Joshua Tree: Camping & Riding

obie · Post by **obie** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:38 pm

Beautiful weather for some camping in JTree this past weekend. We put the tent up in Indian Cove and spent two fine nites under the stars. No wind, no fly on the tent - restful & quiet times. We rode thru Hidden Valley and Pleasant Valley. The Geology Tour Road ride down thru Pleasant Valley was great. The sand was perfect for my leg rehab. The hike-a-bike section up GT Road from the valley floor actually improved my ankle mobility in a matter of an hour. We were flying on the way back to camp. Laura's an experienced MTB'er from Ukiah and was a pleasure to ride with - strong and steady and always ready to go exploring on foot or on the bike. Great Fun! Once she got dialed into the "Speed Is Your Friend" mantra she was handling the sandy sections easily.

Dinner and breakfast at the 29 Palms Inn + a tent + two bikes = Big Fun in the Mojave!

Laura's ride is a early '90's Specialized 'Hard Rock'. Cool rig with the tricked out Shimano rear U-brakes that are attached under the chain stays. Fun bike to ride...nicely balanced and very responsive.

Squaw Tanks on the floor of Pleasant Valley

Digging the 70 deg. weather and the mellow ride across the floor of the valley

Indian Cove

Johnny Bronson · Post by **Johnny Bronson** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:52 am

Jtree was beautiful weather this weekend!Enjoyed a bit of it myself =D Great to hear about your rehab for your leg is going well.
I couldnt believe how beautiful the weather was all over the desert .I was camping out near sawtooth canyon enjoying the desert weather also. :thumbup:

obie · Post by **obie** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:46 pm

Johnny Bronson wrote: Jtree was beautiful weather this weekend!Enjoyed a bit of it myself =D Great to hear about your rehab for your leg is going well.
I couldnt believe how beautiful the weather was all over the desert .I was camping out near sawtooth canyon enjoying the desert weather also. :thumbup:

Thanks! I even managed to mess a line up and take a tumble on the bionic leg but got right up and kept rolling. Big moment for me.

Glad you enjoyed it too. That was fine weather. Monday was down right hot out around 29 Palms!

moppychris · Post by **moppychris** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:02 pm

Its a small world. I think we drove past you and Laura on Geology Tour Road. If I am correct, I think I saw you starting a ride in Jumbo Rocks camp. Anyways, sorry if we drove by you two too fast.
Riding looked like fun. Nice TR.

obie · Post by **obie** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:11 pm

moppychris wrote: Its a small world. I think we drove past you and Laura on Geology Tour Road. If I am correct, I think I saw you starting a ride in Jumbo Rocks camp. Anyways, sorry if we drove by you two too fast.
Riding looked like fun. Nice TR.

Yep, we started the GT Road ride from Jumbo Rocks.

No worries, we were having a great time - and thought the vehicles that passed were respectful and patient with us weaving about the road to get thru those sandy sections.

That's a nice ride out there. We'll be back soon.

Johnny Bronson · Post by **Johnny Bronson** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:36 pm

obie wrote: Thanks! I even managed to mess a line up and take a tumble on the bionic leg but got right up and kept rolling. Big moment for me.

Damn!The bionic leg is strong and so is your determination!Keep it up!

davantalus · Post by **davantalus** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 6:51 pm

Call me crazy, but I thought Joshua Tree was mainly sand.

Do you stick mainly to the roads and trails (?) or huff and puff it through the grainy stuff?

obie · Post by **obie** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:52 am

davantalus wrote: Call me crazy, but I thought Joshua Tree was mainly sand.

Do you stick mainly to the roads and trails (?) or huff and puff it through the grainy stuff?

We're doing the dirt 4WD roads to get me and the busted flipper back up to speed. Yea, it's pretty much sand on the descent of GT Road...looks to be down 2-3' in places from the rain in December and all that is just laying on the road.

That's about 25 miles of riding from the Jumbo Rocks campsite and down GT Road and back. Only about two miles of hike-a-bike down/up a stretch of GT - not so bad. The ride is comparable to rolling across Bommer Ridge in Moro Canyon. Soft sections but not too technical. We thought it was a pretty fun loop.

Right now you can only ride the 4WD dirt roads - no MTB's on the hiking trails. However, on the JTree website they still mention the proposal in front of Congress to open up 29 miles (IIRC) of new trails for MTB'ers. I have no idea what kind of timetable there is - if any.