left the Airbnb house in Desert Hot Springs and headed towards Joshua Tree National Park. The drive to its northwest entrance passed through a narrow valley and gained almost 1000m in elevation. That would partly explain the area’s aridity as it would be difficult for moisture from the sea to reach such altitude.<\/p>\n

The park’s a popular weekend getaway for people in the greater LA region in the spring. Despite I reached its gate before 9am, there was still a short line at the ticket booth. In addition, parking was sort of tight in the park today, occasionally I had to wait for a spot.<\/p>\n

While the park was named for the plant that defyingly thrived on its desert landscape, it’s also known for its abundance of boulders and the wonderful rock-climbing activities it afforded. I was able to witness both on my first stop of the day, Hidden Valley.<\/p>\n

Hidden Valley<\/span><\/h3>\n

As its name suggested, a narrow gap in the rocks provided access to a “valley” that’s otherwise “hidden” behind giant boulders. Nowadays, a 1.6km loop trail would lead people around the valley where cattle owners once hid their illicit herds in the late 19th century.<\/p>\n

\"Boulders\"<\/a>

 \"Boulders\"<\/a><\/br>\"Boulders\"<\/a><\/br>Boulders<\/p><\/div>\n

Once inside, the “valley” seemed so wide that somehow I felt “basin” was a more accurate name for it. At least, the trail wound through the wide valley floor with minimal elevation change, while the perimeter boulders were blunt and rounded. I had anticipated something steeper and more rugged.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

 <\/a><\/br>Joshua Trees in Hidden Valley<\/p><\/div>\n

This is a popular place for rock climbers as I ran into a group of cal-fire rescuers honing their skill.<\/p>\n

\"Boulders\"<\/a>

 \"Boulders\"<\/a><\/br>Boulders<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Hidden<\/a>

<\/br>Hidden Valley<\/br>Viewed from the northern end of trail.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a>

 <\/a><\/br>Trail in Hidden Valley<\/br><\/p>\n

The trail’s ideal for those looking for some hiking experience but not too much. It’s well marked for every turn, and every few steps there were information boards about the various plants one could see here in Hidden Valley.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Opening<\/a>

<\/br>Opening in Boulders<\/br>Probably that’s why it’s called “Hidden Valley” here.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

I spent less than an hour hiking in Hidden Valley, after which I planned to hit Barker Dam next. Unfortunately its parking lot was full, so I actually headed for Hall of Horrors next, where I snatched the last spot in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

Hall of Horrors<\/span><\/h3>\n

The region between Hidden Valley and Hall of Horrors was roughly Lost Horse Valley, an open grassland as the core region of the park where Joshua trees abounded.<\/p>\n

As for Hall of Horrors, the area was made of three giant slabs of boulders. Somewhere in those boulders was a narrow passage, covered by rocks on top and not much wider than a person. That’s where the name “Hall of Horrors” came from. The area’s other boulders were quite popular with rock climbers.
\nUnfortunately, some of the boulders didn’t seem as hard to me. As a result, I was so preoccupied with trying to scale them, that I completely forgot searching for the actual “Hall of Horrors”. (Its location was not marked on maps though, and with the area’s multitude of trails it’s hard to tell which one would lead to it.)<\/p>\n

\"Field<\/a>

 \"Field<\/a><\/br>Field of Joshua Tree<\/br>At the core of the park.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\"Climbers<\/a>

<\/br>Climbers Scaling Boulder<\/br><\/p>\n

The back side of the largest group of boulders in the area. Towards the east of this I identified an easier route up the rocks (not photo\u2019d). I cheerfully gave it a try. Unfortunately, partly because the rocks here were too smooth and lacked handholds, partly because my clothes and shoes for the day were not for climbing, I quickly aborted my attempt.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

After completely forgetting about “Hall of Horrors”, I happened to see a few people scaling the front side of the boulder. That’s when I noticed a route halfway up the boulder that didn’t require any specialty gear.
\nThe next thing I knew, I was up that boulder overlooking the surrounding fields of Joshua trees and mountains.<\/p>\n

\"Rocks\"<\/a>

 \"Rocks\"<\/a><\/br>Rocks<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Field<\/a>

<\/br>Field of Joshua Trees<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Ryan<\/a>

<\/br>Ryan Mountain<\/br>Across the road, one that I was going to scale next.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\"Rope<\/a>

<\/br>Rope Anchor Points<\/br>Already set in place for climbers.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Ryan Mountain<\/span><\/h3>\n

After “Hall of Horrors”, the next stop on my itinerary was Ryan Mountain, whose parking lot was just down the road. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, the lot was already full. I ended up driving a few circles around it and ate a quick lunch while waiting for a car to leave, and that took about 10 minutes before a spot became available to me.<\/p>\n

Apart from parking, it’s a 4.8km out-and-back trail to the top of Ryan Mountain with 326m elevation gain, where at the end one was rewarded with panoramic views of surrounding desert landscape. It’s not hard to tell its popularity by parking scarcity.
\nHere’s GPS tracking:
\n