Southern California: Spring in the Deserts
My first time visiting a National Park in the U.S. was very memorable, in more ways than one. Our stargazing experience lit up our nights, but the days were equally bright and had many surprises in store for us!
After I landed in the U.S. for the first time last year, my mother had asked me if everything in the U.S. seems as large and spacious as people have described. And that day I said no. While I still do not understand the fascination many people have with the U.S., I am slowly beginning to see how vast and large this country is. So yes Aai (mother), a lot of the countryside landscape in the U.S. is very spacious, quite literally out of the world.
We had two days to explore the Joshua Tree National Park. The weather Gods had been kind and the park was a short car ride away for us. I cannot believe how many places remain unexplored in the U.S. if you don’t have a car. But we had rented a car, and driving around the park was like landing in another planet. The park is nestled between two different deserts, before they both continue on to different states. To drive through the park is to witness a love story much like ours: two best friends getting together against all odds!
As soon as we hit the road, the expanse of Joshua trees on both sides of the road told us we were in the Mojave desert. We spent a large part of the morning walking and hiking around the spooky and spiky trees. Spring had not yet arrived in the Mojave Desert, and we could see no flowers on the Joshua Trees. We were not surprised because the desert had been under heavy snow a month before our visit.
Joshua Trees, Mojave Desert
The park is huge, which means driving through it is the only viable option. The landscape soon transitioned into that of a rocky, hilly region. The change in terrain was shocking, and it took all of twenty miles to transport us to a different world. This part of the park was full of rocks and many geological wonders. Needless to say, it was a rock climber’s delight. We spent sometime watching people climb the Intersection rock, one of the most famous formations of the park.
Intersection Rock
We spent the rest of the day hiking along the Mojave Desert and explored more rock formations. Hiking is not my favorite thing in the world, and the multiple boards that read “The desert can be deadly” were definitely not helping! However, we had come prepared (with a lot of food and water in the trunk of the car) and thankfully the weather was kind to us. We survived the desert, and I actually had a really nice time stepping out of my comfort zone :)
We ended the day with some bucket list stargazing, and began the next day driving through the Colorado desert. This desert was not too rocky, and had Ocotillo and Cholla cacti instead of Joshua trees. This desert bore a shocking resemblance to Ladakh (India), the place that made me fall in love with traveling! We decided to skip hiking, because the desert was getting hotter by the hour. Although we did not spend much time here, it was heartwarming to see the Ocotillo and cacti bloom with beautiful little flowers. We found spring where we least expected it: in this beautiful wonderland!
Left to Right: Ocotillo and Cholla Cacti
Spring in the Colorado Desert
Our trip was filled with fun moments, like driving to the Arch Rock town instead of the Arch rock formation within the park. Oops! The person in charge of navigation messed up. Would you believe me if I say it wasn’t me? :P One of the joys of traveling is to experience different seasons in different parts of the world, and watching spring in the deserts gave me hope. As we drove away from the park, I wondered, “If Californian spring is here, could European summer be far behind?”