Bargains, Good Luck and Two More National Parks

(No edit to this photo whatsoever in case you were wondering) 

I'm a sucker for a bargain, and I'm an extra sucker if it includes getting something for "free." This is why I have TWO airline credit cards..."60,000 air-mile points to join?! Where do I sign?"

Although, as we all know, something is only a good deal if you actually use it. Ever seen the old Monte Python "I bought a piston engine" routine? This was 100% my mother (we teased her unmercifully for it) but I have inherited the same disorder. So I decided it was time to cash in my points and fly somewhere for our new "see a National Park on Thanksgiving" tradition. But where?

I've crowned myself the "Queen of the Complicated Plan" for a reason, and this trip proved no different.  Picking up a car in one city and dropping off in another, four different camps in four days, hours of driving with only prayers we'd actually find a site - but everything came together beautifully, with a cherry on top lucky win of over $200 in a Vegas nickle slot before flying home.

And now I have earned two new stickers on my National Park Thermos. I mean, if you are going to go to Joshua Tree, you really need to throw in Death Valley too. 

Poor Ken only earned two massive blisters - one on each foot. You can't always have perfect luck. But he's a good sport, so I think he'll still be in for next year's trip that I've already started planning. Do you happen to know any airline credit cards I need to sign up for? ;) Happy "deal or no deal, hiking is worth it" trails. My complicated itinerary is below for those interested.

TRAIL LOG: 

Day 1: Got our "free" flights out of Seattle to LAX on Frontier, though if you've flown with them you know you'll need to pay for EVERYTHING else. Well, except the 14" x 18" x 8" personal item; so it's always a "how much can I possibly shove in here" game...which of course if not enough if you're car camping for several days. 

So I bit the bullet and paid for one checked bag which somehow we managed to fit all our camping gear in. We originally had reserved an Escape Camper Van (which we've done a couple times before) but sadly they went out of business. So instead I rented a car I thought we could at least sleep in the back of. (Though we never needed to, thankfully.) After surviving the craziness that is LAX and picking up the car, we drove as far as we could and stayed at a random hotel.  

Day 2: Stopping at Walmart is not the way to start a vacation, but it had to be done. Word of advice: check to make sure the phone charging cords you brought are compatible with the car you rented BEFORE going shopping...ugh, but otherwise we got the supplies we needed. Ken even found a large cooler bag that got us through all four days for only $6! He's a pretty good bargain hunter in his own right. 

20 pounds of ice is too much even for a large cooler tote, haha

With a second stop to find the correct cord, I had given up the idea of doing our first planned hike; though because it was so close to our reserved campsite at the Cottonwood Campground on the south side of Joshua Tree, we were actually still able to make it happen. "Lost Palm Oasis Trail" is a 7.4 out and back with 1K gain. We added on a quick detour to Mastodon Peak for sunset which added another 2 miles and 500 feet of gain. It was the perfect reset for surviving Walmart hell.

Day 3: You can actually get to the Lost Palm Trail straight from the campground by another route that takes you up Mastodon Peak first. I would actually recommend just going in and out this way, as there is nothing special about the first mile from the official trailhead. I decided to do this alternate one mile access to Mastodon as a sunrise hike and began in the dark with my headlamp. It is well marked and easy to follow (though I'd still recommend having GPS downloaded) and it takes you past a really cool old mining relic.  

When I got back we packed up quickly so we could make the hour drive to Hidden Valley Campground and get there hopefully just as people were leaving. It's the most popular campground, and it is first come first served. 

I really wanted to see Skull Rock, which was on the way and about a 2 mile hike. I figured 10 am would be the perfect timing for scoring a campsite, so I thought we'd have time. Turns out there is no hiking required to see Skull Rock (literally right off the road, though there is a trail you can do) so we skipped the hike. Thank God because we would have missed getting what I'm pretty sure was the only site available right at 9:30...lady luck was definitely on our side. 

We cowboy camped both nights in Joshua Tree - the stars were amazing!

As a former hard core climber, Ken was excited to revisit his old stomping grounds, so we spent this day exploring straight from our campsite; which is central to much of the major climbing routes.

I'd advise to stay off the popular trails - you don't need them. We made the mistake of walking to the official Hidden Valley Trail because we could, and Holy Moly! Trust me, you can see all the beauty around the park without having to wait in a hiking line. 

Not Ken's happy place

Day 4: After leaving our coveted spot to a cute climbing couple (we seriously must have had 30+ cars drive by looking for a site) we drove the 5 hours to Death Valley with the plan to stay at the 106 site first come only campground of Texas Springs that "never fills up." 

After driving past the "road closed" turn off to said campground, we stopped at the Visitor Center where we learned they couldn't keep Texas Springs open because of the budget cuts. Uh oh. The ranger was very helpful and made a call to the Stovepipe Wells Campground to confirm they were not full...yet. Hurry!!!

We didn't see a lot of wildlife, but we sure loved the Ravens

True to our lucky theme, I think we got the last site. (There were a few RV sites left, but we were really wanting the picnic table and fire ring. Seems the camping sites are the ones that fill up first.) Even this last minute change of campground was advantageous for us, because it put us closer to where I had planned on hiking the next day. Plus it was only 5 minutes from the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, so we hurried there after putting up our tent even though the sun had already set. The colors of the after glow were still so beautiful. 

Day 5: Another early pack up, and then just a 10 minute drive to Mosaic Canyon Trail. This is a 3.5 up and back with about 1K in gain. It's not as popular as some of the other places (a rough 2 mile road going up there may be part of the reason) and it was nice to have a less crowded experience. 

At about a half mile before getting back to the parking lot I noticed people hiking up the side of the canyon from where we originally came up. It looked impossibly hard, but the closer we got to it I could tell it wasn't so bad. I could see that this side trail showed up on my Alltrails map, so we decided to take it. I'm glad we did, as it was fun to look down into the canyon, along with the sweeping view into the valley. 

Thankfully we already had a reservation at Furnace Creek Campground for that night so we didn't have to rush or worry. After we set up our tent for the final time we took our sleeping pads out to sunbath in the last rays. It wasn't hot, but us Washingtonians appreciate any warmth with our much needed dose of vitamin D. 

Day 6: We had agreed Ken would sleep in and I'd take the car to do a sunrise hike at Zabriskie Point. This turned out to be my favorite views of the whole trip. My advice is start hiking as soon as you have light - you'll have plenty before the sun actually crests the horizon. I had the whole trail to myself because everyone is up at the point waiting for the official sunrise. It was pure magic. 

I was back at camp around 8:30 am, so we still had time to explore more of the park. The Badwater Rd had just opened up after having been washed out, so we drove down to see the Devil's Golf Course and Golden Canyon.

Many side roads are still closed

We only hiked about a mile of Golden Canyon, but there is a "secret" side trail about a quarter mile in that I really wished I could have explored further. (I only noticed it because someone was coming out - I have no idea how far it goes; I only went in about 20 feet.) 

That finally wraps it up! The only other thing to say is that a stop at the Area 51 tourist trap is worth it just for the stupid photo shot opportunity. Until next time! YouTube video of trip here.

Getting probed ;)