Palm Springs

We left the quiet of the California Coast, Monterey, and the redwoods for the Palm Springs area of southern California.  We parked in Indio, a small oasis park in the desert.  A few rural communities and large cities with their irrigated lawns and gardens interrupted the desert drive between Monterey and Indio.   

  The expanse of desert reminded us again, as it did on our cross country trip a few years ago, how rural and undeveloped we are in many regions in our country.  California’s drought was well demonstrated by the persistent haze that hung over southern California.  

 

Looking across the horizon, in all directions, the clear crisp outlines of the surrounding geography that we had enjoyed along the coast were replaced with persistent haze.  The slightest breeze stirred the sand and dust blowing it in drifts and waves across the landscape.

These two day drives require a spot to camp overnight.  The expanse of desert between Monterey and Indio didn’t leave many options.  Researching campsites and routes led us to Mojave!  Dry, barren, remote.  We pulled in, plugged in, hooked up, and went for a walk along the desert sidewalks of an undeveloped neighborhood.  Weeds growing in the cracks in the road and along the edges of the sidewalk testified to the harsh economic realities of building neighborhoods in this part of California.

We arrived in Indio, a low rent neighbor to the more populated and affluent Palm  Springs just a few miles away.  We stayed at a luxurious, grassy park with two pools, morning buffet of waffles and OJ by the pool, water aerobics in the morning sun and many social opportunities.  It was a real community with people who’ve been returning for years and act as hosts to various daily social outings.  We tried the chair yoga once, skipped the happy hour, and went to the Thursday night movie complete with cookies, drinks and free popcorn.  It was fun and easy to reach out and meet other travelers.

  

Indio was a launching point to sites in the Joshua Tree National Park for outdoor explorations and some city sightseeing in nearby Palm Springs.   

  

Indio Performing Arts Center provided a pleasant nightlife opportunity to see ‘Country Queens in Concert’.  Bethany Owens did a one woman show impersonating legends of country and pop music.  With simple, on stage costume/wig changes she took us through songs of Cher, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynett and more.  

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree is one of the smaller parks in the National Park system, but it is the home of interesting rock formations and trees, the Joshua Tree.   

Currently a desert environment, a dry, dusty, sage desert environment, it was shaped eons ago.

Several factors contributed to the landscape we toured.  This landscape has been formed and reformed for over 100 million years by the forces of water, wind, chemical weathering and plate tectonics. 

Hard granite formations became embedded in softer, older bedrock creating granitic intrusions.   

 

Eons ago this region was submerged.  In this underwater world, water gradually eroded away some of the bedrock creating rounded edges and exposing the granite.  Then, plate tectonic movements lifted this area. The climate changed, water retreated and a desert region was born.   

 

Over the eons wind, water and weather continued eroding the bedrock, opening the granitic intrusions to further erosion creating these dynamic rock sculptures.  Magnificent rock formations now dot the landscape.  

One of the vista points in the park is a view of the San Andreas Fault.  Through the dusty haze we can see the line of plate movement that shaped this area long ago and continues to shape the world we now inhabit.  A time or two we felt the earth move under our feet and later heard that several small quakes occurred in the area during our visit.  It was not hard to ponder the possible future changes.

 

Many of these rock formations look like giant cairns and they share this landscape with the Joshua Tree.  But this is not a tree in the normal sense.  It is unlike trees we commonly see in the northwest.  

There is no lower branching of limbs, rather all the leaves are gathered at the top of the tree.  It has highly adapted leaves to help retain water in the desert environment. They look something like a cross between a giant pine needle and a palm frond. 

It only blooms under the right conditions at higher elevation when proper moisture becomes available.  When it blooms it has a large flower at the tip of each branch that, when closed looks like a giant, white artichoke, but when open resembles something like a freesia.  

 

A tall Joshua Tree would be about 20 feet tall.  They are hard to date because they do not grow annual rings as most trees do.  As part of their adaptation to the desert their inner layer is more like a cactus, fibrous and growing vertically.  

The Joshua Tree and rock formations, together with other desert plants and flowers create a quite rugged landscape.   

Trails travel throughout the park and are easily accessible to those prepared for a hike in the desert sun. 

Equipped with our sunglasses, hats, lots of water and the ubiquitous granola bars we traversed a few of these trails.  Although completely unlike the redwood area, this landscape has the same ability to touch a very ancient, primitive part of the soul.   

 

Both speak to the power of nature to attract and nurture just the right species of plant and animal to create a unique environment. 

 

 

Big Sur

Big Sur

 

Somehow both Jack and I had the misconception that Big Sur was a specific destination.  So, along this trip we learned that Big Sur is actually a region.   

The Big Sur is a region along the Pacific Coast that extends about 70 miles between the areas of Carmel and San Simeon.  It is here in this area that the range of redwoods comes to an end. 

  

We spent a day sightseeing along this magnificent region.  Unlike the sunny, sandy beaches of southern California, the Pacific Ocean, along the Big Sur region, crashes into coastline bluffs and rocky outcroppings.  

 

 The power and passion of the Pacific, as it crashes, can hold us spellbound. Sweeping views pull us over at nearly every viewpoint along the highway to see more and more.  Small trails, thick with poison oak, lead to bluff overlooks. 

 

From here we could see the clear, bright aquamarine colors of the Pacific as waves rolled in from some distance and splash into small pools swirling near shore and around shoreline rocks.  While fog could creep in, hover close to the ground, and hang in the trees, we were blessed with clear skies, warm days, and abundant fresh air.

 

Beaches and small bays allow beachside access for splashing, picnics, and beach walks.   

We found one such beach and spent some time hypnotized by the endless rolling of the waves.  I stretched out on the beach peacefully napping while Jack snapped pictures.   

Parks crop up along route offering picnic sites and information about the region.  We expect to see these parks, but are somewhat unprepared for the number of personal residences that perch at the very outmost point of numerous bluffs.  They seem vulnerable to California’s earthquakes.  They seem out of place in the place that feels so wild, natural, and largely undeveloped.  

Point Lobos, CA

Point Lobos State Park

Point Lobos, the purported ‘crown jewel’ of the California Parks system is on our agenda while in the Monterey area.  This destination comes complete with another sunny day, though the wind blows when we arrive at Point Lobos.   

This park has trails the follow a bluff to viewpoints above the shoreline, trails to the interior of the park and a long braided trail along the shoreline.  Cypress trees are the tree of distinction at Point Lobos.  Redwoods are still sprinkled along the coast, but here the Cypress dominates.   

 

Stressed by the recent drought in California sapling sprouts are few and far between.  

Prolific, poison oak abounds. So, despite the sunny, warm day I’ve covered up with my hiking pants and a long sleeved sunscreen shirt.  When given the chance, we like to show up for local docent or ranger walks.  Though Jack knows a lot about various forest habitats, getting the perspective and insight from a local expert is always appreciated.   

 

And so we arrived in time for a guided walk at 10:00 AM. To become a docent at Point Lobos requires a six month training period with fellow docents and various experts in fields of forestry, flora and fauna, marine sea life, resident land animal populations. and the varied environmental and political issues of the area. We weren’t disappointed.  Our docent loved Point Lobos more than any other area in California and engaged our attention along a one mile bluff walk. 

 

He carefully and frequently pointed out poison oak while providing information about the wood rat, sea otters, sea lions, and whale migrations.  Along with random items that hikers have lost along the trails, the wood rat gathers woody debris from the forest floor and builds elaborate nests that can become multi-family, multi-generational homes.  The nests are a lot like beaver dams with tunnels and rooms that serve specific purposes in the lives of the rat.  Who knew?  He brought along various ‘show and tell’ items to give us an up close understanding of aspects of the walk. 

Encouraging us to use our senses to figure out what we would see next, he has us all straining to hear the barking of sea lions that appear on a rocky outcrop in the ocean as we round the next corner.  Out comes his sea lion puppet and he explains the differences between seals and sea lions!  

 Different legs/flippers, ears, and more distinguish one from the other.  Sea otters are frequently sighted floating on their back and eating or swimming in and out, over and under the waves.  Later, pulling out a map of the park, he shows us how, at one time, the entire area was under private ownership.  These landowners knew the area was priceless as a natural preserve and saw the encroaching land development.

 

Over time they bought up much of the region, much of which had already been platted for sub-development. Eventually they donated it to the state of California for preservation. 

We ended our day hiking along other ocean front trails and picnicking on the beach.