This weeks adventure takes us to Joshua Tree National Park! This was my fifth time there and the National Park I have visited the most. Every time I go I see some new incredible wildlife…last year was the rattle snake. This year was a Bobcat perched up in a cave! Joshua Tree has a special place in my heart. My first time there was with my mom on a driving tour. Two years ago my mom and dad I went and 10 days later my father passed away. Our last family photo of all three of us together was at Joshua Tree near Hidden Valley. Every return back to the park conjures up memories of my dad and our last outing.

Aside from family memories, the first time I lead a camping trip with my organization Great Outdoors was to Joshua Tree. Again I returned this April leading a group of 10 great guys for a weekend of camping, hiking, and fellowship.

Unlike my previous trips to Joshua Tree, this trip was a bit more trying due to inclement weather. Usually, Joshua Tree is in the 80’s during the day and 50’s at night during April and very little rain. As luck would have it….this weekend we had sun and heat, rain, clouds, cold, blustery winds and a definite chill in the air. Thursday we began to arrive and set up camp and the weather was gorgeous. Friday, the weather was gray and cloudy and chilly. In the afternoon the rain came and we headed for our tents to play Hearts. As the night wore on, I was deathly cold…I kept shaking and shivering and had on 5 sweaters/shirts, two caps, two pairs of pants and 2 pairs of socks and was still cold. As the rain let up near midnight….the desert winds picked up. I laid in my tent sure the wind would pull the stakes out and the tent would collapse. Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep at all with the howling fierce winds rattling and shaking my tent all night. I laid there thinking how did the cattle drivers and native Americans deal with this…with less luxury than I had!

As morning dawned, the sun came out and the winds died down and Saturday was definitely the choice day. We head out at 10 to a trail head called Pine City which was nice since I had not done this hike before. We met up with the Palm Springs Group and there were 17 of us who hike the 3 mile trail, had lunch, and spotted a Bob Cat and a coyote as well as many birds, cacti, and reptiles. We also did a short walk over to the Desert Queen Mine ruins which was nice. Saturday night we had our Happy Hour and Potluck (lots of pasta and carbs!) and then a wonderful campfire sharing stories. Saturday night weather was chilly but a bit more cooperative. I awoke in the early morning to the lonely bark and howl of a coyote not far from my tent which the sound of the coyote is one of my favorite sounds….it sounds so lonely, so forlorn. Sundays weather was cloudy and rain was predicted again (who knew it rained so much in the desert!). So we packed up early and headed back. In spite of some of the inclement weather, it was a great trip with great guys and fellowship. I love the desert. I often sit and meditate on the harshness of the environment as I watch the wildlife in their struggle to survive. Survival of the fittest definitely rules the desert.

Now I know many of you read this, not so much for my personal introspections but also for historical content, so I won’t leave that out. I’ve gotten many emails from you readers saying that you enjoy the historical content also especially for those of you out of state or out of country…so here you go!

Joshua Tree National Park was established on October 31, 1994, by President William Clinton as part of the California Desert Protection Act which signed created the largest protected wilderness area ever for the lower 48 states. His signing added 234,000 acres to the already existing national monument boundaries and elevated it to national park status.

The Park includes two deserts - the higher elevation Mojave and the lower elevation Colorado. Elevations within our boundaries range from 5,814 feet (1,772 meters) at the top of Quail Mountain to 536 feet (162 meters) at the southern end of the Coxcomb Mountains in the Pinto Basin. It's earliest inhabitants were the Pinto Basin culture, whose material remains have been found along the ancient shoreline within the basin and date from 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. More recent Native American populations included hunting and gathering groups who were ancestors of the Chemehuevi, Cahuilla, and Serrano peoples. Chemehuevis lived in the Oasis of Mara area of Twenty-nine Palms until the early 1900s. Surveyor Henry Washington visited the area in 1855.

By the late 1800s the Oasis of Mara had become a popular watering stop for miners on their way to and from the gold mines and prospect holes. Some of the more productive mines included the Desert Queen, the Lost Horse and the Eldorado. Estimates of the amount taken out vary from $40,000 to 40,000,000.

At the same time that mining activity was booming in the 1890s, the park with its lush grass and vegetation was attracting others. These were the cattlemen who came in search of winter ranges. At one time as many as 400 head of cattle grazed in the valleys at the higher elevations. Some of these early cattlemen included Barker and Shay, the Talmadge brothers, Ollie Smith and the McHaney brothers. The last holder of a grazing permit was County Sheriff, Jim Stocker, who was still running cattle in 1945 when all grazing was terminated.

In the late 1920s, homesteaders began settling in the Twentynine Palms area. The development of more roads into the desert brought with it an influx of land developers and cactus poachers. A Pasadena resident, Mrs. Minerva H. Hoyt, who was extremely fond of the desert, became very concerned about the removal of cacti and other desert plants to desert gardens in Los Angeles. Her tireless efforts to protect the desert environment culminated in the creation of Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936.

The newly created monument was first administered by the superintendent of Yosemite National Park. James E. Cole was appointed as the first superintendent and arrived here in 1940. The eastern portion of the historic Oasis of Mara was deeded to the Park Service by the Twentynine Palms Corporation in 1950. That same year, the Monument's boundary was reduced by 260,000 acres to exclude some mining properties. In 1976 Congress designated 420,000 acres within the Monument as wilderness, protecting them from any future development.