Winter Sunshine

Winter Sunshine
Winter Sunshine in the Desert

Monday, January 28, 2013

Desert Love

Catalina Spa and RV Resort Desert Hot Springs, CA Clear and Sunny, Breezy, High 61F Lo 41F

the desert 1_025DSC_0025Sometimes for no reason at all, I miss the desert.  Most often, it is during the winter, when much of the desert near us is also in the throes of winter; high desert sage covered with snow and hunkering down under biting winds.  When we arrived at Desert Hot Springs on Friday afternoon, the skies were cloudy and it was raining lightly.  It wasn’t the desert that I envisioned, except perhaps for the pungent scent of creosote bush in the rain dampened air.  All desert dwellers and visitors know this smell, and most of us love it.

the desert 1_006DSC_0006We left San Diego in the rain that morning, choosing to drive through Julian and down highway 78 into Borrego Springs.  The drive is steep and winding, but nothing too difficult to handle.  Jeremy wasn’t  too happy about it, though, and kept trying to figure out how to get comfortable on his dash perch while Mo negotiated the curves.

the desert 1_011DSC_0011We had an especially good reason for taking this route through Anza Borrego to DHS.  Laurie and Odel were camped in the state park and on this soft rainy day were hanging around at home so we could visit.  What a treat it was to share some of Laurie’s great carnitas tacos and a glass of wine while we caught up a bit.  It was wonderful to see old friends on the road before we continued north to our destination.

the desert 1_016DSC_0016On Saturday we relaxed a bit and drove west on the freeway to check out the Premium Outlets, something I haven’t had a chance to do in the past.  I am glad I didn’t think I was going to do any great shopping there.  It seems that the only thing around are clothes, clothes, and more clothes, interspersed with shoes and more shoes.  It was spectacularly boring.  Even Chico’s was sad.  It seems that the Chico’s outlet stores don’t sell overstocks of their regular stuff and have made a bunch of cheap ugly stuff for the outlet (cheaper) stores.  Ugh.  I got away from the mall without buying anything but a nice red silicone scraper for the kitchen.  I won’t need to do that again.

the desert 1_022DSC_0022Even though we come to Desert Hot Springs to stay, it isn’t particularly this part of the desert that I miss.  There is traffic, there are lots of people, and there is desert garbage. There are telephone poles and windmills, cell towers camouflaged poorly as palm trees, and of course actual palm trees.  There are all kinds of desert dwellers, with chain link fences around properties filled with old furniture and cars, and estates that look like something from another planet surrounded by iron fences and huge gates. 

Pinto Valley on Old Dale RoadStill, this isn’t the desert I miss.  But yesterday, once again, I found the desert that calls to me when I am far away in the high precipitation zone of the Cascades.  With the promise of a mostly clear day ahead, we drove east to the south entrance of Joshua Tree National Park.  From the southern entrance of the park, not far from Interstate 10, there are many miles of narrow road winding through the warmer, drier Colorado Desert before you reach the more well known areas with weathered granite boulders and the huge yucca plants that are Joshua Trees on the higher, moister Mojave Desert zone.

the desert 1_040DSC_0040We were in the baby car, a nice change from our previous visits to the park in the MoHo, giving us the chance to meander, and to explore the roads designated for 4-wheelers.  A stop at the Cottonwood Spring visitor center was rewarded with a printout of things to do in the park if you have a dog.  That was so refreshing, since we are used to the usual restrictions against taking dogs just about anywhere in a national park except the parking lot. 

Old Dale Road over the Pinto MountainsWe could walk our dog on any road, including the dirt roads that are in many areas of the park that are rarely frequented by everyday visitors.  We decided on the Old Dale Road, exiting from the main park road about a third of the way in, and leading off into an endless vista of desert.  Not a car in sight, not a telephone pole or a fence that I could see for at least 50 miles distant toward the Coxcomb and Sheep Hole Mountains.  We crossed the Pinto Basin, speeding up for deeper sand, negotiating the washboards and just soaking up the open skies.  This is it.  This is the desert that I miss.  Open space, silence, a road ahead with no cars in sight.

the desert 1_062DSC_0062Mo and I both have memories of the deserts around Lancaster and Victorville, east toward Antelope Valley, and up toward Barstow when they looked as wild and empty and fresh as this desert before us. Memories of a single pair  of car lights at twilight, visible at least 20 miles away as you drive down a long grade to nowhere.  No More.  That part of the Mojave now is filled with traffic and cars and smog and trash everywhere you look.  It takes the foresight of a government  willing to set aside National Parks and wilderness to keep landscapes looking like this one.  Always.  My children’s children can come here and see the desert as it once was.  If they are lucky, it will be a clear day like this one where the smog from the south hasn’t permeated even into the wild lands of Joshua Tree.

the desert 1_071DSC_0071We made it about twelve miles in before we were stopped by some serious rocks and ruts that required a bit more 4 wheel drive than we wanted to do in the tracker.  Parking at the base of the Pinto Mountains, we hiked up to the park boundary.  The Old Dale Road continued over these mountains and down the other side to 29 Palms, but we wouldn’t be making the round trip as originally planned.

cholla, with lots of little babies taking root on the groundBack to the main road to continue north toward the campgrounds, we passed Ocotillo Flats, with ocotillos looking like dead empty sticks of nothing in this time before spring bloom.  A few more miles led us past the brilliantly backlit Cholla Gardens.  Do you know a single photographer in the desert who can resist photographing these “teddy bear cactus” when they are backlit by the sun??  Not me!

the desert 1_077DSC_0077We drove through the campgrounds, deciding that there would be plenty of room for a dry camp stay in Jumbo Rocks.  We saw many more little nooks and crannies and places that we could hike and play in the rocks on a cool winter day.  Even in what should be high winter season, the campgrounds were less than half full.  Next time we will plan for a few nights here when we come south. 

the desert 1_078DSC_0078The afternoon was waning, and we decided to save our other chosen 4 wheel drive route for a later day.  Instead we drove the short 20 minutes out to Keys View for a breathtaking vista of the Coachella Valley and the magnificently rugged mountain ranges all around us.  The San Andreas Fault stretched below us to the west, one of the more dramatic views of this great creator of the California landscape.  The sign at the the viewpoint had a photograph of the usual smog that covers the area, and a photo of what it might look like on a clear day.  We had the smogless day, and even with the clouds that hid Mt San Jacinto from view, the wild ranges that we could see stretching in all directions were stunning.

the desert 1_102DSC_0102Traveling the northwestern route out of the park toward Yucca Valley, we realized that it would be dark when we got home.  Mo said, “How about a pizza?”  I liked that idea and as we reached Joshua Tree I fired up the iPad to search for pizza.  The town of Joshua Tree yielded up only one place, Sams Pizza, and Yucca Valley had only a Domino’s.  We haven’t had any luck with Domino’s so Sam’s it was to be. 

the desert 1_106DSC_0106We drove back and forth a couple of times along the 29 Palms Highway and could only find Sam’s Market and Indian Food.  Finally in the fine print, in a sign in front of a tiny strip mall we saw it, Sam’s Indian Food with pizza and subs in the fine print.  Hmmmm.  Indian food is great but be wanted pizza.  The tiny restaurant turned out to be delightful, and the pizza was great, with a crust that was a bit more like naan than pizza crust  but completely delicious. 

The drive back home was short and sweet, and coming down that long grade into Desert Hot Springs was much less daunting than the first time we drove in the big rig.  The twinkling lights of Palm Springs welcomed us home after a truly perfect day in the desert.the desert 1_092DSC_0092

13 comments:

  1. Good description of the ride through the Borrego area and Joshua Tree Park. We also love that area.

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  2. Exactly... "truly perfect"! Thanks for letting me tag along and listen to the telling!

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  3. Thanks for sharing all the great photos, Sue. Nice to see you enjoying that sunshine!!

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  4. Once again, great commentary & beautiful pictures!!! AND you two in shirts sleeves.. SO jealous...

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  5. Great pictures and story. Sure happy you are enjoying sun and warmth. My weekend trip was washed out by lots of rain. But we still had a good time.

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  6. Your word picture of the desert is so vivid ... felt like I was there ... oh and the great pictured helped ;-)

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  7. Great to see Laurie and Odel. Sure wish she'd do an update every 3 months or so. I quit going to the outlets for the same reasons. Love your beautiful pictures of the desert that calls to you.

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  8. sure sounds like you feel like you are 'home again'..nice to Laurie and Odel's smiling faces again!

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  9. Great description of your day trip up to Joshua Tree - we haven't been there yet this year but we will for sure. Here's hoping we're in for some warmer weather this week.

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  10. Great day wandring the desert and getting all those city cobwebs removed. Nice picture of the both of you. :c)

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  11. How great to see Laurie and Odel ....... Please pass on that her recipes are used and enjoyed time after time ....... I too hope all is well with them and that they are having all the good times that can be had ..... Please Laurie, update every once in a while, YOU ARE MISSED !!!!
    Now, glad you made it to the desert ..... You will be able to relax and rest a bit ...... Photos are great ....... Have FUN !!!!

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  12. Love the pictures, Sue! Wish we could've been on that drive with you - haven't been to Joshua Tree NP (yet) - maybe on our return trip. Have fun in the desert!

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