Day 1: Yucca Valley to Twentynine Palms via Joshua Tree

October 31, 2016

The tour starts in Yucca Valley, California, 100 miles east of Los Angeles. A prosperous and rapidly growing bedroom community for Palm Springs, population 22,000. Yucca Valley is in the high desert at 3369 feet (1020 m) elevation. Northwest of town are the immense San Bernardino mountains. Northeast of town is the vast empty Mojave desert. South of town is the low Coachella Valley. And southeast of town is my destination, Joshua Tree National Park.

I left the motel in Yucca Valley at 7:30 but breakfast and grocery stops delayed the actual departure to 8:40. This is definitely a cool spell. 45F at 7:30 but rising into the 60's by 9 AM. Fortunately the wind was light all day.

The first few miles was gradual downhill going east through Yucca Valley, then east on Alta Loma drive to stay away from busy highway 82.

Alta Loma drive ends at a T on the south edge of the small town of Joshua Tree. I turned right and started climbing toward the park. Rural residential development continues all the way to the park entrance.

By coincidence, my 38th self-supported bike tour starts with the 38th U.S. National Park I have visited during bike tours.

38th U.S. National Park I have visited during bicycle tours.

The park entrance is about 3500 feet elevation but the most interesting parts of the park are above 4000 feet elevation. Two elderly but very fast roadie cyclists passed me. The climb was kind of dreary, going into the sun, waiting for the good scenery to appear. Joshua trees became more common as I climbed.

My first major stop was at the Hidden Valley nature trail. It's surely the most popular place in the entire park. It has a huge parking lot, huge picnic area, and a very busy 1 mile nature trail.

Starting the 1 mile Hidden Valley nature trail.

The trail climbs over a hill into a "hidden valley" and makes a loop around the valley. Great rock formations in every direction. The weather was partly cloudy and about 65F. Very nice.

Hidden Valley Nature Trail. I see a frowning face on the boulder on the right.

It was kind of a shock to see so many people there. But it has excellent scenery and many interpretive signs.

Hidden Valley Nature Trail. I saw only a few blooming rabbit brush in Joshua Tree.

Two bus loads of young Korean tourists arrived just as I was leaving the trail. I have been seeing license plates from all over the country, as far away as New York and Maine. I kind of forgot that National Parks are also international tourist destinations.

Two bus loads of Koreans arrived just as I was leaving. They really liked climbing this big rock.

Back on the road I continued the steady climb on Park Boulevard. The Joshua trees became more dense.

On the road again, passing frequent rock formations.

At 4300 feet elevation I turned right onto the Keys View dead-end road which climbs 900 feet to the Keys View overlook. The view from the overlook makes the climb worth the effort, plus the road passes through the densest stands of Joshua trees around 4500 feet elevation.

Forest of Joshua Trees at 4500 feet elevation.

Half a mile before the main Keys View overlook I was desperate for a rest so I stopped at the handicapped overlook. It has only two parking spaces, both marked for handicapped only. I had this overlook to myself. It has a great view of the Salton Sea and the city of Indio 5000 feet below.

Self portrait at the Keys View handicapped overlook.

I continued uphill to the main Keys View overlook. It has a big parking lot. Visitors must hike 500 feet up a steep unpaved trail to get to the overlook.

Visibility was good. Not much smog drifting in from Los Angeles. No dust cloud blowing in from the Imperial Valley. The wind was mercifully calm.

A huge range of elevation is on display at Keys View. The overlook is 5185 feet elevation, highest point of the tour. To the southeast is the Salton Sea which is 235 feet below sea level. To the southwest is a view across the Coachella Valley (near sea level) towards 10,804 foot Mt. San Jacinto. To the west are the San Bernardino mountains dominated by 11,504 foot Mt. San Gorgonio, the highest peak in southern California.

Keys View looking southeast at the distant Salton Sea. The shore is 235 feet below sea level.

Keys View looking southwest (into the sun) at the San Andreas fault, Palm Springs, and 10,804 foot Mt. San Jacinto.

Leaving Keys View I was looking forward to finally having the sun behind me. I have taken few photos on the road today because I was always going into the sun.

Just before the Keys View road returns to Park Boulevard I stopped at the Cap Rock nature trail. I parked the bike behind a trash container and hiked the 0.4 mile trail. It had nice views of boulders and Joshua Trees, and even moments of good sunshine.

Here's what Wikipedia says about country rock legend Gram Parsons, a Joshua Tree afficionado who overdosed in 1973 at the age of 26:

To fulfill Parsons' funeral wishes, Kaufman and a friend stole his body from the airport and in a borrowed hearse, they drove it to Joshua Tree. Upon reaching the Cap Rock section of the park, they attempted to cremate Parsons' corpse by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a lit match inside. What resulted was an enormous fireball. The police gave chase but, as one account puts it, "were encumbered by sobriety," and the men escaped. The two were arrested several days later. Since there was no law against stealing a dead body, they were only fined $750 for stealing the coffin and were not prosecuted for leaving 35 pounds (16 kg) of his charred remains in the desert.

Cap Rock Nature Trail. My favorite picture from Joshua Tree National Park.

I parked the bike behind trash containers so it could not be seen from the road or parking area.

After hiking the Cap Rock nature trail I continued east on Park Boulevard. A few hilly miles later I took a long stop at the Skull Rock area which has many interesting rock formations.

Skull Rock. Accessible by a 50 foot long trail.

I climbed to the top of a formation and rested on the warm rock, basking in the semi-warm sun and soaking in the great view.

Shortly afterwards I got to the Pinto Basin road intersection. Tomorrow I will go south on that road. If I was camping I could spend the night at one of several nearby campgrounds. But I'm not camping so I must go north and descend 1700 feet to the town of Twentynine Palms to get a motel room.

Descending to Twentynine Palms. The Marine Corps base is at the foot of the distant mountain.

During the descent I paid close attention to the grade because I must climb back to the park tomorrow. Fortunately most of the descent was only 3 to 4% grade. Some of it was 5% grade. I know this because my VDO MC 1.0 cyclocomputer displays elevation and percent grade.

I arrived in Twentynine Palms at 5:30 PM, just before sunset. The town is 1960 feet elevation, lower than I've been so far on this tour. The temperature was 70F just before sunset even though the peak afternoon temperature at Joshua Tree was 65F.

I got a room at 29 Palms Motel, the first motel I encountered when entering town. $64 for a rustic room so small that I had to lock the bike outside.

My motel room in Twentynine Palms was too small to fit the bike inside.

Twentynine Palms has a population of 25,768 but it seems much smaller. It's a dreary gateway town to the Marine Corps base 5 miles north of town.

The National Park headquarters and visitor center is across the highway from my motel, but most visitors enter the park from Yucca Valley because that entrance is closer to all the big cities in southern California.

Downtown Twentynine Palms. I didn't count the palms.

It was a good day overall. The weather was cooler and cloudier than normal but still very pleasant. Thanks to the cool weather I never got drenched in sweat during the long climbs.

Before the tour I was a bit worried that short days would force me to race to the day's destination. So far so good. Today I started later than planned but still managed to finish before sunset.

Distance: 56.5 mi. (90 km)
Climbing: 2978 ft. (902 m)
Average Speed: 9.7 mph (15.5 km/h)
Hiking: 2 mi. (3.2 km)

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 57 miles (92 km)

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