Friday Night
I pulled into Joshua Tree National Park on Friday night just around sunset. I parked at a trail head & did a short hike (not sure what it was called) and snapped some photos. It was AMAZINGLY pretty, loved the trees & the layers of mountains. Just surreal, couldn’t wipe the grin off my face!
Headed to the BLM land I’d found on iOverlander just north of the entrance of the park to set up camp.
Saturday
I woke up in the BLM land north of Joshua Tree, it’s a huge dried up lake bed that tons of people camp on. There were a ton of vans, RVs, tents and cars all set up to camp. It’s nice to have so many people around, but also have the luxury of everyone being really spread out. Lots of people walking their dogs & getting ready to head into the park for the day.
I drove to the visitor center & picked up a map and some recommendations from the ranger. It seems like most of the hikes are on the northern side of the park. I set off to do the Lost Horse Mine loop, a 6 mile loop that takes you out to an old 1800s gold mine. It was a pretty hike out in the desert. I got an early start & only saw a few people.
After the hike i went to the Geology Tour Road, a 4x4 trail that takes you into the mountains on the south western side. I aired down to 15 psi (such a HUGE difference that makes) and headed off! The park ranger said it took him 3 hours, and he had tore off a part of his front bumper, so I was stoked to give it a shot. The first 3/4 of it was FAST moving, with the soft tires I was able to hold a consistent 20mph, which is quick for a 4x4 trail. The last quarter did get pretty technical, definitely got into 4lo & had to pick lines carefully down the steps & the extremely tight canyon. Tons of fun, at the end it spits you out in public land that the locals have turned into a shooting range. There were like, 20 groups out in the canyon shooting targets with their kitted out ARs & rifles. Kinda cool, kinda weird.
At the end of the day I went through Indio & washed the salt off the Jeep, and headed to the southern part of the park to camp for the night. I spent the night on BLM land just outside the southern entrance. It was EXTREMELY windy that night, the Jeep felt like a boat it was swaying so much. Didn’t get much sleep…
Sunday
The park ranger I spoke to on Saturday also recommended a hike on the southern side of J Tree call the Lost Palms Oasis. It was a little over 8 miles total, hiking out to a canyon where there is an oasis. Totally surreal to be hiking in the desert & then pop out to green palm trees. I spent about an hour wandering around in the oasis taking photos. I would love to do this hike at sunset or sunrise, I think the colors & lighting would be amazing. I am desperate for golden hours every day now…
After my hike I made coffee at the trail head and punched in Sedona to my GPS. Took 5 hours to drive there, planning on spending a few weeks there. Toooons of hikes I’d like to check out!
Monday
I woke up on Monday in the BLM land outside of Western Sedona. It’s a really busy spot (no surprise, it’s close to town & free). Searched for coffee shops in Sedona and settled on Creekside Coffee, an amazing coffee shop with a patio that overlooks the red rocks. Spent a few hours working there, and then headed to the laundromat. There’s always good wifi & outlets at the laundromat, did about an hour and a half of work there as well. I have also found out recently that Whole Foods has WiFi & sometimes a working space/cafe.
After work I drove to the Cottonwood Rec Center to buy a day pass & shower. $8 will get you in all day to use their gym, hot tub, pool, & showers. Pretty sweet deal (thanks Kayla for the deets).
I also made a list of short hikes I want to check out in the area, and settled on Cathedral Rock as my Monday sunset hike. It’s a very short hike, but extremely steep. Definitely more of a scramble than a hike I’d say. The views at the top were incredible, and I met a ton of very nice people! Took a few photos to email to them & connect on social media. It’s always fun meeting new folks! Stayed at the top until the sun set, & then busted out the headlamp for the mile and a half scramble down.
Camped in the same spot, but it was a tad chilly. I popped the camper & made wraps for dinner INSIDE! I LOVE being able to retreat to the inside of the Jeep during the cold or rain. It’s so amazing… Took some photos of the stars & edited my hiking photos while I ate dinner & finished off the Peach Schnapps Loren gave me before I left <3
Tuesday
I’ve been working at a place called Creekside Coffee in the mornings, it’s this awesome little coffee shop that overlooks this beautiful landscape of giant red rocks & a small creek. They have good wifi, outlets, and a killer patio. I’ve met a few people at the coffee shop who I have also run into out on hikes or in the BLM land. Always good to have a comfy spot to work in the mornings & feel like part of a community.
I’ve also been working at the Whole Foods, which has a nice patio area, cafe, and wifi. Super solid afternoon option, also helps me keep stocked up on healthy foods.
After work I decided to hike out to Birthing Cave. Birthing Cave is a 2 mile out and back hike that reaches a large cave thing in the side of a cliff. On the hike I ran into a guy named Ben who I had met at the laundromat earlier in the week. He’s also into photography, so we chatted & waited for the sun to set. I also ran into a group of people I talked with on the trail to Cathedral Rock.
Really pretty hike, but quick! Ended up waiting about an hour in the cave for golden hour. Soooo worth it.
My nightly routine is now to edit all of my photos in the Jeep while I make dinner. Usually takes a few hours & I’m exhausted by the end of it.
Wednesday
I worked Wednesday morning at Creekside again, and then headed to the park / community area to finish my work day. There’s an awesome skatepark, dog park, mountain bike park & pool up in that area with a big parking lot. Looks like tons of van people hang out here to work, do minor repairs, or hangout.
I have been riding around with my Maxtrax traction boards taking up my whole front seat for the last 3 weeks. Decided to do something about that & went to Ace to pick up some hardware to mount them on the roof rack next to the solar panel. A few brackets, 4 bolts, washers, fender washers, nylock nuts later the Maxtrax are on the roof! Love having the front seat open now.
Around 5:00 I set off to do the Devil’s Bridge hike. It’s about a 4 mile round trip, out and back style hike. Made a wrap for pre-dinner & got walking! It’s an awesome hike, with a ton of really beautiful viewpoints. It was also the first cloudy day I’ve had here in Sedona, so the sky was MUCH more interesting than usual. Stuck around at the top & took photos as the sunset. I also took photos of a few groups of people, which is always really fun. I’ll have them put their email & instagram in my phone, so I can send them their photos the next day after I edit them. Someone even left some cash on my bag… kinda weird, but I’ll take it! The photos came out so well.. stoked on them!
I hiked out with someone I met at the arch named Brittany, the company made the hike down fly by. Always fun to chat with new friends about their travels & bond over similar experiences and places.
Spent the night editing photos in the Jeep & sleeping in the rain. Moody but beautiful!
Thursday
Creekside Coffee… so good. Worked there in the morning & then went back to the van hangout spot near the skatepark. Had a great video call with everyone from work to catch up on projects & stuff. Always good to see & talk with people from Chicago.
Once I wrapped up work I went to the skatepark & got to skate around a bit! Definitely rusty, but felt so good to cruise around in the sun & work on a few tricks. A few kids were skating too & totally crushing it. Asked if they wanted to do a little photo shoot, and got some sweet shots! Had a ton of fun chatting with them & shooting skateboarding for the fist time. Definitely want to do it again. It’s a beautiful skatepark next to the mountains.
After skating I went to Whole Foods to stock up, and headed to the trailhead of Seven Sacred Pools. There’s pretty limited parking there, so I parked at the dog park & then hiked out to the real trailhead. Hiked out & stuck around for sunset. Unfortunately there is a large rock formation that blocks the sunset, but the lighting was pretty awesome. Got a few shots that I was really happy with!
Friday
Friday I wrapped up my work day & drove to the Cottonwood Rec Center, the nearest place I know of the shower in Sedona. $8 gets you a day pass with access to the gym, locker rooms, pool, wifi, etc. Pretty slick!
After my shower I wanted to find a cool place to get to for sunset & to explore on Saturday. I found a spot called The End of The World, which is about 2 hours from Sedona, an hour into a national forest up near Flagstaff. The main entrance to the forest roads was closed, so I drove another 15-20 minutes up the road to find a back entrance to the forest. I got in! Feeling stoked that I could work my way up to the End of the World (and probably have it all to myself) I got driving. The forest road was really muddy, and it had also snowed up there recently, so it was a bit a battle for the next hour to get the Jeep up these roads. About an hour into my drive I found another gate… and another gate… Forced to turn around, I headed back towards Sedona for the night.
I got back a bit late, but found some firewood & made a fire to read my book by. Got some sweet photos I’m really proud of!