On Joshua Tree National Park and Change
We’re heading out of the Palm Springs area and making our way to Joshua Tree National Park.
I look out the car window and see a clear blue sky and the blazing sun beating down on the gently swaying palm trees. Ah, Southern California.
We’re relaxed.
Just an hour prior, we were regrouping. A client threw a lofty goal our way, so we were in a coffee shop frantically multi-tasking and busting out a bunch of work. After a focused couple of hours, it was time to switch gears again. It was time for an adventure. We didn’t have a firm plan, but we jumped in the car and started east down highway 10.
As we drive, we do some life-scaping – a common combo for us. We also talk about how days like this are pretty routine in our world. Sometimes we move racer fast, other times we’re more snail like. At times we have a plan, but it often gets upended. Change is the only constant.
We laugh about our jealousy of bamboo – firm yet flexible. We’re (usually) content to embrace change – to groove with whatever comes our way. The last months have been a good test of this. As we approach the park, we reaffirm our commitment to be even more pliable, more in the moment, more open to what is.
We enter the Park from the south – the Cottonwood side – and are immediately taken by the particularly barren terrain, dotted with ocotillos and cholla cactus. Coming from the lush Pacific Northwest, we are in awe.
Heading north and west, it’s not long before our surroundings change dramatically. Extensive stands of the parks namesake, the joshua tree, start popping up everywhere as do the mysterious rockpiles that we have heard so much about.
We wonder where this came from all of the sudden? We alternate between roaming around and simply sitting quietly, enjoying our surroundings. We are baffled by the change in scenery.
Before exiting the park on the west side, the terrain shifted yet again. Our cheap rental car roared as we gained altitude. Soon, mountains – not dessert – became the star of the show.
Back at the hotel, researching what we had seen, we learned that Joshua Tree National Park houses three distinct ecosystems. The Colorado Desert, on the south side, quickly bleeds into the slightly higher, moister Mojave Desert. The third ecosystem, with the mountains (and even pine trees), lies above 4000 feet.
One national park, offering three distinct ecosystems that magically blend together before park visitors’ eyes.
On this day, talking about the whirlwind of change that is life, we got some amazing reinforcement by witnessing the way that Joshua Tree National Park effortlessly and beautifully makes the seemingly incongruous appear perfectly placed. Just like life.
Great post, guys! I had a similar feeling when I was there a couple of months ago- the scenery changes so fast and the sky is so blue. And, the Joshua Trees look like these alien life forms but also so beautiful with all their curves.
It’s amazing how so much beauty comes out of an arid land. The desert thrives on change.
Sounds like a lovely trip. I like that you two live your lives in awareness. I think that is a rarity these days. Aren’t those Dr. Seuss Trees the coolest?!
They are the coolest trees. They’re fun to look at and made us feel like we were on another planet.
Wow, I can’t believe how different it is to the Australian desert, which is red dust and small scrubby bushes. Amazing to see three distinct ecosystems in the desert!
Nice post… and parallel to life. We really want to hit Palm Springs and Joshua Tree. And watch out for the cholla – they have fish-hook like quills – ouch!
We want to get back there to camp in the right season – which is NOT summer.
Sounds like a nice trip to recover from what you’ve been through lately. Glad you’re taking time.
i thought the joshua tree was a u2 album. who knew there was an actual tree named joshua?
i do like the us desert landscape, liek the dropout says, the ones here down under are barren and endless.
sounds like a great day out!
Word. (on the U2 reference)
This is really good travel writing in my opinion – not just a place but a time; a series of moments. And not just sights but the thoughts that spring from them.
It’s funny how certain places can show us something we’ve been contemplating about our own lives. I love that about travel.
One of our favorite places in state, if not the country. Glad to hear you guys enjoyed the place.
I’ve never been to the deserts in the U.S. Looks spectacular.
Speaking of changes…
I remember “way back when” it was still Joshua Tree National Monument. I’m glad that the decision was made to “upgrade” it to full National Park status.
I remember seeing the Joshua Trees at sunset standing watching the end of day with me. Magical place.
We learned that it was “upgraded” just about 20 years ago. Well deserved!
Coming from So Cal, I have spent a fair amount of time in the desert. My mom and dad are now living in the Palm Springs area too. I have to say the sunrise and sunsets are beautiful especially looking west up against the mountains. After that, I am just not a real fan of this desert.
Very beautiful! How’s the temperature like, there?
In a word…. BRUTAL!
What a great experience. Death Valley is similar in that it has lots of different ecosystems since it has an 11,000-foot peak next to the salt flats. I love those contrasts.
Lately it seems I hear about Joshua Tree every where I turn. Friends recently spent a weekend there (loved it!) and other friends are thinking of buying property near there. And you know what? I’ve never been! Think I need to go…
You’d get some great pictures
I love the desert — cactus, rockpiles, joshua trees, all of it! You got some great pics — they really capture it for me.
I think it’s this change, the jolts and bursts of things we don’t expect that come our way that keep us strong and going. Great comparison to the desert and Joshua Tree NP.
Some of the most interesting travel photos I have seen are from Joshua Tree National Park. I’ll admit that up until a year ago I didn’t know it was a park, I literally thought people made a pilgrimage to a tree!
Ha – I think a lot of people are similarly confused.
“The way that Joshua Tree National Park effortlessly and beautifully makes the seemingly incongruous appear perfectly placed. Just like life.”
Beautiful! I’m admittedly jealous of people who are able to gracefully embrace change… I’ve finally learned how to deal with it (and sometimes even enjoy it!), but the process has been difficult and decidedly less-than-graceful.
Nice! Very nice…
I absolutely LOVE the Southwest. I am totally drawn to it for some reason. Alas, while I am here in the Northeast (NYS), I am glad someone is there appreciating all that it offers!
Steven
This is on our list at Walkabout Chronicles. You have made me anxious to make it happen soon! I love how you connect your experiences to life. Life-scaping…I love that term!! i may have to borrow it (with credit to you of course!).
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I am a fan of change. I look forward to it actually. It frees you from trying to predict or control things. Leo over at zenhabits has been writing about this idea (sort of) recently. ( http://zenhabits.net/ ) His take is the idea of living WITHOUT goals because of the very idea that change just is and we should be more in the moment (well something like that
I love the line “We laugh about our jealousy of bamboo – firm yet flexible. ” I have never thought about being jealous of a plant before.