FRIDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2024

(Twentynine Palms, CA – Manhattan Beach, CA)

Woke up after a good sleep. I wasn’t cold last night, although allegedly I stole the duvet… Anyway, we had a light breakfast at the hotel, got ready, and drove a couple of miles up the road to the centre of Twentynine Palms, where the visitor centre for Joshua Tree National Park is located. I didn’t count them, but there are still a lot of palm trees there. After a brief visit, we were on our way into the park, where our first stop was Arch Rock Trail.

The parking area was busy, but there was space, so we put our boots on for the mile or so walk to the rocks. The walk was pretty, and the destination interesting. Having said that, I couldn’t quite find the angle of rocks that revealed an arch, but I enjoyed looking. At first the temperature seemed cool, as there was a breeze, but the sun was strong, and the heat was reflected off the rocks and sand, so I was quite warm by the end. 

[Editor’s note: video footage is ready for you and located here https://vimeo.com/1027907661.]

We headed next for the trailhead for Skull Rock, but this was exceptionally busy, with people parking alongside the road. It just was too busy for us, so we continued on, re-planned, and drive up to Keys View. This provided views of the Jacinta Mountain range, directly across the Coachella Valley. I was most excited by the view it provided of the San Andreas fault, which stretched out as a clearly visible line along the valley We could also see the Salton Sea and Mexico, rather hazily in the distance.

We would considered a walk in Hidden Valley, but we had a lot to do still today, and again, it was busy, so we just stopped at a random place, explored some Joshua Trees and then took off our walking boots for the final time this holiday.

Our journey then went via a Columbia store (well, we had a voucher to use…), a Denny’s in Banning (it was nearly 3.30pm and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast), and then across the wider Los Angeles area to Manhattan Beach. It felt like everyone wanted to be somewhere else. Six lanes in each direction, all full of traffic moving slowly. And this was just one road amongst hundreds. Total madness. I could not do that every day. 98 miles took over two and a half hours, although that was better progress than the day we arrived. 

We arrived at the Sea View Inn at 7pm, checked in, and carried our belongings uphill to our little bungalow (there is no parking outside, as it is a tiny backstreet). We decided to have a brief wander through the neighbourhood, and also down to the sea, even though it was too dark to see much. 

Now it’s time to relax. Tomorrow we’ll pack the cases back up for travel home, explore the beach and generally take it easy, before we head to the airport tomorrow evening.