Sunday, November 12 - Friday, November 17
The drive from Death Valley to Joshua Tree was long and interesting, my mind populated with abundant positive thoughts and feelings. It was about 270 miles to drive. The pace I drive, that’s about six hours. I also stopped to do laundry and shop for groceries. The drive was interesting in that (a) it has some fantastic scenery, and (b) it reverse traces the route I rode on my bicycle, from Joshua Tree to Death Valley, on a month-long bike trek in February 1988.
The drive over Towne Pass and through Panamint Valley is amazing with its stark natural beauty. It is a harsh wilderness. There is little to nothing, in terms of buildings or people, for many miles. When I rode it in 1988, I carried three quarts of water and some bread, peanut butter, and cookies. The ride from Ridgecrest to Stovepipe Wells was 100 miles. In addition to passing through Panamint Valley and its naked landscape, I climbed Emigrant Pass, which topped out at 5400’ and had a few miles of dirt road near the top. Emigrant is higher than Towne Pass, but it made the ride “shorter” by several miles. I had started riding that morning at dawn, and I finished that evening at dusk. It was an epic day.
The section of road from Ridgecrest to Victorville surprised me concerning how much traffic there was. I do not recall these roads being so busy and the areas being so populated. I would not want to do a ride on these roads today. It looked dangerous.
Anyway, enough about that. It’s a fantastic memory, and today, as is generally the case, I am creating new memories! I arrived late in the day at Ryan Campground, just as the Sun was setting. I said hello to a guy camped next door, David. We only talked a few minutes and then went back to our individual activities.
The next day, Monday, as I was out walking and watching the horizon filled with Joshua Trees at sunrise, David came over and we talked about twenty minutes about things like where we were from, what we are doing now, trajectory of careers, things like that. He is a former teacher, elementary school science, retired after 20 years, though he thinks he might work again down the road. Right now, he just wants to climb. He’s in search of rocks and walls to climb. He also asked if he could park his pickup truck at my site. He had a friend coming to join him, and he said she had a small school bus, and they would not be able to fit both vehicles in his parking area. Of course, it was okay.
Later that morning, I did a six-mile hike on part of the Lost Mine Trail.
Another day I did a hike on the Discovery Trail, something designed and built by students in a local school system. It’s a short trail with magnificent rock formations. It was a walk-in-the-wind and as I was entertained by these wonderful rock pieces. It's like ... they have life! And it's amazing to find plants growing, flourishing, right out of rock! And somehow, I stumbled upon the only spot I have seen in the park that has phone service in my four days here!
I did a few bike rides there. There are good roads, there wasn't much traffic, and the views are great. It was on the windy side, and it was cooler than other places I have been visiting.
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