Hello Everyone,
I’m coming into the busiest part of my summer tour season, but wanted to drop a quick hello to let you all know that I haven’t forgotten you. I’ve just finished a hot couple of weeks out in the Desert Southwest, but it was also a really good tour. I’ve had a few days here in San Francisco since that trip ended, but I’ve been busily preparing for the next month which won’t have any days off for me at all. I’m ready for it and I’m looking forward to it, but it hasn’t left much time for anything else. But before I depart on my next trip tomorrow morning, I thought I’d send you all a quick update and a few photos from my last trip.
I wrote to you last from L.A. as I was getting ready to pick up the trip I just finished. I met 6 wonderful people the following day, all of whom were really excited to be out on tour. The trip was exclusively for passengers under 30, so you can imagine that I probably wasn’t who they expected walking through the door. Nevertheless, they gave me a chance and I know that by the end they had all had such a wonderful experience and were very grateful for the work I put into it. They thanked me a lot which may or may not surprise you is a rarity in my line of work. I know that my passengers feel thankful but they aren’t always the best at expressing it.
Our trip left L.A. bright and early the following morning and took us out to Joshua Tree National Park where we had lunch in the shade in the back corner of Hidden Valley. We did the one mile Hidden Valley Loop Trail which was probably enough hiking in the midday sun at 118°. We made a few other photo stops and spent some time at Skull Rock before beating feat out to Lake Havasu City which was just as hot. After a quick stop at the London Bridge, we went down to the lake for a swim and a barbecue dinner as the sun set in the desert heat. It had been a really good day and we were all thankful to be in a hotel instead of a tent that night.
The following day took us out to Grand Canyon with a stop along Route 66 in Seligman. We spent some time at the Canyon during the day and returned later for sunset which was fantastic as always. The sun wasn’t gone for long though and we were up to see it return the following morning at 5am. My group split in two for the day as half of them went towards Plateau Point on the Bright Angel Trail and the other half headed for Skeleton Point on the South Kaibab Trail. Everyone enjoyed their hike and they were all grateful for the early start.
I absolutely love Joshua Trees. Much like the Saguaros are iconic to the Sonoran Desert, the Joshua Trees are iconic symbols of the Mojave Desert and it’s too easy to imagine human characteristics in both. Every time I pull into an area with Joshua Trees it makes me smile and feel happy. Interestingly, Joshua Trees aren’t really trees at all, but rather a tree-like member of the yucca family. They may have been given their name by early Mormon pioneers who thought they resembled the Biblical Joshua with his arms raised.
It is believed that people have been living in the region of Joshua Tree National Park for 10,000 years. The first people of European descent who laid eyes on the area were with Spaniard Pedro Fages who was pursuing Native Americans who had “escaped” the mission in San Diego. After the Mexican-American War, American settlers started moving in, building ranches and doing some small-scale mining. Franklin Roosevelt protected the area as Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936 and it became a National Park in 1994. The park covers 1,242 square miles - slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island.
I’ve visited Joshua Tree National Park several times before, but always in the middle of summer when it was boiling hot out. We might get out and take some photos, but long hikes were pretty much out of the question. I was really happy to get there this past spring when it was cool and pleasant and I could get out on the trails. I hiked the Short Loop Trail from Black Rock Campground, Ryan Mountain, and the Lost Horse Mine Loop among others and they were all fantastic. Joshua Tree National Park is a special place and while it doesn’t get the hype of our other western National Parks, it’s definitely worth a visit. I can’t wait to return. I hope you enjoy these photos from beautiful Joshua Tree National Park.
Hello Everyone! Happy August to you! It’s been an intensely busy few weeks out here on the road and I have barely had time to think, much less right a blog post. These last few weeks I’ve been on a mad dash around the Sierra Nevada Mountains and through the desert and it has been really great to be back in some of my favorite places. I’ve had good groups with me who have been supportive and enthusiastic, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with them. It’s monsoon season out in the desert, so rain clouds have been a constant companion, but the desert needs all the rain it can get and I’ve been able to work around them for the most part. Temperatures have soared as high as 114° out here and I’ve been doing my best to stay hydrated and healthy in the extreme conditions. All of that being said, it’s been a heck of a few weeks as I’ve spent most of it on the kind of trip I cut my teeth on many years ago. It’s always good to get back to your roots now and again.
When last I wrote, I was headed off on a 5 day walking tour in the mountains. The Wawona Fire was blazing in Yosemite, so we had to make adjustments to make it work. We still got into the Valley, but it was quite hazy and the air quality was poor. We made up for it with a hike out at Hetch Hetchy and a hike up Lembert Dome in the high country. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best I could do and my group was very appreciative that they could at least see the highlights of the park. From there we headed out to Mammoth for the night.
The next day we hiked out and around Convict Lake, a first for me. It’s always nice to check out some new places and this trip had a few new spots in store for me. Convict Lake gets its name from a standoff between a local posse and a group of 29 convicts who had escaped from the prison in Carson City. It was a beautiful place for a walk and my group enjoyed a nice swim afterwards while I pulled the van around. From there we made our way north to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake. Mono Lake has several inlets but no outlets, making it one of the saltier lakes in the country as the water evaporates and the minerals remain. Natural springs under the lake percolate calcium rich water which deposits as calcium carbonate, leaving fascinating formations called Tufa Pinnacles. After some time there, we headed north again to the shores of beautiful Lake Tahoe. There was music, beer and food trucks at the public beach, so we spent our evening there – swimming in the lake and enjoying the show. It was a heck of a way to spend the last evening of our trip. We hiked to the postcard-perfect Echo Lake the next morning before returning to San Francisco.
I had a couple of days to get ready for my next trip and then made a beeline for Los Angeles where it would begin
