Day 142, November 25, 65km and 1365m climb, freedom camp outside Joshua Tree National Park to Jumbo Rocks campground Joshua Tree National Park
Our earliest start for a while! On the road at 0715 and straight into the first climb up into Joshua Tree; 9km and 500m climb. While the wind was a little lighter than yesterday, it was still a head wind all the way up. The Cottonwood visitor center at the top of this climb was decidedly disappointing with queues for the toilets, overflowing rubbish bins and less than enthusiastic staff. We didn't hang around. We did top up our drink bottles though so were fully loaded once more.
From the visitor center, we dropped all of the altitude gained but it was nice riding with the head wind fading and the gradient good. The views were pretty spectacular as well. Then we started to climb again. We stopped at the Oticillo garden for lunch as well as the Cholla cactus garden. We had still to see any Joshua Trees though! It wasn't until we were at around the 1000m mark that they first started to appear along with the rocks that Joshua Tree is also famous for. It was busy in the park though with queues of cars at the busy spots. A lot of people take leave for Thanksgiving so we have been lucky with our camping strategy!
Tonight we have scammed a tent site at Jumbo Rocks campsite. Yesterday we met two bikepackers on their way into the park who invited us to stay at their site. This was great as we had been unable to make a booking. On arrival they were off exploring but their neighbors were just leaving a day early so offered us their site! So we now have a beautiful site, tucked in amongst the rocks. It's cold though! We are now at about 1500m so as soon as the sun was gone we were getting ready for bed to stay warm.
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