Joshua Tree, California

Three hours through winding roads between breathtaking mountains, and arrow straight pathways cutting across what can only be described as desert, you begin to pass places like Apache Trail, Cherokee Trail, Lost Horse Mine Road and Sunnyslope Drive. It makes you image a time gone by, when place names were a way of describing the actual location or the destination, not just a way to ensure your Amazon Fresh order gets to the right place.

I follow the sat nav on my phone, and it leads me up a sandy road called Uphill Road, a quick right onto Singletree Lane (I love these names) and I’m here, at my second AirBnb, a gorgeous little bungalow under a tree, complete with porch, hammocks, and BBQ.

Im not sure why Joshua tree jumped out as a destination to visit, I think subconsciously I had seen mouth watering sunset photos on my instagram, or maybe it was just that U2 concert (not), either way, I was here. It, was, hot! I mean hot hot. As i unpacked the car, I felt the silence. It had a similarity to Norway, the mountains, the landscape, and the utter lack of noise - but 35 degreed hotter. I took it in.

I immediately headed back out onto the sandy roads - pulled the heavy lever in the jeep and clunked it into 4WD. Making my way through the sweeping roads, towards Keys View the highest point in Joshua Tree and a view-point that provides a vista over Palm Springs, Salton Sea and on a very clear day, a mountain in Mexico.

I’d downloaded an app for my phone earlier that day called PhotoPills Its a cool photography app, with more features than I will ever use, but what it does have, is a geo located guide to sunrises, golden hours, and sunsets. Perfect for timing my Keys Views trip so I arrived just in time for the beautiful, breathtaking orange-red sunset.

That evening I headed to a local Mexican Restaurant called Las Palmas. As I stood at the bar reading the menu, wondering whether I should sit down or be seated, i looked around. . . no tourists in here that was for sure. One of the locals was headed my way in a tank top, was I going to get called out as an outsider?

“Love your ink bro”

Few minutes of tattoo talk ensued before he ordered his Pepsi refill and sat down. This was the first of only a handful of encounters with the locals, but each was a friendly and welcoming one, not once did I feel like I was a 'city slicker’ from out of town.

The following day I packed a few big bottles of water, some fruit, and some provisions I had bought before leaving Venice Beach. I headed out, trying to ‘star’ a few places on google maps, so I could plan my route.

Is was surprisingly easy to make my way through the national park, with roads, carparks, and restrooms at all the main ‘exhibits’. I was however, super grateful to my Jeep when Google Maps decided to take me off-road from time to time (what started out as wanting a cool car, was now a necessity).

Arch Rock, Skull Rock, Split Rock, the Cholla Cactus Garden. . . you get the picture here. But the landscape is so breathtaking that you never get bored. A couple of hours trek up Ryan Mountain was one of my favourite parts of the trip. The sun was beating down, but the views were well worth it from the peak.

One of the places that kept popping up during my many ‘oh you must try here’ conversations, was Pappy & Harriets in Pioneertown, a rustic, authentic wild west style live music venue. It’s famous for having world class artists turn up unannounced to perform, and also for being extremely busy. Another example of the friendly welcoming nature of the local inhabitants, although there was a queue, the front of house team were extremely welcoming and shuffled tables around to give me a space. I ordered far too much food (full rack of ribs plus extras), but was given friendly encouragement each time the waitress came around.

Thanks to my Photopills app I managed to finish my meal, and walk around Pioneertown (an old wild-west style village) just in time for yet another incredible photo-perfect sunset.

As I drove back to the Airbnb, through the inky night, I glanced up to see the brightest, fullest moon - here lay my one and only disappointment of Joshua Tree, or at least Joshua Tree whilst I was there, I didn’t get to see the stars in all their glory. I have heard the milky way is clearly visible on the darkest nights, and this will continue to be something I need to see. Maybe another excuse to come back again.