Lost Palms Oasis of Joshua Tree

March 21st, 2006

Tuesday afternoon and I'm done with the conference. Now the conference was actually all it should have been: reinvigorating and educational but I'm still all washy to get out on the road. I hit the 10 and make straight away for the South Entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. I've decided to forego the northern area where the rock formations may be more interesting in favor of the Ocotillo and Cholla that I haven't seen since 1991. That was when I travelled to the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico with my then girlfriend (now Wife) Pam as part of the legendary Man and the Natural Environment (MNE) program at CSU Fresno.

Speaking of Pam, I was supposed to call her before I went dark and started my overnight wilderness hike. The facilities at Joshua Tree National Park are nothing like the facilities of Yosemite National Park or Sequoia/Kings Canyon. Get that clear in your head before you visit. There are no phones in the park. Seriously. Not that I'm complaining. Time without phones is a real vacation. But it's helpful to know before you visit.

So while I am hoping to hike in 3.5 miles, make camp and get to the Lost Palms Oasis before dark, I am forced turn around from the visitor center and head back to the highway where I can get cellular reception.
Whispy charcoal streaming clouds ghost me for a couple of miles as I drive to the trailhead and worry me about my stay for night. I haven't been backpacking for a while either (since 2000 and never in the winter) so I am not sure my tarp seals will hold up to a blast of rain. The trailhead has a few cars and visitors. There are quite a few tourists crowding the Cottonwood Springs Oasis at the trailhead but once I leave the Springs behind it's all me. Even the clouds have left me alone.

It's good to be back in the desert with all these strange creations. If you've never seen Jumping Cholla you're missing out. It is especially beautiful when backlit by the sunrise or sunset because of the dense, slightly transparent light-colored spines But if you've never felt a Jumping Cholla you are very lucky indeed. Back in MNE I remember having my own introduction to the plant.


We had been warned at the beginning of a 2-week field trip to stay away from the plant which is said to 'jump' because it seems you don't even have to touch a plant for the cactus pieces to get stuck in your clothes and skin. One expert rates the cholla at number 14 on the world's top hitchhiking plants and undisputed number one most painful hitchhiking plant on account of the hundreds of microbarbs that get caught on their way out of your body (picture velcro from hell).

I was wary the full fortnight in the field and was proud to have picked up no travelling succulents. Until the last day. Our van got stuck leaving our desert campground and I took the opportunity to relieve myself before we hit the open road. My own sense of privacy was my downfall. On my return from my distant desert lavatory trip I must have brushed a cholla with my calf. Thank God for body hair! Most of the spines were embedded in my leg hair so I was spared the full wrath of the cholla. It was painful, but not near half as much as just watching the dozens of spines get individually plier-jerked from a less fortunate classmate.


So I am happy to see my old friend cholla from a safe distance and for the first time note magenta blooms on the tall and sparse ocotillo. The first section of the Lost Palms Oasis trail is fairly flat. It drops and rises a short distance into and out of canyons sometimes following the route of a desert wash a while before returning to the ridges. A few small barrel cactus dot the open desert floor and jackrabbits cross the trail with a careful eye and ear.

Following the guidelines of the trail map I stop to make camp before the 3 mile marker and I try to distance myself the 500 feet from the trail that is required. Some good flat spots appear to rest near house sized rocks on hilltops and I find a very small perch that is out of the wind. I set up my GoLite tarp that got me and Brian through the Pacific Crest Trail (only needed it about 4 nights) and the rest of my gear and head for the Lost Palms Oasis.

En route to the oasis I find that I could have camped at least a quarter mile closer to my photo destination than I thought as I pass a day use area boundary marker nearer the Oasis. Next time. I finally drop into a canyon with tall Palms across from me and stretching away to the East. Apparently the Lost Palms/Victory Palms Oasis is part of the larget California Palm Fan oasis in existence. But most of it is down stream from where I am. I drop down into the canyon and feel the cool lushness of the vegetation that follows the hint of water sitting in the canyon floor. I reach the water just as the sun is setting and so I must leave almost as soon I come due to park policy. Dark falls quickly in the canyon and all the rustling of the many creatures (mostly birds I am sure) vying for precious little water make my look over shoulder. I begin to imagine the mountain lions that must frequent this sure source of prey, the only water within miles around.

I hold my camera tripod in front of me ready for a quick parry of trail kung fu. But I realize with a laugh how effective the tripod served me in my battle with the barbed wire a day before. I return to the camp to find the tripod is much more effective as a stand for my led headlamp, lighting up the cooking area and bed. I peel off a couple of 1 oz cooking tablets (no stove needed!) and get the sierra cup humming. I brought a pre packaged Indian food box from Trader Joe's and some instant rice. I needed every ounce of rice to absorb the firy Indian food. I'm a fan of spicy Asian cuisine, bought I definitely overdid it this time. I wondered how I would sleep on a belly full of red pepper. Very poorly as it turns out, but not on account of the food. After I set up for bed the winds changed to strafe my side of the mountain and only got worse through the night. I eventually got up and watched the moon for a while before I set to untying knots, taking down the tarp in the dark. The tarp and lightweight Tyvec ground cloth were just a liability as they picked up every bit of breeze making a racket around my head. Without the noise of the flapping nylon I finally got a few winks.

I got to do a little morning photography at sunrise which is a rare treat considering I am not in the very least bit a morning person. Ask my wife. But I wasn't too close to any features I had speced out for a shoot so I just took what images were present and started my return hike. I stopped along the way at an especially tall ocotillo (about 13 feet) and returned a happy camper. It was my first backpacking trip since my long bout with a 'back injury' had rearranged my social calendar. And I was warmed by the fact I didn't have a spot of back pain. I'm still feeling the glow.