Beginning at the End

The next morning we again were faced with the problem of not knowing what to do. We were heading in the general direction of LA with plans to hit Santa Monica Pier and begin our trek back to Chicago along the infamous Route 66. When we picked up our map in the morning we found out that we were only about 30 miles from Joshua Tree National Park and knew that we had to go. Joshua Tree National Park is placed at the convergence of 2 deserts, the Colorado and the Mojave, and the landscape of each is drastically different. We entered from the south

in the Colorado Desert, which is also the lower of the 2 deserts, and almost as soon as we crossed the parks boundary cacti and yucca plants began to pop out of everywhere. For the most part, the low desert was barren and flat, filled with giant flood washes that stretched for miles and miles. Along the road, we passed some crazy plant life that we had seen no where else in the surrounding desert. The funny part about it was that each plant seemed to have its own little garden, as if it was intentionally planted in one area of the park. The first of these gardens that we passed was filled with the ocotillo tree. It looks like a cactus

from far off and continues to look that way until you are about 2 ft. from it when you realize that the plant is actually covered in tiny little leaves. They are spaced symmetrically and the bark twists around the tree as though it were wrapped. We were extremely lucky to see these plants so full of green as they were. During the majority of the year, they are barren, looking as though the plant is dead and dry. No leaves or flowers

on the tree whatsoever, only long intimidating thorns. However, following a rainfall, these plants spring to life, blooming with flowers and leaves until all of the water is used up at which time the plant returns to its deathly state until the next rainfall comes. The Ocotillo quickly became my favorite plant life we had yet seen on the trip until we came to the next garden on our stop; the Cholla Cactus Garden.

Here the cacti literally seemed to glow as the sun filtered through their finely clustered needles creating the illusion that they had been plugged in and illuminated. These cactus plants stretched as far as the eye could

see and we had to get out there and walk amongst them on a nature trail. After the hike we moved on to the northern, higher Mojave desert and though the change was subtle, it was obvious. Here the dominating feature of the landscape was not the barren plains and cacti of the lower desert, but the tall Joshua Trees scattered like a very spacious forest. Here the landscape was mountainous with many large granite rocks

protruding from the earth. This part of the park is apparently

known worldwide as one of the best spots to rock climb. Evidence of this came in the form of overpopulation. There were throngs of people at each parking area and along every single granite surface you could just make out tiny little dots that were people climbing throughout the park. We took a hike back through Hidden Valley

and it was almost too crowded with people all trying to find the best spot to climb that the hike lost some of its natural wonder. We read along the trail that this is actually becoming a problem in the park. Too many people trying to find the best spot to climb and trampling on plants or scaring the wildlife that lives on the cliffs, disrupting their habitat. Needless to say, we were not surprised to read

about this information. After this hike we left the park and slowly made our way back toward LA and the Santa Monica Pier to start Route 66 in reverse, back to Chicago. It took us quite a while to ride I-10 all the way through LA but we still reached the ocean at about 3:30 p.m. We parked the car and walked around at Palisades Park which

marks the official end, our beginning, of Route 66. It has a plaque commemorating the road as Will Rogers Highway and the official "END" sign which we decided to make a photo stop. Next we walked the pier, something that we weren't able to do during our previous visit to the Santa Monica Bay. At the very end of the pier we stopped at the Last Stop Shop which was full of Rt. 66 merchandise and talked for a bit with the owners who were interested to hear that we were starting the trek back east moments

later. We left the Pacific Ocean just as the sun was setting, hopped in CJ, and turned down Santa Monica Blvd. officially beginning our Route 66 adventure. Katie pulled out our special Route 66 maps and began to lead me through turn by turn from the Pier all the way to Barstow, 130 miles away. Though it was dark, we still saw most of the highlights of this stretch of the road. The coolest thing we saw was the Wigwam Hotel where 15 or so teepee's were scattered in a field and you could pull up and rent one for the night. I was seriously tempted to stop and spend the night in a teepee but we had to make it to Barstow that night so we could have daylight for the rest of our drive to Flagstaff the following day.