Over the President's day weekend Bundu Trek journeyed to Joshua Tree National Park to do a quick two day tour of the park. We accompanied two other rigs with crews, stayed in Yucca Valley and traveled to the park each day.
The weather was cool and sunny, very pleasant. The park itself was busy but not crowded. It was also free in honor of President's day!
JTNP does have some challenging off road designated trails but for the most part everything we traveled on could have been done in a high clearance 2WD vehicle or even a standard automobile. Many paved roads exist in the park.
We had a great time and hope to go back again sometime soon.
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| Our lunch spot in Yucca Valley. Great burgers and our waitress was from the Pittsburgh area, and added bonus for us! |
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| This is why it is called Joshua Tree National Park. We bought a Joshua Tree seedling at a shop in town. We think it is still alive although it is hard to tell since it looks like a weed. |
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| The co-owner of Bundu Trek |
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| We visited the Desert Queen ranch on the first day. This point of interest requires advance reservations and a cost of $5 per visitor. Access to the area is controlled. |
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| Look carefully...the ranch building can just bee seen in this image. |
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| Walking from the parking area to the ranch. |
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| Our very nice and patient park ranger who led the tour. |
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| The ranch area is in a state of 'arrested decay'. Note the WW2 M3 scout car chassis in the picture. The armored body was cut off and the chassis used for less militaristic purposes |
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| The Keys ranch house |
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| Anyone home? |
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| Another stuck drill bit! This is about the fourth or so stuck rock bits that I have come across in the desert. I guess once it is in, it isn't coming out. |
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| A trusty Willys Jeep. |
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| A chain drive Mack truck with solid tires. My father drove one like this in the 30s when he worked for his brother in law. This one still had remnents of the San Bernardino County Public Works wording on the doors. The story is that the ranch owner found it in the desert buried to the frame, dug it out and drove it home. I guess the county never went looking for it. |
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| A pleasant place on the day when we were there. I imagine in August the temperature will be a bit higher. |
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| The school house on the property. |
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| This house was down the street from our hotel. We walked the neighborhood in the evening and thought that this place looked somewhat middle earth. |
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