Who’s Up For Nice Hike – With Some “Rock Faces?”

Not talking about ours of course, but the incredible “rock faces” you can see at Joshua Tree National Park in California!

This massive national park, located halfway between California’s Pacific Ocean and the Arizona border, is perhaps best known as the title of the U2 album that had the classic hit “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. Our first trip there was part of our journey to find a “super bloom:”

When California gets drenched with winter rain, the spring can bring a “super bloom” of colorful flowers and shrubs.

The above photo shows just how inspiring our world can be – and how exhilarating it can be to explore it. So imagine how cool it was for us to discover Joshua Tree and its iconic “rock faces!”

Yes, that’s “Skull Rock” – named for good reason! It’s just one of many incredible rock formations scattered throughout this unique park…like this one:

And what about that Eagle’s nest – built on a small tree branch jutting out of the rocks? 

You see, there are rocks hanging around everywhere!

Ready For A “Hitch Hike?”

Yes, that’s a Joshua Tree, and for this edition of “Hitch Hiking”, I’m going to take you on a 5-mile hike though some of the most beautiful rock formations in the park before showcasing a classic Alfred Hitchcock Movie!

And just how big are these rocks? Well, look at the people to the left of this photo:

That’s me hanging out with one of my favorite boulders as well…the size and scope of this park is staggering, so let’s get started on our hike:

As the official website notes, Joshua Tree National park is actually two distinct desert ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado, which come together in Joshua Tree National Park. A fascinating variety of plants and animals make their homes in a land sculpted by strong winds and occasional torrents of rain. Dark night skies, a rich cultural history, and surreal geologic features add to the wonder of this vast wilderness in southern California.

As you can see, the trails are spacious and plentiful in the park, with lots of great markers and signs to show you all of the best rock formations, which are literally all around you – sometimes just hanging out on top of other rocks!

These rock towers seem haphazardly thrown around – it’s incredible what nature, given enough time, can do!

The park is named for the Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) native to the Mojave Desert. Originally declared a national monument in 1936, Joshua Tree was redesignated as a national park in 1994. Encompassing a total of 790,636 acres (1,235.4 sq mi), the park includes 429,690 acres (671.4 sq mi) of designated wilderness. 

But don’t worry, there is so much to explore!

Here’s a view:

Welcome to “Skull Rock!”

One of the park’s most famous faces, “Skull Rock” began long ago when rain drops accumulated in tiny depressions and started to erode the granite. As more rock eroded, more water accumulated, leading to more erosion until, as time passed, two hollowed-out eye sockets formed and the rock began to resemble a skull.

“Skull Rock” is easy to find, and from there, a 1.7-mile nature trail begins there that allows you to see ALL of the “faces” of Joshua Tree – look at some of these!

Here’s is a video look at the “faces” of Joshua Tree – and what the surrounding landscape looks like – at times a moonscape, at times a gallery of unique rock faces! 

We ended up hiking more than seven miles in all – with the weather a perfect 73 degrees, we didn’t have to worry about the 100+ degree weather of summer…spring is definitely the time to experience Joshua Tree!

Speaking of pictures, this incredible hike had to be matched with a classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller, and since there were so many “faces” in Joshua Tree’s rock formations, I remembered when Henry Fonda’s face was mistaken for a Robber – in Hitchcock’s 1956 classic “The Wrong Man”:

Henry Fonda plays a string bassist who is a devoted husband and father playing in the jazz combo at the Stork Club. He needs to cash in some of his wife’s life insurance, but when he enters the insurance office, he is identified by some of the clerks as the man that held up the office twice a few months earlier – yes, they’ve identified “the wrong man”. 

Here is the trailer:

Here is some great trivia thanks to IMDB:

The scene where Henry Fonda is taken to prison was filmed in a real prison. As he is led to his cell , you can hear one of the inmates yell out “What’d they get ya for, Henry??”, and a bunch of other prisoners laughing.

“The Wrong Man” is one of Hitchcock’s most somber films, but the Director still has a cameo, however, in this film Hitchcock narrates the prologue in the film as well. This was the only time that he actually spoke in any of his movies.

So there you have it: an incredible nature hike in Joshua tree among the “rock faces”, and a Hitchcock thriller based on a “face” as well!

While we were in the Joshua Tree area, we ate at this incredible restaurant:

And since we are exploring cool, out of the ways places in California’s desert, why not pop in here for a gunfight at a classic saloon?

This classic wild Wild West town has a great saloon – see our trip here:

I’ve done quite a few “Hitch Hike” segments: if you want to catch up, here’s a link to a number of them all in one blog:

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Categories: British Cinema, Exotic Travel, Film Fight Club, Memoirs, nature, Sports, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir

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