Summary: My friends and I went on a day trip to Joshua Tree to visit this iconic national park to hike and take photos. I budget $50 to use for the day at Joshua Tree.
New Adventures in Joshua Tree
Out in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park everything seemed like an illusion. That may be because of the blazing sun shining down, the buckets of sweat or the changing colors of my skin. However, there was no turning back as I wanted to capture the iconic and famous Joshua Tree Park. While it was a bit of a journey the goal in mind was to visit a location that is aesthetic, full of history and on a low budget of $50.
My friends Kristen Cuaresma, Garrett Vile and Christian Rubi joined me. Unknowing of many of the factors, it was important to me that we all visit a new spot making this our first visit. We wanted to shoot photos at one of the most iconic photography locations.
Over the past few years, Joshua Tree has become “THE” location photographers take their clients. We thought it would be great to take photos and see if this location was worth all of the hype.
We knew going to a national park would be an easy way to save money and still have fun.
Joshua Tree is a popular national parks due to the unique desert look. I only knew what Josua Tree looked like from photos I had seen on Instagram. I expected to see many rocks and desert looking trees.
As someone who easily gets car sick very easily, I was dreading the drive. I was also a little nervous. The road seemed to go on forever as I followed the yellow line on the black road, thinking of the adventure that awaited us. As I dozed in and out of sleep, I could hear Fleetwood Mac playing gently on the radio. It woke me enough to notice that we were driving past the iconic huge windmills in Palm Spring. Still, in a daze, I became entranced with the way the giant white propellers rhythmically turn like ballerinas dancing.
Rubi whispered in my ear, “We are getting closer to Joshua Tree.” The second I saw those windmills I knew there was no turning back now. At this point, I realized that staring at those windmills turning made me horribly car sick. Motion sickness was a common issue for me.
As we continued driving I gently touched the window to test how hot it was. I nearly burned my hand. I looked at Kristen’s dashboard. The thermostat read 103 degrees. I wondered how we would last in this heat. Soon I saw a huge sign: Entering Joshua Tree National Park.
We pulled up slowly to a kiosk where a park ranger sat comfortably inside. I did not understand how she sat in this heat all day. I was already dying from the heat and I hadn’t been here for more than five minutes. The ranger handed me a map and charged $30 for the day parking pass. My jaw dropped. How could they charge $30 to park in this sandbox? I handed her the money. In exchange, all I got in return was a parking stub to one of the hottest places on earth.
“Enjoy your trip, don’t get lost and stay hydrated,” the park ranger said with a smile.
As we knew our phone signal would be spotty we took a map to help guide us and we all had to take a look at it as that is how difficult it was to understand. We had no idea where to begin or even any idea of where we were. As we drove all we saw were a cracked road, sand, desert trees and basically nothing else. We drove for about 10 minutes in the park before we decided to pull over and take some photos.
All around us stood the iconic Yucca Brevifolia otherwise known as Joshua Trees. The large, succulent-like trees stood bigger than I imagined. The brown trunk and branches sported a spiky texture that easily peeled off. Green thorn-like leaves covered the top.
We exited the car. The breath of hot air blasted every inch of our bodies. It was not only 112 degrees but the dry air seemed to suck the moisture out of our bodies. The light and heat from the sun was radiating down on us and already the inside of our car was beyond hot and the AC was no use. I started regretting my choice of outfit. Wearing all black was not the smartest decision.
“No wonder no one is here, it is too hot to be here hiking and taking photos today! We really picked a bad day to come,” said Vile.
We continued to walk further into Joshua Tree. I became amazed at nature. Never did I realize that a desert could be so beautiful. I took in all of the trees that were around us and the majestic views of the rocky terrain that we were getting ready to hike. As we were walking some more, we saw a photo worthy area for us to set up our camera timer and begin to take photos.
As we positioned ourselves for the picture the 10-second camera timer felt like the longest 10 seconds of our lives. The sun beat down so strong that we could not stand still in the sun another second. We did not make it very far at our first stop. We decided to drive farther into the park.
The water bottles that we brought turned warm, making it difficult to drink. We drank them anyways, returned to the car and drove to the next stop.
At that stop was a trail to the rocky terrains. Despite the heat, we hiked up to the trail to the top of the rocks. I wore my checked slip-on Vans with no grip on the soles. As I looked up all I can see is a wall of huge tan rocks. I felt nervous looking up and began to psych myself out.
But my friends started ahead. I told myself that I had nothing to worry about and began to follow them. Figuring out which rock was the safest to hold onto and which path would be the easiest to get to the top was stressful. One wrong step could easily lead any of us to get hurt. Sweat ran down from under my hat and started dripping onto my face, making it harder to hike. Deep breathes and staying hydrated were the only things that helped me during this hike.
“Finally we made it to the end,” said Rubi.
Just a few more steps later and I finally saw the view of Joshua Tree. The sky was bright blue, the clouds looked soft and gentle, and the desert seemed endless. In that moment, I knew that the long car ride, the exhausting heat, and spending those $30 on the parking pass was well worth it.
74485 National Park Drive
Twentynine Palms, CA 92277-3597
(760) 367-5500
$30 Day Parking
New Adventures in Joshua Tree
Out in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park everything seemed like an illusion. That may be because of the blazing sun shining down, the buckets of sweat or the changing colors of my skin. However, there was no turning back as I wanted to capture the iconic and famous Joshua Tree Park. While it was a bit of a journey the goal in mind was to visit a location that is aesthetic, full of history and on a low budget of $50.
My friends Kristen Cuaresma, Garrett Vile and Christian Rubi joined me. Unknowing of many of the factors, it was important to me that we all visit a new spot making this our first visit. We wanted to shoot photos at one of the most iconic photography locations.
Over the past few years, Joshua Tree has become “THE” location photographers take their clients. We thought it would be great to take photos and see if this location was worth all of the hype.
We knew going to a national park would be an easy way to save money and still have fun.
Joshua Tree is a popular national parks due to the unique desert look. I only knew what Josua Tree looked like from photos I had seen on Instagram. I expected to see many rocks and desert looking trees.
As someone who easily gets car sick very easily, I was dreading the drive. I was also a little nervous. The road seemed to go on forever as I followed the yellow line on the black road, thinking of the adventure that awaited us. As I dozed in and out of sleep, I could hear Fleetwood Mac playing gently on the radio. It woke me enough to notice that we were driving past the iconic huge windmills in Palm Spring. Still, in a daze, I became entranced with the way the giant white propellers rhythmically turn like ballerinas dancing.
Rubi whispered in my ear, “We are getting closer to Joshua Tree.” The second I saw those windmills I knew there was no turning back now. At this point, I realized that staring at those windmills turning made me horribly car sick. Motion sickness was a common issue for me.
As we continued driving I gently touched the window to test how hot it was. I nearly burned my hand. I looked at Kristen’s dashboard. The thermostat read 103 degrees. I wondered how we would last in this heat. Soon I saw a huge sign: Entering Joshua Tree National Park.
We pulled up slowly to a kiosk where a park ranger sat comfortably inside. I did not understand how she sat in this heat all day. I was already dying from the heat and I hadn’t been here for more than five minutes. The ranger handed me a map and charged $30 for the day parking pass. My jaw dropped. How could they charge $30 to park in this sandbox? I handed her the money. In exchange, all I got in return was a parking stub to one of the hottest places on earth.
“Enjoy your trip, don’t get lost and stay hydrated,” the park ranger said with a smile.
As we knew our phone signal would be spotty we took a map to help guide us and we all had to take a look at it as that is how difficult it was to understand. We had no idea where to begin or even any idea of where we were. As we drove all we saw were a cracked road, sand, desert trees and basically nothing else. We drove for about 10 minutes in the park before we decided to pull over and take some photos.
All around us stood the iconic Yucca Brevifolia otherwise known as Joshua Trees. The large, succulent-like trees stood bigger than I imagined. The brown trunk and branches sported a spiky texture that easily peeled off. Green thorn-like leaves covered the top.
We exited the car. The breath of hot air blasted every inch of our bodies. It was not only 112 degrees but the dry air seemed to suck the moisture out of our bodies. The light and heat from the sun was radiating down on us and already the inside of our car was beyond hot and the AC was no use. I started regretting my choice of outfit. Wearing all black was not the smartest decision.
“No wonder no one is here, it is too hot to be here hiking and taking photos today! We really picked a bad day to come,” said Vile.
We continued to walk further into Joshua Tree. I became amazed at nature. Never did I realize that a desert could be so beautiful. I took in all of the trees that were around us and the majestic views of the rocky terrain that we were getting ready to hike. As we were walking some more, we saw a photo worthy area for us to set up our camera timer and begin to take photos.
As we positioned ourselves for the picture the 10-second camera timer felt like the longest 10 seconds of our lives. The sun beat down so strong that we could not stand still in the sun another second. We did not make it very far at our first stop. We decided to drive farther into the park.
The water bottles that we brought turned warm, making it difficult to drink. We drank them anyways, returned to the car and drove to the next stop.
At that stop was a trail to the rocky terrains. Despite the heat, we hiked up to the trail to the top of the rocks. I wore my checked slip-on Vans with no grip on the soles. As I looked up all I can see is a wall of huge tan rocks. I felt nervous looking up and began to psych myself out.
But my friends started ahead. I told myself that I had nothing to worry about and began to follow them. Figuring out which rock was the safest to hold onto and which path would be the easiest to get to the top was stressful. One wrong step could easily lead any of us to get hurt. Sweat ran down from under my hat and started dripping onto my face, making it harder to hike. Deep breathes and staying hydrated were the only things that helped me during this hike.
“Finally we made it to the end,” said Rubi.
Just a few more steps later and I finally saw the view of Joshua Tree. The sky was bright blue, the clouds looked soft and gentle, and the desert seemed endless. In that moment, I knew that the long car ride, the exhausting heat, and spending those $30 on the parking pass was well worth it.
74485 National Park Drive
Twentynine Palms, CA 92277-3597
(760) 367-5500
$30 Day Parking