This post will be mostly photos as Palm Springs and Joshua Tree were visually amazing. Palm Springs was an interesting mix of old and new… and the casinos :P. Joshua Tree was out of this world and definitely worth visiting at least once in a lifetime. It is known as a “climbers paradise”, but also great for hiking and camping.

The views from the tram ride up the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway were phenomenal.

Service technicians land small 2-person helicopters on the top of those towers on the yellow pad. These pads are roughly 6’x6’… which must make for a crazy landing!

The valley below is actually the San Andreas fault line.

The next day, we did our first real hike in Twentynine Palms. This was the Forty-nine Palms Oasis.

There might have just been 49 palm trees in the middle of nowhere…

Next stop was the Cholla Cactus Gardens. These reminded me of the guy from FF7

Cactuar!

Obligatory jumping photo

Jump Pooping photo?

Arch Rock was a fun little spot, smaller than anticipated though.

Just hanging out on some rocks…

This trail was probably the most disappointing in the sense that Split Rock was at the beginning and the rest was just a 2mi loop.

It’s always interesting to see the dead trees and the creepy shapes and shadows they have.

The sun was starting to set on our way to Skull Rock… which kind of, sort of… maybe resembled a skull.

We decided to go with an AirBnB for our stay in Joshua Tree. The view wasn’t so bad, but I’m sure glad we got a SUV because the last .5mi was all dirt roads with huge grooves from rain.

Betty not quite being Cactuar… but the Joshua Tree (Yucca tree).

Fun fact: The Yucca tree was named the Joshua tree because early Mormon pioneers thought the arms of the trees looked like Joshua’s outstretched arms leading them to the promised land.

Most of the hikes the next day looked like that. We did Hidden Valley Nature Trail, Barker Dam and Wall St. Mill.

A deserted water pump on the way to Wall St. Mill

Wall St. Mill was relatively unused, but when it was in use, it was for different types of ore including gold. I geeked out a little because a lot of the machinery looked just like the stuff I watch on Gold Rush :P.

My next whip?

This is what is left standing of the home of the owners of Wall St. Mill back in the 20’s.

This was pretty world famous… al 10’x6′ of it.

We went to the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum. This stuff was all very unique and very cool.

Back to the AirBnB for a second shot.

Giant Rock in Landings, CA. It was pretty big…

Finally, heading back to Palm Springs, the windmill farms were so interesting.

We capped our last night before heading back to PS with a sunset at Keys View. It was amazing.