The solitude of Joshua Tree
Go to Yosemite for the crowds, but come to Joshua Tree for the quiet, said Tom Uhlenbrock in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Though it’s the lesser known of the two national parks, Joshua Tree is just as spectacular. This “eerie expanse of cactus-studded” sand spans six mountain ranges, encompasses parts of the Mojave and Colorado deserts, and is home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna. To me, Joshua Tree’s allure derives from the sense of solitude it offers visitors. I often found myself alone amid its nearly 800,000 acres. On an eight-mile hike to Lost Palms Oasis—a sheltered, steep-sided ravine with “the park’s largest grove of stately fan palms”—the only sounds were the “rustling of the palm fronds and the song of a cactus wren.” When I climbed the craggy sides of Ryan Mountain for a panoramic view of the desert, I shared the summit with only two other hikers.
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