The Joshua Tree NP is stunning but again nature was causing problems with some roads washed out and campsites shut due to flooding. All the trails in the east were shut as the floods had uncovered ancient Indian relics but more worryingly arsenic and mercury mine spoils!
Consequently there was a bit of a scrabble for accommodation space. We drove around a site a couple of times and couldn’t find anything we could fit into then Paul decided to try his luck getting into a space, it was accomplished with just the nose of the RV on the road. What a space, possibly the best in the park as it was the last to get the sun and also had a fire pit and BBQ in a slight hollow so very sheltered .
We met a really interesting Vietnam vet there called Jim who unfortunately had Parkinson’s disease and other ailments brought on by his exposure to the deadly Agent Orange. During the war he was in a Huey helicopter and they used to fly through clouds of the poisonous gas, thus his problems. After the war, among other things, he became a carpenter and built the Tioga Pass lodge, a Hells Angel, recording artist who recorded with Donovan and to this day is still friends and plays with Eric Burdon from the Animals. He also used to live in the village of Pioneertown but his house had burnt down a few years ago and now he just lives permanently on the road. May sound like a tall story but he had all the pics to prove it…. What a hero and thoroughly nice guy!
From here we headed into the hills to view the San Andreas fault, then we spent a night at Lake Hemet then made our way up the Pacific Coast Highway or route 1 as its also known