Joshua Tree advice

[Kathryn L]

I’m planning on hiking the CRHT thru Joshua Tree the first week of April with my 16 yo daughter. We both have lots of backpacking experience but all of it in the mid-Atlantic Appalachians. We’re making it a family tree to LA, then my husband and son will drive us to JT. We’ll spend a day caching water (which will be about the amount of hiking the men will be interested in!) then my girlie and I will set off. We’re planning 10-ish mile days (a bit more than she likes to average, about half what I usually do). Advice? I’m a bit daunted by having to carry all our water. It will push the limits of my MLD XS prophet pack to have 4+ liters, but I am assuming I will only have to carry that much for a few hours at most. Other than extra water, the only thing I’m planning to carry that I might not usually is an umbrella. Is there anything I’m not thinking of that I’ll need for a desert trip?

[Ben C]

Water and a good hat. We went stoveless and found it nice in that climate. I also thought the miles went by fast. It was beautiful when we went – so different that what we are used to.

[David Thomas]

If you are flying in and bringing a stove, you’ll have to source your fuel after you arrive.  You could cache some fuel with the your water.  But like Ben, I’d be tempted to make it a no-cook trip, if you know that works for both of you.

Bring some flagging tape or some scheme to mark your cache locations.  I do redundant offsets rather than a single flag right over your stash (someone else might steal your cache).  By redundant offsets, I mean something like, “cache is 10 feet north of the red flagging tape and 5 east of the green flagging tape”.  Also, burying a local stick perfectly upright above your cache is not very noticeable (unless you’re looking for a perfectly vertical stick).

If you’re caching anyway, canned items cache well (no preservation needed and no smells) and let you have some treats on the way.  Kern’s fruit nectars are some calories and fiber and liquid in an aluminum can that is light to pack out.  I often stage those along routes on which I train and use them later on longer, faster, lighter trips.  Maybe not English beer (meant to be served warm) at the last stop if your daughter is along.

I feel about 10F cooler under an umbrella so for me, it’s worth the weight in the desert and at high elevations.  But bring a good sun hat, too.  If the wind comes up, you’ll want the hat (in part to block the blowing dust).

I like a cotton bandana in the heat and wet it with water to cool my neck.  It’s more exhausting to sweat a pint of sweat than to apply a pint of clean water to your bandana / cotton shirt.  And with the caches, there’ll be times when you have excess water as you leave each cache.

A bit of a luxury item, but since you’re caching water anyway, what if you leave an extra gallon or two in the middle, get away from the trail, and treat yourselves to a shower, mid trip?  On a trip with fires, I’d also leave some paper towels to use as a wash rag and to dry with and then burn them at the next camp.

[David Thomas]

The are gulpers and there are sippers.  I’m not sure if they made or born that way.  I’m a gulper and always down a liter at the trailhead and at water stops.  My wife is a sipper so she carries a liter more than I do.  Knowing how much you can “gulp” at your caches could save 4 pounds of carried weight between you.  And planning a meal near/at a cache let’s you use and drink more of that water before you continue on.

There have been times, on group trips, when most of the trip is doable with a small load in my small pack, that I’ll hand-carry a jug of water for a few miles and find that more comfortable than adding 8 pounds to my pack.  For hand carrying, I like the fuller handles of disposable HDPE gallon jugs of water (the $0.89 ones at the supermarket) compared to a nylon strap on a collapsable water carrier.  Then I strap the empty jug on the outside or cut it into strips to pack it away.

[Kathryn L]

Thanks for the ideas.  I usually go no-cook, but my daughter likes to have hot food, so we’ll be bringing my caldera cone with the alcohol stove — fuel is easy to source for that.

I watched a bunch of guys hand carry water in 1/2 gallon milk jugs last year and the year before on the AT.  I’d never seen that before, but it was suddenly what the fast guys were doing.   I’d forgotten that I’d thought about that as a way to carry water when we were full up, so thanks for the reminder.  I was also planning to pack some “wet” food that I wouldn’t usually bring — fruit cups for example.   I figured we could eat that the first few days, since we’ll need water anyway.  The idea of caching some treats to drink is good.

So a hat and an umbrella?  Hmm. I don’t like hats and was hoping to avoid one all together.

[W I S N E R !]

Kathryn, I’ve crossed the CRHT many times, both backpacking and running in a day.  The desert is my favorite and Joshua Tree is a second home.

A few things:

Be prepared to walk in a lot of sand and wear shoes that can handle this.  If the mesh is too open or you have any holes, your toebox is going to fill quickly- gets pretty annoying.  Light gaiters (Dirty Girl) are useful if you have them.

Water caching is pretty obvious when you study the map; lots of spots where backcountry dirt roads intersect the trail.  Juniper Flats Trailhead and Ryan Campground are both very close to the trail and are at about the halfway point.

Strip the labels and attached stuff on your water containers and use sharpie on your jugs if you’re labeling; kangaroo rats and antelope squirrels like to chew off any paper labels/tape.

Be alert for rattlesnakes and scorpions in the rocks and brush, it’ll be warming up in April and they’ll be getting active.  I see both quite a bit out there.  They’re not something to be paranoid about, just don’t trudge through brush, rockpiles, or put your hands in rocks/cracks without being aware of what’s there first.

Not sure I like umbrellas out there as it can get pretty windy, but yes, prepare for sun, sun, sun, and more sun.  And some glare.  And possible strong winds in the evenings.

Depending on what your shelter is (and if you even need to pitch it- I usually sleep out), be prepared to stake it down in sand.  You can usually find rocks/sticks to make deadman anchors.  Just a heads up that skinny Ti wire stakes don’t work so well out there.

PM me if you’d like any specifics not mentioned here.

[Justin Baker]

Thanks for turning me on to this trail! I was hoping to get out to Joshua Tree in early February and I think I will hike this trail. Probably do it in 3 days. Is water caching necessary all times of the year?

[Kathryn L]

I’ve never been there but everything I read says there is no water in the park – even the folks at the campgrounds have to bring in water.

[David Thomas]

You could try going without a hat and using an umbrella only – I prefer that configuration with no to light winds.  But you need something in case the wind comes out.  A large bandana (I’d bring an over-sized silk one, about 36×36″, but 30×30″ is enough), kind of works, but the bill on a hat, BB cap or visor is really nice with bright skies and to help shield your face from the windblown dust.

By the start of your hike, you should be able to get a decent weather forecast for most of your hike.  Until you see a week of minimal winds forecast, I’d really recommend you bring a hat to the drop-off point – one with a good chin strap that will stay on in the wind.

That region of Southern California has a high density of wind turbines.  For a reason.

[Michael Haubert]

Hi, Kathryn.

I love J Tree and wish I got out there more often.

“Ditto” to everything Craig said. Caching water at the backcountry intersections/sign in boards is a very easy way to plan the trip. We have done water drops with multiple small bottles (e.g. a few 1/2 gallon jugs) rather than 1-2 large jugs of water in case something happened to it. That way I wasn’t putting all of my eggs into one basket, so to speak.

Not sure which direction you’re going, but if you begin in the east (“North Entrance”) and head west (and end at “Black Rock”), the sun will be at your back as you hike along the trail. This may make for a more pleasant hike.

There are some funky rules out there. For example, “Your backcountry campsite must be located a minimum of one mile from the road and 500 feet from any trail or water source” (see https://www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/backpacking.htm) It can be pretty darn difficult to be one mile from the road if you are sticking to the CRHT when you’re in an area with roads. In fact, a big portion of the CRHT is within 1 mile of the roads. We were approached by a ranger a couple of years ago because we were too close to a road, which we couldn’t readily tell. This was near the La Contenta Road/Lower Covington area. It wasn’t a big deal but you never know if you get someone in a grumpy mood.

Just to be obvious…bring some good sunblock and lip balm.

Oh, and if you’re going to do some rock scrambling out there, here are two tips: (1) consider some lightweight gloves to protect your hands and (2) Be careful if you sit down and/or scoot to move around. You can rip your pants pretty easily on those rocks. I usually bring pants that are more durable than my typical light hiking pants. A buddy tore his pants really bad out there, which was hilarious to us…but not to him. :-)

Have a great trip!

Michael

 

[Kathryn L]

One more question, since you guys have been so helpful. The trip reports I’ve found around the web- not that many – suggest that we won’t run into too many folks. Is that the case? Is early April likely to be very crowded?

I’m a pretty good rule follower about most things hiking-related, though some of the various parks campsites rules are nearly impossible, as you say! I am very careful about the ones that affect the environment (proximity to water, for example) and the experience of others and do my best with the rest.

Actually I have a second question – since I’ve never done any hiking ever in a desert environment, will it be obvious that I’m in a wash so that I can avoid camping in one? That seems like the biggest thing to pay attention to from what I’ve read, in case of flash floods. (Which I assume are rare, but that April would be prime time for.)

[Ben C]

I went in April and we saw almost nobody once we got .25 miles from the trailhead.

As a fellow easterner, I think the washes are pretty obvious.  There is no forest to hide the land.

[Michael Haubert]

I agree with Ben C.  The washes are obvious; very sandy and they stand out.  I doubt you will come across very many people. I often go in November and there is no one. April will be busier than Nov. but most people go to the established campgrounds, not for BP trips.

Michael

[Nick Gatel]

Gee all the comments make this seem too difficult. Some thoughts…

There are 3 places you can get water in JT: Cottonwood campground that you won’t be close too, Black Rock campground, which is where you will probably want to start or finish your hike, and the Visitor Center in Twentynine Palms.

To get there you will be driving through the town of Yucca Valley. You should be able to get canisters at Wal-Mart or alcohol at Home Depot. In the town of Joshua Tree (between Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms), you can get last minute stuff at Nomad Adventures… check their hours of operation ahead of time.

The only thing you need to be prepared for is wind. In April the wind can get pretty nasty at times. The CRHT is fairly easy to follow. It should be a great trip in a great time of the year.

[Kathryn L]

One more question:  We were looking at the map and planning places to cache water. We’d like to put some near the backcountry board at Covington Flat.  The map shows a “high clearance” road.  I’ve seen a youtube video from last year that shows it as a well groomed dirt road.  Does anyone know the current state of the road?  We’ll be renting a car — I’d rather not pay the rental and gas for an SUV. Is this a road your regular sedan  can manage?

[Miner]

Everytime I’ve driven that road in the last few years, it looked to be in good shape for a normal car. That said, a big storm shortly before you go could change that and we have been getting some good rain thus far this year, so I would check the weather the 2 weeks prior. The hiking is pretty easy and quick so I suspect you’ll make better time each day then you are planning. During the weekends, you may see other people. Last March I ran into a group of 9+guide of college girls backpacking west along it. Then a large group of trail runners doing a supported section from a local outfitter. Other trips, its just been a few day hikers. I’ve never seen anyone along the most eastern part, just the center and western part. I usually cache my water under a bush near the trailhead to keep it out of the sun and away from prying eyes.

[Kathryn L]

Thanks! It was specifically because of the rains I was asking about the road. We’ll call the park and try to speak to a ranger I guess before we come. As for our mileage – if it were up to me, I’d do it as an overnight. Maybe two nights starting late the first day and finishing the morning of the third. I’ll be hiking with my daughter, though. She’s 16 and stronger than me, but she likes to dilly dally. We’ll have long rests for reading and journaling and fooling around …

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