24 Hours in the Mojave Desert

We were looking for a weekend away that we could accomplish in an actual weekend. So we spent 24 hours in the Mojave Desert which is East of Los Angeles.

According to the Wiki, the boundaries of the Mojave are indicated by Joshua Trees (aka Yucca brevifolia). When we went to Joshua Tree National Park we thought that was the only place that “Joshua Trees” were found. Turns out they are region-specific to the Mojave Desert. Which means that Joshua Tree NP = is in slash is a part of the Mojave Desert. Who knew?! We sure didn’t.

Fun fact about the Mojave we were totally unaware of: Death Valley is located there, which is the lowest and hottest place in North America (280 ft below sea level).

It doesn’t really seem like it is that far…but coming from LA the Mojave Desert is about 250 miles away and took us about 4 hours.

Mojave Desert

Hole In the Wall Campground

(beginning – 0:04), coordinates: 35.4166495,-115.5841649

To be honest I’m not actually sure we found this place. Actually according to the fact that you have to pay to stay here, we certainly did not find it.

BUT we did witness a pretty wonderful sunset, and sleeping on the ground wasn’t so bad because the rocks were those lava rocks that are like 90% air.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGgAm47MzVp/

Desert Creatures

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGhZ_Z2szeG/

We *almost* ran over this little guy because he just looked like a rock in the road! Instead we swerved to miss him and then hung out in the middle of the road with him for a while.

You can only do this if there are approximately 7 people in the desert with you. Which feels like an overestimation because we only saw one other human while we were there.

Kelso Dunes

(0:07 – 0:20), Trailhead coordinates: 34.8923093294505,-115.698971715991

This place is insane, there is SO MUCH SAND. Also, the trail and where the dunes are is constantly shifting because of the wind. The hike itself is only about 3 miles roundtrip but since it’s on sand it feels infinitely longer and you get lots of sand everywhere, forever.

As far as where all this sand came from, according to NPS – Geology of Mojave National Preserve:

“…the dunes are actually made up of several sets of dunes, stacked one on top of another. Each set formed in response to some past climate change! The Kelso Dunes depend upon times when the sand grain (sediment) supply is enhanced. This happens whenever the climate is dry enough to expose the raw material of dunes, sand, to the wind. In fact, most of the eastern part of the Kelso Dunes formed when water-filled Soda Lake and Silver Lake dried up, exposing the lake bottom sediment. The entire dune system was stacked up in five major pulses over the past 25,000 years.”

SCIENCE!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOnbjXYguPj/

Sources also say that you can slide down the dune and it creates a booming noise and supposedly you can feel the vibrations through your body. I lost my hat over the dune at one point (because wind) and thought I would never make it back over to the other side (where the car to freedom was located). So no, we did not try this because we weren’t about living in the desert for all time.

PS I would definitely recommend wearing a long sleeve cotton shirt or outdoor button downs like we did. We typically wear long pants and high socks – especially when it’s hot out. Which may seem counterintuitive…but it keeps the sun off our skin which keeps us from overheating. That being said, it is super hot in the desert and there is zero cover so keeping the sun off our skin was key. Also, the sand is everywhere and hurts very much if it is blasting you, which it will.

PPS In retrospect I would also have brought my handkerchief to keep the sand out of my mouth/nose. Learn from my mistakes.

Lava Tube

(0:20 – 0:28), Trailhead coordinates: 35.2160973024723,-115.751110862109

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGj-IaKMzdc/

When we were here the trail was really well maintained and easy to get to. There is a section that is for all-wheel-drive vehicles which we couldn’t access, but it’s just a short walk to the trailhead. It’s fairly easy to spot since it’s a giant hole in the ground with a staircase leading into it.

First you descend the staircase and then you have to scramble your way down some rocks. Then you basically have to crawl on all fours to get to the side with the cave and cool holes. Be sure to take a head lamp because it is super dark in the crawl space!

When you emerge from the claustrophobia-inducing part of this, you enter a really cool cave with a few holes that let in sun. Fingers crossed you are here on a clear day!

Yes, you have to crawl back to get out. It’s not that far, promise!

In Sum

Be sure to have a full tank of gas and lots of water. There is nothing and no one out here if you run out.
Explore the dunes and be prepared to have sand in all of your items forever.
Check out the tube!

BONUS!

Snapchat story which includes more shots of the bee living in our tent, turtle, dunes and lava tube.