This is not a culinary report. Food doesn’t actually appear in this report at all. For once, that wasn’t the focus. I wanted to go to that Desert. There, where the starry sky shines at night, where bizarre stone formations line the dusty hiking trails and where silence falls over the expanse. And where the desert blooms at the beginning of March.
The plan was to be alone in the desert. So I rented a hut that was as remote as possible and could only be reached via a sandy road. I had high hopes that at least a toaster would be part of the kitchen equipment and bought lots of kimchi, cheese, yoghurt and muesli. A bottle of wine and a pack of pasta also went into the shopping basket. Experience has shown that the knives in such accommodation are always dull, so I wanted to avoid cutting anything in the first place. On the third evening I treated myself to a pizza in the next town (12 km away) and it was actually quite good.
All I wanted was the pure desert feeling. And see how they do it Desert in spring blooms.
a cabin in the desert
“The best way to get there is with a four-wheel drive. The route to the cabin can be treacherous,” it said in the directions the day before arrival. Well, I don’t have four-wheel drive, I drive a regular sedan. But – I can drive. Admittedly, lightning ice and narrow hairpin bends make me uneasy, but a sandy track is child’s play (I’m such a show-off). I have to think like that because otherwise I might get scared when I leave the highway in the dark and have to fight my way through supposedly impassable terrain. However, as it turned out, the four-wheel drive was a bit exaggerated: avoid zigzags and sandy hollows and I was there. Easy.
The cabin consists of just one room with a separate bathroom and a large veranda. Perfect. I put the suitcase down, unpack the essentials and sit on the veranda. I put a blanket around my shoulders because it gets cold in the desert at night. Especially in mid-March. I just sit there and look at the starry sky and find myself starting to count satellites like I did in South Africa. I had hoped it would be like that time in the Rocky Mountains, where I saw the Milky Way above me like a spiral nebula at an altitude of over 1000 meters. It wasn’t quite like that after all. But there were an infinite number of stars.
Joshua Tree National Park
The special thing about Joshua Tree National Park are his – as the name suggests – Joshua Trees. They are actually yucca palms and if you think about it, they are related to asparagus. So purely theoretically, I’m surrounded by a representative of the asparagus family. The Joshua tree is botanically called Yucca brevifolia and belongs to the Asparagaceae family, i.e. the asparagus family. Within this family, Yucca sits in the subfamily Agavoideae – i.e. the agave relatives. So much for botany.
In 1994, the part that had previously been listed as a national monument was declared Mojave and the Sonoran desert declared a national park. It’s not just these that are typical of the park Joshua Treesbut also the surreal granite rocks, which seem to have been piled up by giants. They were created by geological processes, weathering, wind and occasional heavy rains — hence this almost sculptural, otherworldly landscape.
The Admission via one of the three entrances costs $30 and the ticket is valid for seven days. One day I go there early in the morning, then back to my hut and again at sunset. What is absolutely spectacular about the park is that it is so clean. There is not a single piece of paper or a plastic bottle anywhere. How they manage to keep this park so clean is a mystery to me or the visitors are actually extremely disciplined so that, like me, they treat nature with reverence and don’t litter it.
The best place for sunset is Keys View. Shortly before the sun goes down, it’s almost impossible to get a parking space. People come in droves and watch the sun sink behind the San Bernadino Mountains. It is windy and the temperatures are dropping quickly. But it is also spectacular. High above the Coachella Valley you can see the Salton Sea and the San Andreas Fault.
The sky changes color from orange to purple to deep blue. In the last light of the day, the Joshua trees look like guardians of the desert, welcoming the night with outstretched arms. For the first time I wish there were heated seats because I was really cold after the sunset spectacle. What would I give for a tea with rum right now.
Hiking in the park
I am not a passionate hiker. I never was. But I liked the landscape here. I love this desert. I am happy about the cacti with their shimmering purple spines, I follow ecstatically a tiny bird that sits in one of the gnarled trees and I just listen to the silence. For me, that’s the magical thing about the desert – you hear next to nothing. Now, in mid-March, there are only a few visitors here. I choose short trails, just 2-3 kilometers, which is usually enough for me because I don’t go fast. I want to soak up every millimeter. The Hidden Trail is perfect for a short hike like this. Short and impressive. But sometimes I just walk to the next rock, find a large, smooth spot and lie down on it. You can still do that. In the summer it would certainly be like lying on a barbecue of your own free will.
The blooming desert
Desert flowers – I see flowers in the most beautiful colors everywhere. Bright purple or orange. The Joshua trees grow big white inflorescences out of. Some of the flowers on the ground are tiny, some of the larger ones appear lonely because they bloom as solitaires. Even the cholla cacti produce small, inconspicuous flowers. Sometimes I just sit next to a flower and just look at it. I would never think of picking one. Why? I’d rather sniff it just to find out that it smells like nothing at all. In addition, where there are flowers, long, nasty thorns are often not far away. The little beauties are protected. Before whatever. In any case, I’m not a threat to them. I have to remember that some seeds often wait in the ground for years before they start to flower. As I stand in front of a wide area with lots of small yellow flowers between sandy rocks, I feel very, very lucky that I get to see this.
At night in the park
It’s a little darker in the park than around my hut, where there are a few houses in the distance and the town Joshua Tree is about 10 kilometers away. I haven’t given up hope of seeing the Milky Way yet. It’s pitch black around me and I have to remember that now is probably the time of the hunters around me. The desert spiders. But I sit in the car and stare at the night sky until my neck hurts. Outside I am a victim of mosquitoes, how they get into the desert is a mystery to me. Annoying beasts.
But at no point do I feel uncomfortable here, all alone at night in the national park.
And then, to celebrate my last evening in the desert, I go out for pizza. I feel almost more uncomfortable in the lively restaurant than alone in the desert. I feel a little strange after all the silence all day. Luckily it passes quickly, but I’m still somehow happy to get back to my hut. I have no idea how much a cabin in the desert costs, but if I lived in LA I would give anything to own one. But maybe it was just the magic that comes over you when you’re not used to such silence. She touched me. I would go there again at any time.
More information for stargazers: Stargazing
and a few more tips about the park
There is no cell phone reception in the park. So if you set up the best destinations on Google Maps beforehand, you will find that it is of no use within the park. That’s why you should download the NPS app beforehand to help you find your way around. Conveniently, you also receive a map of the park with entry, which is very helpful for orientation.
It’s quieter during the week than on the weekend, but that should be clear anyway.
There are 515 places in the park where you can camp. However, you should definitely not leave this to chance and must book a place in advance.
Drones are completely banned. Anyone who does not comply can receive a severe penalty. Better not to risk it.
and we will continue in the next report San Diego. The last stop on my California road trip.
