The Tree Part One

Last weekend my friend Doug and I made a pilgrimage of sorts. We went camping in Joshua Tree.

Back in the day, we spent quite a bit of time out there, hiking and scrambling over boulders and riding bikes and drinking beers and telling lies, half-truths, and the occasional deep, dark secret - the kind that would never be spoke aloud were it not protected by the starlit darkness of a desert evening. In short, it was a special place for both of us and for our friendship.

A couple months ago Doug called me and implored me to set aside a weekend to go out, and by scheduling two months in advance we were able to get time on both our calendars. Friday morning we were rolling by about 10 AM, on our way to Joshua Tree National Park via Palmdale, Hesperia, and Yucca Valley.

After some dirt road navigation (tip: a road shown as a heavy red line in the Delorme Atlas is not necessarily paved) we managed to get to Joshua Tree, somewhat ahead of the weekend hordes. We pulled in to Ryan Campground around 2:30 and were set up to camp by 3:00.

We decided we didn't really have time for a full-blown hike, so we checked out some ruins in the area and did a little light rock scrambling before Happy Hour.

Here is a panoramic photo from the trip - the view from the ruins of Ryan Ranch, taken during Friday afternoon's light hike. This house was occupied by the Ryan family in the late 1800s and early 1900s, while they raised cattle on the valley floor. The original construction is hand-made adobe brick, but you can see where later occupants added poured concrete slabs.

Panorama from Ryan Homestead

As an aside, let me say that Photoshop is an amazing program. I know I'm a little late to the party on this but I was amazed at how easily it stitched together that panorama from the component photos. Amazed I say!

This is but the first in a large pile of pictures from the weekend. More details of the trip and photos to come soon.