Joshua Tree-A Winter Paradise!

Looking for some winter sand and sun? Then Joshua Tree should be on your list of places to visit! Even if you are not a hiker, there is plenty to see and do! Here is the link to the park website. I recommend avoiding weekends if you can! On the drive to Joshua Tree I stopped in Fresno to visit some friends I haven't seen in forever! It was good to catch up and share a meal! I also picked up a gluten free sandwich for lunch on trail the next day! 

I enjoyed my short backpacking trip on the California Riding and Hiking Trail. There was no rain, with only a few clouds to make the skyline interesting, especially at sunrise and sunset. The trail is sandy and I stopped several times a day to dump the sand out of my shoes. The sand also made it a bit harder to walk, which was good training for my next hike. There were lots of people on trail. I saw more people on the CRHT in four days than on the Arizona trail in 6 weeks. I wasn't the only person looking a warmer winter adventure that avoided rain and snow.

Since it wasn't windy, which is often an issue in Joshua Tree, it was pretty ease to find a camp site each night. I used my ultralight single wall tent and it worked great! My tent stakes didn't anchor well in the sand, so I spent a few minutes each night finding some rocks to pile on top of the main stakes so they didn't pull out in the middle of the night. I carried my Garmin Mini 2 which I used to track my progress, see the link below, and used the satellite texting service to check in with Eva on a daily basis.

I listened to many good sermons and theological podcasts while hiking the CRHT, and also spent a few hours each day thinking...sometimes out loud, and singing songs that were rattling around in my head.  There is something about walking that makes whatever else I am doing so much more enjoyable and productive. I wonder if I wouldn't have enjoyed school more if classrooms had treadmills. 

I cached a total of 5 gallons of water at four locations along the trail and it was more than enough for the 75 mile hike. The only place water was available was the Blackrock Campground where I ate dinner on night two and turned around to hike back to the North entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. On my return trip, I crushed the empty water jugs and packed them out. I planned a couple of side trips but didn't do any extra miles because I failed to pack enough food for an extra night on trail that would have required.

For the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Arizona Trial, I used a back county navigation app called FarOut. It is an amazing tool, but it doesn't have a trail guide for the CRHT. I am learning to use another navigation tool: Gaia GPS which allows me to design my own routes and this hike was the first real test of my new skills. The learning curve has been steep and a bit frustrating, but the app worked very well on this hike and I learned a few helpful things along the way! I look forward to using it more this year.

I mentioned in a previous post I would be trying some new shoes. I decided to test them on a day hike before the trip and I'm glad I did because it turns out they were not a good fit. Once I find a pair of shoes that fit well, I like to stick with them for as long as I can. This helps prevent blisters and injury. In 2020, After one test pair, I bought seven pair of ASICS Men's Gel-Scram 5 trail running shoes and I'm on my last pair. The Gel-Scram is no longer available so I ordered another model and I'm wearing them right now! Hopefully they'll provide the right balance of cushion and support for my picky feet! 

Below are links to my GPS tracks for the CRHT and all the photos I took. 

Garmin Tracks

Google Photos Album

Thanks for following along!

Butterfingers