Chaos at Covington Flats (Joshua Tree)
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2024 9:23 am
On Saturday Cecelia and I drove to Joshua Tree in the afternoon.
She wanted to see the famous sculptures, Simi Dabah and Transmission, along Sunfair Road.
I wanted to bag Quail Mountain, the highest summit in Joshua Tree National Park. Based on a small amount of research, I figured we could camp at Upper Covington Flat and hit the trail/route early Sunday morning.
After touring the sculptures, we last-minute shopped at the little market in town, then in the dark we drove to Upper Covington. One other car was parked at the remote trailhead, but they soon drove off, leaving me and Cecelia all by ourselves.
Now, since the moment we rolled into the desert, it had been very windy. The happy man at Simi Dabah even apologized for the weather (as if it was his fault). And sure enough, the cold wind followed us to Upper Covington.
Cecelia stayed warm in the car while I set up the tent, table and chairs in a clearing nearby. The weather hadn't decided to full-blown hate us yet. It merely annoyed us at frequent intervals.
Hot chocolate improved the situation. It usually does. And we moved our chairs next to the car, which blocked most of the wind. Three tasty beers from Coachella Valley Brewing Company, they helped too.
We gazed at the stars above. Cecelia pointed out different constellations. Then she pointed out some thick clouds barely visible in the distance. Was it supposed to rain?
Earlier I had checked the forecast for Joshua Tree and did not see any precipitation. However, we were camping several miles from the town of Joshua Tree, and 2400' higher in elevation. Oopsie.
We entered the tent and crawled inside our sleeping bags. Despite wearing ear plugs, the wind kept us awake. My cheap tent is not great at shielding wind. It flapped around fairly consistently. Note to self: Invest in a better tent!
Eventually the stressed tent stakes came out of the loose, desert sand, and that's when Cecelia rightfully gave up the fight. She abandoned the tent for the back seat of my car.
So in the middle of the night, in the cold, evil wind, I hunted for large rocks to place over the tent stakes. I managed to secure everything, even the empty beer cans that had flown away and were successfully tracked down like wild game. Feeling kind of proud of myself, I actually zonked out and slept for a couple hours.
I then woke to the sound of something lightly hitting the top of the tent. My sleepy brain assumed it was rain. Thankfully the tent's interior remained dry and water was not dripping through. Perhaps my tent wasn't as cheap as it looked.
I tried and failed to go back to sleep. After tossing and turning for an hour or so, I noticed that the constant wind had unzipped the vestibule, and my shoes were covered with ice.
It wasn't raining, it was snowing! I can be such a dumbass at times.
Now the brain started working. I finally poked my head outside. The ground and tent were already encased in snow, and the snow was already clumping into ice chunks. The wind-driven flakes were falling fast, too. If this kept up, maybe my old car wouldn't start and we'd be stuck in bad weather far from civilization. Apparently I had made a mistake checking the weather forecast, so now I had no clue what to expect throughout the rest of the day.
I decided to bail ... immediately. I put on the ice-covered shoes and entered a bit of chaos--a dark and frozen, gusting and snowing chaos of Covington Flats. Ice had partially consumed my car. Opening the door broke chunks and made a loud cracking noise that frightened Cecelia awake. She thought she was under attack. We *were* under attack, but not from any animal or man. Nature itself was trying to murder us. Why was it trying to kill us? No time for answers. Stuff needed to be put back into the car.
Thankfully the engine started. Praise Honda!
I informed Cecelia that we were leaving. She agreed that that was a good idea. Sheets of ice covered the camp table and chairs. I shook off what I could, then brushed off the rest with my gloved hands. The gloves weren't made for snow and immediately became wet, then my hands started freezing.
I quickly tossed aside icy rocks and pulled up the tent stakes. Then I folded and lifted the tent with all of its contents still inside. The whole package was shoved into the back of my SUV, like a huge burrito. Only this burrito was topped with ice and folded by a madman, and you wouldn't want to eat it, because its plastic tortilla was stuffed with camping gear.
I quickly double-checked the campsite for anything forgotten. If the snow concealed it from my sight, whatever it was, it's still there.
I removed my soaked gloves and began the process of warming frozen hands by the car heater. The car said that the outside temperature was 27 degrees. Does that factor in the wind?
We descended Covington Road with snow still falling sideways. Cecelia took a video.
After a few miles, the flurries stopped, but a fresh, white blanket now covered the desert.
We returned to the Park entrance on La Contenta Road, where it hadn't snowed much and the road was clear. We pulled into a turnout near the signboard and tried to sleep as the sky began to lighten.
To be continued...
After touring the sculptures, we last-minute shopped at the little market in town, then in the dark we drove to Upper Covington. One other car was parked at the remote trailhead, but they soon drove off, leaving me and Cecelia all by ourselves.
Now, since the moment we rolled into the desert, it had been very windy. The happy man at Simi Dabah even apologized for the weather (as if it was his fault). And sure enough, the cold wind followed us to Upper Covington.
Cecelia stayed warm in the car while I set up the tent, table and chairs in a clearing nearby. The weather hadn't decided to full-blown hate us yet. It merely annoyed us at frequent intervals.
Hot chocolate improved the situation. It usually does. And we moved our chairs next to the car, which blocked most of the wind. Three tasty beers from Coachella Valley Brewing Company, they helped too.
We gazed at the stars above. Cecelia pointed out different constellations. Then she pointed out some thick clouds barely visible in the distance. Was it supposed to rain?
Earlier I had checked the forecast for Joshua Tree and did not see any precipitation. However, we were camping several miles from the town of Joshua Tree, and 2400' higher in elevation. Oopsie.
We entered the tent and crawled inside our sleeping bags. Despite wearing ear plugs, the wind kept us awake. My cheap tent is not great at shielding wind. It flapped around fairly consistently. Note to self: Invest in a better tent!
Eventually the stressed tent stakes came out of the loose, desert sand, and that's when Cecelia rightfully gave up the fight. She abandoned the tent for the back seat of my car.
So in the middle of the night, in the cold, evil wind, I hunted for large rocks to place over the tent stakes. I managed to secure everything, even the empty beer cans that had flown away and were successfully tracked down like wild game. Feeling kind of proud of myself, I actually zonked out and slept for a couple hours.
I then woke to the sound of something lightly hitting the top of the tent. My sleepy brain assumed it was rain. Thankfully the tent's interior remained dry and water was not dripping through. Perhaps my tent wasn't as cheap as it looked.
I tried and failed to go back to sleep. After tossing and turning for an hour or so, I noticed that the constant wind had unzipped the vestibule, and my shoes were covered with ice.
It wasn't raining, it was snowing! I can be such a dumbass at times.
Now the brain started working. I finally poked my head outside. The ground and tent were already encased in snow, and the snow was already clumping into ice chunks. The wind-driven flakes were falling fast, too. If this kept up, maybe my old car wouldn't start and we'd be stuck in bad weather far from civilization. Apparently I had made a mistake checking the weather forecast, so now I had no clue what to expect throughout the rest of the day.
I decided to bail ... immediately. I put on the ice-covered shoes and entered a bit of chaos--a dark and frozen, gusting and snowing chaos of Covington Flats. Ice had partially consumed my car. Opening the door broke chunks and made a loud cracking noise that frightened Cecelia awake. She thought she was under attack. We *were* under attack, but not from any animal or man. Nature itself was trying to murder us. Why was it trying to kill us? No time for answers. Stuff needed to be put back into the car.
Thankfully the engine started. Praise Honda!
I informed Cecelia that we were leaving. She agreed that that was a good idea. Sheets of ice covered the camp table and chairs. I shook off what I could, then brushed off the rest with my gloved hands. The gloves weren't made for snow and immediately became wet, then my hands started freezing.
I quickly tossed aside icy rocks and pulled up the tent stakes. Then I folded and lifted the tent with all of its contents still inside. The whole package was shoved into the back of my SUV, like a huge burrito. Only this burrito was topped with ice and folded by a madman, and you wouldn't want to eat it, because its plastic tortilla was stuffed with camping gear.
I quickly double-checked the campsite for anything forgotten. If the snow concealed it from my sight, whatever it was, it's still there.
I removed my soaked gloves and began the process of warming frozen hands by the car heater. The car said that the outside temperature was 27 degrees. Does that factor in the wind?
We descended Covington Road with snow still falling sideways. Cecelia took a video.
After a few miles, the flurries stopped, but a fresh, white blanket now covered the desert.
We returned to the Park entrance on La Contenta Road, where it hadn't snowed much and the road was clear. We pulled into a turnout near the signboard and tried to sleep as the sky began to lighten.
