In late summer of 2010, I spent a few days at Joshua Tree National park, located in California, USA. Unfortunately for me, this is low season – I quickly learned why. With temps reaching 110+ F (43C+), and having spent the days before in the frigid pacific waters around Anacapa Island diving, my body wasn’t ready for the dramatic climate changes that occurred. Considering myself out-of-shape and slightly overweight, this limited my endurance under the intense heat while trekking. The cloudless days were merciless on me as I sipped water from my bottles forgetting the word “ration” in the meantime.
I did as best I could: The first night I attempted some star trails, but with a full moon in sight, it was almost like having a giant flashlight over the desert. This brings me to a lovely anecdote: I parked my car by the road and entered the desert with my backpack, tripod and camera. I hiked by moonlight, took a few images…. headed back to my car only to realize I left my backpack somewhere in the middle of nowhere. With a few thousand dollars of gear in it, I made my way back into the prickly desert searching for my lost treasure. Luckily for me, because the moon was a torch in the sky it was easy to spot my gear!
The subsequent days were filled with pure blue skies, with little to no cloud. Waking up later than desired, I must admit, I missed out on the golden light. I must stress this wasn’t a photo trip, but my last solo travel before becoming a dad – so I didn’t feel pressured to “get that shot”, though guilt took over quickly as I felt lazy lounging by the pool in my sad physical state…
I stayed at the 29 Palms Inn right next to the park entrance – Nice quiet place. The nights (and some parts of the dya) were spent in a little (stress on the word little) bungalow, called the Hyacinth, which was built in the late 20′s; it was no frills, but offered good rest and bare bones accommodations. The breakfasts were plain, but offered freshly made bread, jams, fruits, juices and coffee. Generally quite healthy choices. The pool was very quiet, low key in every way allowing for restful lounging while reading a book. The restaurant’s food we very nice, although the barmaid was ahem, different, was usually in no mood to serve much else than beer or simple mixed drinks, even hollering at me for ordering a complex drink one evening.
On my final day, the clouds finally appeared and though I was baked, I tried to head out for some more photos, I struggled with my energy but managed a couple of nice shots I think. Having to leave at 4:30AM the next morning the final sunset was sublime, yet I was already packing my bags and getting ready for early shut eye (drive to LA was to be ~4 hrs).
Here are some images during my short 3 day stay near the park.
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