Joshua Tree National Park can be found where the Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert meet. The park not only consists of Joshua trees, but also palm trees, massive rocks, cholla cacti, and much more in this otherworldly landscape. There’s a plethora of hiking inside the park, but these four hikes always brought calmness during moments of inner chaos. Make sure to be on the lookout for rabbits, tortoises, quails, bighorn sheep, coyotes, and other desert animals while enjoying the desert solitude.
What to bring:
Water—and lots of it.
Hiking shoes or sandals—wear socks with your sandals!
A sustainable snack—such as a granola bar, fruit, or trail mix.
Layers—temperatures tend to fluctuate a lot especially around sunrise and sunset.
Tweezers—you never know when you may run into a prickly cactus.
49 Palms Oasis
This moderate, three-mile in and out hike is full of both uphill and downhill terrain until reaching a peaceful oasis in the middle of a valley of rocks. The trailhead is located in the northwestern area of the park, so it can be accessed without paying the $30 park entrance fee. This hike is enjoyable because it is not located on Park Blvd, the main road that goes through the park, so there normally are not as many hikers on the trail. The first part of the hike is spent trudging uphill with breathtaking panoramas of Twentynine Palms and other surrounding desert towns. The second part is hiking down the other side of the hill to reach the secluded oasis where the only things heard are palms blowing in the wind and distant chirps of birds. If you’re going on this hike in the fall make sure to keep an eye out for male tarantulas looking for mates as I’ve seen multiple around this area. Although they may be creepy-looking, these spiders are basically harmless if you keep your distance.
All of the sudden it was the end of August, and it was time to drive across the country to spend two and a half months in my favorite place in the world—Joshua Tree. But why would I rush getting there? Everyone always says it’s about the journey, and not the destination, so a road trip with my best friend Molly from Chicago to Yucca Valley would be the ultimate journey.
September 3, 2019: Chicago, IL
My Ford Focus—with two bikes strapped onto the back of it—was packed to the brim with my belongings. My road trip began a few days before Molly’s, so I could spend some time in Chicago. Laughing with my friends—both old and new—on an apartment rooftop, shopping at Gethsemane Garden Center to gaze at the wide variety of plants, and getting drinks at O’Toole’s was the perfect was to say goodbye to one of my favorite cities that won’t be a short drive away anymore.
September 4, 2019: Chicago, IL
Tela made us breakfast burritos and read my tarot cards before heading to work. I felt like my reading was pretty accurate—depression in my past, recovery in my present, and new beginnings in my future. Molly got into town in the evening, and we went to Chicago Diner, a vegetarian’s heaven, to eat with two good friends from college. We laughed about inside jokes while I ate the Buddha’s karma burger, a sweet potato burger with grilled pineapples for a tropical, but sweet dinner.
Bonnaroo always begins with a ten hour road trip followed by a never-ending wait in line. I caravanned with three other cars filled with friends down to Tennessee. We left Michigan around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8. After driving through the country all night, we pulled into the long line for the campsite entrance at four in the morning and waited for three more hours.
We finally found our groop campsite around 7 a.m. as the sun was rising, so we set up our tents and canopies in the small space that was available for us. My roommate Luc and I tie dyed a bunch of sheets to hang on the canopies to protect us from the southern sun. The first show we wanted to see wasn’t until later that night, so we had a lot of time to kill after we finished setting up camp.
I was a little surprised when walking into the Centeroo—the main venue with stages—around 6 p.m. because it did not feel as hot as it has been in the past. Every year a multi-colored arch welcomed me into Centeroo, but because it was broken, there was a big screen that projected the rainbow arch on it. While waiting in line everyone high fives each other with beaming smiles on their faces. The energy everyone projects at Bonnaroo is amazing and something I have never experienced elsewhere. Everyone is so kind, positive, and always looking out for one another.
I spent the month of June in Tuscany excavating a collapsed castle from 12thcentury AD with the Monteverdi Archaeological Field School. This was my second time in Italy, so I wanted to see other countries while visiting Europe as well. My time in Italy was spent on an estate in a remote part of the country, but the Swiss Alps were calling my name. I asked some of my friends to meet up with me in Europe after my field school, but none of them were able. I couldn’t let this complication stop me from experiencing the mountain air, so I decided to take the adventure by myself. I had spent ample time traveling alone while catching planes to different cities in the U.S. and driving around northern Michigan while working for Traverse Magazine, but this would be my first time traveling solo in a foreign country. My destinations included Venice, Switzerland, and Germany, but I also spent some time in Austria as a pit stop, which ended up being my favorite place.
June 23, 2018: Monteverdi – Rome – Venice
After a night of barely sleeping I shoved my suitcase into the white van to leave Monteverdi around six in the morning. The sun was just rising over the rolling hills while the air was already heavy with humidity. As we drove down the mountain I gazed out the window taking in the Italian countrysides for the last time as my friend Michael slept on my lap. The two-hour drive to Rome dragged on. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to my friends or leave this place.
The view from Monteverdi
After hugs goodbye I took a train from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport to Rome Termini as everyone else from the field school headed to their gates. My ItaliaRail train to Venice, which cost $50, left at 11:35. I had bought the ticket online a month prior when I was still in the U.S. The four-hour train ride wasn’t too bad, because I was excited to meet a new city. I had originally bought the ticket to Venezia Santa Lucia, but Edo, an archaeologist I worked with, told me to get off a stop earlier at Venezia Mestre since I was not staying on the island. There was supposedly a bus that would take me where I was staying at Camping Rialto, but I couldn’t find the stop, so I turned on my data plan with Verizon to see how far I was from where I was staying. My data plan wasn’t working, so I found a cab to drive me to the property.
It was 3:15 a.m. on August 21st when my phone alarm rang. I woke up in complete darkness with Caitlin next to me. When I got out of bed a surge of energy hit me because today we were going to see a solar eclipse. After getting ready I went upstairs and greeted Carley and Nick while making a quick breakfast.
We began our drive north at 4 a.m. from Ashland to Ashwood, Oregon to view the eclipse in totality. The partial eclipse began around 9 a.m. but the two magic minutes where a total solar eclipse would appear began at 10:12 a.m. I heard the traffic would be bad, so we woke up very early to ensure we would end up where we want to be in time for the eclipse. The drive there actually went by pretty fast as we sang along to music and shared stories.
RILEY J ROAMS 