Joshua Tree NP, Saguaro NP &
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

Map route

Approximately:

• Thousand Oaks (A) to Joshua Tree NP (B): 200 miles of road and 3:40
• Joshua Tree NP (B) to Tucson (C): 380 miles of road and 6:20

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Thursday, May 21

Departure for the first park in our journey, Joshua Tree. Barely out of Los Angeles, we meet our first wind farms and the small concentrations that we have in Brittany seem paltry to us.

We arrive at the Visitor Center just before 3 pm. It's time to eat, right? Beer in the cooler is cool when it's 90°F outside; it allows us to consider the continuation with more serenity. A gentle breeze makes the outdoor temperature pleasant.

After lunch, we start visiting the park with a walk at Barker Dam, our first contact with the "desert ", cacti and petroglyphs. The dam retains almost no water and it's only May, but it now serves only wild animals!

We were afraid, spring being quite advanced, no longer to see the cacti in bloom, but fortunately, this is not the case. In our discovery of petroglyphs and pictographs, we remain a little unsatisfied because a sign indicates that there are many that have recently been painted over (there are idiots everywhere). Those we see are not necessarily "original" but we catch up later.

Short walk to Cape Rock among Joshua Trees, yuccas and cacti, followed by a hazy glimpse of the San Andreas Fault from Keys View (only few photos).

It is now almost 7 pm and it's time to worry about where we'll spend our first night: the White Tank campground. We find this type of semi-primitive camp where all locations are defined with their parking, fire place and / or barbecue, table and 2 benches; chemical toilet a little further and the envelope system. Here, everything works on trust (this would not work in France ); we fill in an envelope with the requested data (vehicle, number of persons and nights, pay the amount), we cut off the end of the envelope which is placed on the chosen campsite (a clip is provided for this purpose) and we slip the envelope the currency into the box and that's all. This is also first come, first served basis, as we find in many other sites.

Appetizer (we are on vacation, right? ) then dinner on the table with the stove, freshly purchased in Thousand Oaks; everything works like clockwork. It only remains to set up our bed, which we'll have for nearly 30 nights.

Review of the day: 3 miles walked and 222 miles traveled.

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Friday, May 22

Wake up at 5:20; surely remnants of jet lag. It's already 63°F. The night has gone reasonably well, not too hot (which we had feared), not too much back pain. Isabelle deflates her mattress a little bit and I remove my pillow that I'll replace with my fleece jacket, since it must serve some purpose.

We put our car in day position; primping, breakfast and off we go (6:48) to Cholla Cactus Garden. Along the way, we discover some ocotillo bushes: not cacti, but shrubs.

This small garden is worth the stop: we stayed there 1:15 with no regrets; it is a nature trail, with breakpoints explained that enable us to become better acquainted with the flora of the desert.

We leave Joshua Tree Park at 9:10 direction Tucson via Phoenix, Arizona. One hour later, we cross the state border and discover (coincidence?) our first Saguaro cactus. Even though Monument Valley is still far, we are immersed in the Western atmosphere!

The crossing of Phoenix is made at the rhythm of radars, very common on freeways (fixed and mobile). Around 1:15 pm, tired so I stopped to make coffee (I'm currently driving alone, Isabelle a little scared to drive with automatic transmission). Our electric heater is very convenient and we could almost do it when driving because with our water supply (over 12 gallons) we could make it easily.

Lunch at a rest stop around 1:30 pm and we arrive at the Gilbert Ray Campground at 3:37 pm. This camp among the cacti is very pleasant, even though there is no shade or shower (we only spend one night). Choice of location, booking the envelope system and leaving for the Visitor Center (VC) in Saguaro National Park (it is 82°F).

After presentation of the Pass (given by our friends Monique and Yves) and proof of identity (this is often the case), we purchase postcards (we'll do it systematically in all the VC because they are usually beautiful) and a book on the flora of Arizona, essential to know a bit about what we see.

After this brief stop, we go for some hiking in the west area of the park. The first one is Hohokam Road: a drive on a one-way (partly) dirt road amongst Saguaros (and other cacti); some are still blooming and others completely destroyed, let us see their interior architecture.

We continue hiking through the back of Signal Hill and petroglyphs. A barrier prevents us from getting too close, but masks the majority of them. As proper Frenchman, we can't stay behind the barrier, as there are many, but we try to be careful (I guess everyone says the same thing).

We end our tour of the park by the Nature Trail that we begin around 7 pm: Again, walk among cacti of all kinds and shapes.

In the evening, we dine in a small Mexican cantina recommended by Le Routard, El Torero. A bit noisy as a family is celebrating a birthday, but very nice and generous; we hadn't had dessert yet but our bill was already ready!

Back at camp around 9:10 pm (thank you Tomtom) and lights out at 10 pm.

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Saturday, May 23

Wake up at 5:30, the doves cooing and the sky is quite cloudy (dappled said Isabelle). At 6:20, it's already 70°F and we take a quick tour of the camp before leaving it.

We leave at 7:15 for the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, located less than 5 minutes from the campsite. This zoological gardens show us a summary of the fauna and flora of southern Arizona; we spent about 4 hours, but it deserves a whole day, especially with children.

Just before leaving, we pass by the Cougars den to try to spot them because they were hidden in their den during our first pass. And then, yay, they came out: we can admire them (from afar!) and photograph them. There's even one that makes its claws on a tree trunk.

And we drive at approximately 11:10 am to Grand Canyon South, one of our mythical goals .