Discovering the California Desert

December 17, 2016 – Discovering the Desert in California

I’ve just returned from a road trip to the California desert, where I discovered national parks, museums, good food, and warm weather!  Getting out West always reminds me how huge and varied the country is.  My friend Gale and I met up at the airport in Las Vegas and immediately set out on the road to Death Valley.  Right away, I was struck by the expansive nature of the sky and the landscape.  I’m so used to being in a densely populated area that it seemed strange to be away from crowds of people.  Also, coming from the East coast with its abundant trees, I found the desert quite desolate at first.  However, I soon learned to appreciate its particular beauty.  

Our hotel in Death Valley Junction (population 281) was the quirky Amargosa Hotel, part of a rambling structure that also houses the Amargosa Opera House and a surprisingly excellent café where we enjoyed sumptuous breakfasts.  

Sunrise in Death Valley Junction

Our main activity was touring nearby Death Valley National Park, which is enormous.  We spent most of the day driving through the park, stopping periodically for photos and short hikes.  We took a walk on the salt flats (yes, I sampled the salt) at Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in North America at 282 feet below sea level. 

If you’re from my generation, you may remember the television commercials for a laundry detergent called 20 Mule Team Borax.  I learned that Death Valley was originally settled as a mining town, and we saw a deserted mining facility, the Harmony Borax Works, in the park.  Mule teams were used to haul the borax to the railroad lines.  The Death Valley mines were abandoned decades ago when borax was discovered much closer to existing railroad lines.  When we stopped at a roadside “museum” in a small nearby town, we learned about the many uses of borates, which include fiber glass, ceramics, agriculture, glass, flame retardants, flat screen televisions, and more.  So it’s not just a laundry detergent! 

Abandoned mine in Death Valley

Our next stop, four hours away, was Pasadena.  Much to my surprise, I was the designated driver on the California freeways, and I managed quite well.  (At home, I’ll go miles out of my way to avoid driving on DC Beltway.)  We made an unscheduled stop for lunch when we saw billboards near Yermo advertising Peggy Sue’s 50s Diner.  How could we pass up tuna melts and pie?  And the decor alone (think Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, etc.) made the stop worthwhile. 

Since dining options in the Death Valley area were limited, we were delighted to discover the variety of restaurants near our hotel in Pasadena’s Old Town.  At Shandong Dumplings, we chowed down on veggie dumplings and a tasty eggplant dish.   

Dumpling makers at Shandong Dumplings

The next night, we sampled Tibetan-Nepalese fare, which was similar to northern Indian cuisine.  We spent our last morning in Pasadena loading up on carbs at a Korean bakery.   

Breakfast goodies (the very dark roll is colored with squid ink)

And I mustn’t overlook the very proper and delicious high tea that we enjoyed at the Huntington Library, Museum, and Botanical Gardens.  Although their rose garden was past its peak bloom, it was still fragrant and colorful.  We made a stop at another museum, the Norton Simon, where Van Gogh’s painting of his bedroom was on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago.  

On the fifth day of our road trip, the skies, which had been overcast in Death Valley and Pasadena, brightened as we neared Palm Springs, our final destination.  Right away, we fell into the relaxed atmosphere of this small desert resort.   We strolled through residential areas admiring the mid-century modern architecture, wandered in and out of shops on Palm Canyon Drive, and watched the sun drop behind the mountains late in the afternoon.  Faced with Palm Springs’ abundance of restaurants, we had the difficult task of deciding where to eat.  Fortunately, we had time for three dinners:  Mexican food at Rio Azul, Italian at Sammy G’s Tuscan Bistro, and fresh fish at Lulu’s Bistro.  There was even a decent museum in Palm Springs, where a special exhibit on the art of the American frontier was the main attraction.   

Looking out from out hotel in Palm Springs

The highlight of this phase of our trip was the day we spent at nearby (an hour’s drive) Joshua Tree National Park.  The park covers an area where two different types of desert meet and overlap.  We spent most of our time in the western section of the park, which lies in the Mojave Desert.  With elevations above 3000 feet, the Mojave is considered a high desert.  In addition to the ubiquitous Joshua tree, you’ll find scrub oak, yucca and prickly pear cactus in this area.  Rattlesnakes, jack rabbits and big horn sheep live in the Mojave but we didn’t see any of these animals during our visit.  The eastern half of the park lies in the Colorado Desert, a low desert, with elevations below 3000 feet above sea level.  This is actually part of the much larger Sonoran Desert.  You won’t find any Joshua trees here.  However, you’ll find creosote, cholla, and ocotillo growing, as well as palo verde trees.  

I'm standing next to a Joshua tree.

In the Mojave section of the park, we hiked a rugged mile-long trail that was described as “easy” in the park brochure.  I hate to think what a challenging trail would be like!  We also took a short hike up to Keys View for a panoramic vista that included the Santa Rosa Mountains, Coachella Valley, the San Andreas Fault, and the Salton Sea. 

An "easy" hiking trail

The following morning, it was back to reality.  We were up early and out of the hotel at 5:30 a.m. to catch our flights back East.  I’m glad to be home but the bitterly cold weather was a shock!