Joshua Tree, CA

One year ago we were camping under the full moon at Joshua Tree, our Full Moon Desert Party.

We had planned on wanting to hit Joshua Tree while living in CA so once Carolyn and Calder (fellow travelers) said they were going for the weekend, we quickly latched on and invited ourselves to join. They had already secured a campsite at the Jumbo Rock Campground, which was an ideal spot. Getting this spot required Carolyn refreshing the Rec.gov site at least one hundred times, the camping community is no joke! Campsite reservations fill up quick so if you aren’t planning a couple weeks or even months in advanced, you’ll need to sneak in hoping openings come up.

While Joshua Tree was starting to heat up for the summer, hitting mid 90’s, we were actually looking forward to the heat after experiencing SoCal’s ‘Gray May’ and entering ‘June Gloom’. Goes on record as one of the most abnormal season in years.

You might ask, what does one exactly do at Joshua Tree since you’re essentially just sitting in no man’s land and the only locals are lizards and snakes. For us we watched Calder become a spider monkey climbing up the rock formations, opened up the camp kitchen, had ourselves a campfire dance party, and howled at the moon. Typically once the sun sets you need to be prepared for the pitch black but the full moon was illuminating! 

We took the trucks down the desert dirt roads through fields of Joshua Trees (which are 100% different than cactus, news to me) then headed out. We stopped in Pioneertown for lunch, seriously the most “Wild West” place. It’s out of a movie scene! Bloody Mary’s may or may not have existed back then but the saloon served up pretty legit ones.

So if you’re looking for quiet, nature, and clear skies then Joshua Tree can be your escape! 

All the best & HEAD WEST.