Tour De Joshua (Tree) Pannier Tour

January 28 - 29, 2006

Submitted by Don Porter

Photos by Kathy Shapiro

Despite the threat of high winds being reported by Accuweather, six of us took the chance and met for a ride at 8:15 Saturday morning, 2 miles east of Joshua Tree. Participants included trip leaders Mike and Ellie, Jerry Tate, Larry Moore, Kathy Shapiro, and me. In fact, all were BTC trip leaders except for me. After some initial discussion about how hot or cold it was going to be, since a thermometer in JTree was reporting 32 degrees, we set off along hwy 62 towards the north entrance in Twentynine Palms. Within a mile or so Mike called for a stop at a passing liquor store to purchase beers. I initially thought it was a bit early in the day to be drinking, but Mike explained the beer was for Happy Hour at the campground that evening. So I bought a can of beer.

The day warmed up nicely, and the frequent re-groups were a welcome opportunity to shed clothing layers. Winds were light and we continued on with very light traffic to a lunch stop at White Tank Campground, about halfway through our 55 miles for the day. After lunch we continued SE towards our goal for the day, Cottonwood Campground. Jtree is far from flat and we had about 2000' yet to do towards our total of 3,850' for the day. The long hill approaching Cottonwood CG was the hardest of the day, but the end was in sight so it went quickly.

We regrouped at the campground and began searching for a campsite with enough flat space for our four tents, and as far from any RV's as possible. We found something suitable, setup tents, and snacks, beers, and wine appeared out of panniers for Happy Hour. Being pretty full after Happy Hour, I made dinner out of miso soup, while everyone else had exotic looking dishes. Temperatures were in the mid-40's during the night, I estimate, and no water bottles froze.

The next morning, I filled up on Kathy's great oatmeal and we broke camp. We started off with a nice long, and cool, downhill back the way we had come. We rode through Fried Liver wash with a goal of White Tank CG, again, for our lunch stop. Along the way, I spotted a coyote crossing the road in front of me. We sat down at the same picnic table as Saturday's lunch, and everyone pulled out some great looking food. I watched Mike eating a fresh avocado, and Larry making a terrific looking sardine sandwich on Indian bread. Meanwhile I choked down a handful of dried apricots and some trail mix. Everyone had something from Trader Joe's and Jerry even had a TJ's shopping bag with him.

After lunch we headed out and made a left turn towards Sheep Pass and the west entrance. We hadn't ridden this section of road Saturday, so there were new sights to see. We passed the turnoff to Keys View, deciding that might make a nice side trip on another day. After a regroup at the west entrance, we headed back towards the cars via hwy 62. Arriving at the cars, we had accomplished 60 miles and 3,750' for the day. Four of us headed into the Thai restaurant by the west entrance for a great $10 buffet dinner. Mike and Ellie headed back into the park for another night of camping, and hiking the next day.

So a great time was had by all. The weather was almost perfect and no one had a flat. Next time I'm bringing an avocado and Indian bread for lunch.