Lost Palms Oasis

Breakfast and chatting with the family this morning, before packing up the van to continue the trip. There are hugs and goodbyes, and maybe we'll meet again in this corner of the world for some hiking, and so Mario and I continue with our own plans. Palm Desert is a very inviting and comfortable place, especially when you add in good friends, a pool and hot tub, and a very friendly rescue cat, so we're not sure if we'll have company in our more far afield desert adventures.

We drive the good old Interstate 10, with all the big rigs, into Chiriaco Summit, where we continue on to the south entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. Since we had a slow start this morning, we don't get to the trail head as early as we usually do, and are lucky to find a parking spot at the Lost Palms Oasis. We take long enough to get ready for the hike, however,  that a decent spot frees up, and Mario swoops in to claim it. He does so with such skill, apparently, that a retired 18-wheel trucker stops by to compliment Mario on his excellent parking form. Mario is absolutely glowing after that. I am doomed. (Mario: "It is the highlight of my vacation so far.")

Time for some serious hiking: the Lost Palms Oasis trail is a mostly flat, uninteresting trail, or so say some of the reviews we read. In reality, it sweeps up and down the waves of land between desert washes, curves up around hills and weaves its way up slopes to fascinating lookouts, where we can see all the way down through the mountains to the Salton Sea. And don't forget all the fascinating desert flora that is sprinkled all over the landscape, plants that we learned about on our last trip here, and can identify pretty easily now. How can you call this boring?!

Pencil Cholla Cactus

We spot birds and lizards that immediately dart out of sight. We cross paths with hikers travelling in either direction, and climb up every wave of eroded rock, descend into every shady wash, until we have to scramble down, down, down until we reach the cool shade of the oasis filled with mile-high palm trees. So worth it. (I prefer to call it "scrumbling" as we are scrambling down a granite slope where the ground is crumbled up, creating pockets of marbles that roll under your feet, making it hard to keep balance while walking down the slope. I might have to trademark that term.)

Cool flowers going to seed in the desert	Kind of a slot canyon - we've seen better.
Mario admiring the desert scenery	Hi! We're on a mountain!

We find comfortable rocks to lounge on for lunch. I sit and write while Mario explores the oasis. There's no visible water, no bubbling pool, but you can tell where the ground holds all of its moisture, and there is a line of tall palm trees that stand like soldiers in a row down in the valley. We can hear some people sitting in the rocking above us, but few make it the entire way down. Eventually, we finish our PB&J, drink apple juice, and scramble our way back up and out of the oasis. 

Now, I like a loop trail. If given a choice, I will always choose a loop over a straight in and out trail, since the views are the same when you are returning, making the often most tiring part of the hike that much less visually appealing. This was not a loop trail, but the scenery seemed so different in the late afternoon light that I would swear we were not taking the same route back! In the end, 12 km went by easily(4 hours), and besides sore feet, which I think is very normal after walking such a long distance, Mario and I both thoroughly enjoyed the hike. If you are in the area, and looking for a moderately challenging hike, I would highly recommend it. 

Making our way back

Birds in the palms

We finished the day by making our way to the BLM camping just south of Joshua Tree N.P., the same place we first discovered this whole off-grid camping experience two years ago. I took advantage of the last of the daylight to sweep some of that desert dust out of the camper, before we sat down with a glass of wine to enjoy the sunset.