First Stop, First Light
Cholla Garden, Joshua Tree National Park, California; March 2024
Since this is the first stop on our trip together as writer and reader, it seems fitting to start at the first light of day.
I love the idea of seeing the sunrise.
But I don’t always love the reality. The pursuit of sunrises usually requires getting up way earlier than normal and making a real effort to get yourself in the right spot at a specific time. In some cases that means hiking up a mountain in the dark. In this case, it meant getting up at 4:30am for a 75-minute drive.
My wife Karen and I were on a trip to Palm Springs, with an intent to see the city, visit Joshua Tree National Park, and attend a concert. When our daughter Katie heard where we were, she texted us an amazing sunrise photo that she had taken at the park.
So, early on a Sunday morning, we set out from our hotel to get to the Cholla Cactus Garden before the 6:30am sunrise.
The Cholla is a shrubby cactus, and the garden has a huge collection of 3 to 6 foot Chollas spread out across a hillside, with narrow trails winding through them. As the dawn light brightened, about 30 people wandered the trails, looking for a spot to set up a camera or to sit with their coffee and wait for the sunrise.
And what a sunrise it was. At first light, the needles started to shine. Soon, the whole garden seemed to glow, with the colors changing from whites to yellows to oranges to golds as the sun rose higher. For about 30 minutes, we were treated to a really special show.
I had never seen anything like it.
[Memory Lane Side Trip: This was not my first early morning at Joshua Tree, but I am sure it was the first time I actually saw the sun rise. In the mid-1970’s I camped here with the Boy Scouts, before this was a national park. I have only vague memories of the trip, but I do have photos that confirm we were here. As a teenage boy, I am sure I just slept until the sun was up.]
A nice benefit of being up and out early is that you can experience other sights without all the people. Before the crowds arrived, we were able to hike up Ryan Mountain - with its views of the San Jacinto and Gorgonio peaks - and explore other sights along the main road through the park.
Well worth the early alarm and the long drive.