We made our way to the Ocotillo Wells State Recreation Area where the Four Wheel Truck camper rally was being held. It was pretty cool pulling in and seeing all the Four Wheel campers. We found our spot easily since we were in a wide open desert. The event was centered around a nice pavilion area so there was some relief from the sun.
We headed to happy hour to partake in free cocktails. Although we are pretty social on our own, Gus is always quick to gain the spotlight. We chatted with the other dog owners and Gus made some new friends.
When we left our friends in Nevada, we were happy with the warm 65 degree days and the 40 degree nights. Here, we were lucky if the temp dropped lower than 65 at night and it heated up to the mid 90’s. If there was no shade, it would’ve been pretty miserable. Others from the area did say it has been unseasonably hot so lucky us.
After breakfast, Craig went to an informal training on tire repair. He knew most of it but learned a few things and added to the list of things we should have on hand. None of it would’ve helped with our previous tire struggles just FYI. The training took a bit longer than expected so while he did that, Gus and I fought to stay in the shade of the trailer. I read a book while Gus napped.
After lunch, we all gathered together with cold drinks in hand and did a walk-about to everyone’s camper. There were 37 different campers there and they were allowing 5 minutes a piece to talk about your camper. They were scattered all out and around the central pavilion area. We went first but didn’t have much to share since we haven’t modified ours much. Many were impressed with the trailer so that was fun to show. We moved on to a few more and realized we were not going to last long in the heat. We made a beeline to the new flatbed models and talked with those owners. We were super impressed with the whole setup and once again got our wheels turning.
At dinner we met more new people and got some suggestions on places to visit here in California. It was a really great time and it was better than we expected. The food was provided as well as water, beer and wine. They had a big fire at night and everyone enjoyed sharing stories.
Sunday after another informal training, everyone packed up and headed home. We decided to stay and hang out. We relaxed the rest of the day and chatted a lot about the people we met and the things we want to do in the future.
Monday we took the Jeep out and explored the area we had camped in for two days. During those two days, many quads, bikes and side-by-sides whipped through the parking lot and off onto trails. The recreation area has more than 85,000 acres for exploration and it’s free to use. No lines to get in and no fees to camp.
We also drove toward Borrego Springs where we were told there were metal statues situated throughout the desert. Well we had to go see that. It was kind of strange but they were pretty neat. There are 130 full-sized metal sculptures that are inspired by creatures that roamed this same desert millions of years ago. Craig made the mistake of getting out to look at one closer and got attacked by a little cactus. Ouch!! We bombed around for a couple of hours and then packed up and headed east toward Joshua Tree National Park.
We found a free campground at the south end of the park only after realizing the south entrance was closed due to a storm that had come through on October 13. Many of the roads were still closed due to flooding.
We changed the game plan and drove around the east side of the park on Tuesday morning to Twenty-Nine Palms where the north entrance is located. We parked at Tortoise Rock Casino where we are allowed to camp three nights for free. We headed into the park and did the main loop with all the huge rocks and Joshua Trees. We waited for a great sunset and left out the west entrance back to camp.
The next day we found a trail off of Highway 62 that went south on BLM land and eventually went into the park. This trail was great as it wasn’t busy and we got to see things you don’t get to see from the paved road in the park. We got off the main trail and ended up climbing some rocky trails into the hills. We found a couple of old mines and lots of debris scattered from them. We made our way back to the main trail and were driving up to the main road only to see barricades.
We had been told most of the roads were open but if they were barricaded you couldn’t go down them. Thankfully there was no chain, just signs that could be moved. Just as we were getting out to do that, a park ranger pulled up and asked where we were coming from. We told him we came in from the highway and he instantly let his guard down and asked how the road was. He had no problem with us moving the barricades. We asked about another trail further south and he said he didn’t know the condition of the trail but to move the barricades and go have fun. We liked that answer!
We continued to the south end, moved more barricades, and went on the Pinkham Canyon Trail. This trail was a nice little trail through the wash. We made our way through that pretty easily and ended up on Thermal Canyon Trail and out to a service road on the south end of the park. We saw the sun set and then had to drive the 2 hours back to our camper. It was a long day but a lot of fun.
Thursday we had planned on heading north but wanted to run one more trail that Craig had read about where you can see the largest of all the Joshua Trees. We found our way to the trail and were amazed at how many huge trees there were. It was really cool to see. We headed up to Eureka Peak and loved the 360 view.
View from Eureka Peak
We got back to camp and decided we didn’t want to rush around packing up and try to get to our next spot. We relaxed, packed up a few things, I got caught up on “This is Us” episodes and we read.
Today we are heading to Lone Pine, California and the Alabama Hills area for a few days to explore up there. We are looking forward to a little bit cooler temps. We heard it’s a little chilly at home so we’re not complaining, the sunshine is really nice to see. I would just like to not sweat through my shirt at the end of October. Is that too much to ask?
Headed north to cooler temps…