Spring Break Backpacking/Hiking in Southern California

OVERVIEW

This trip is gonna be amazing! We are going March 4-13th. Friday morning we drive together to D.C. to catch our flight to Los Angeles (LAX). I’d like to get us all on the same flight to make everything easier. I’ve seen deals for only $250!

Once in LA, we drive to Joshua Tree National Park. Yay! This is in an amazing desert environment, with great hiking, excellent climbing, and beautiful cactus. There are also very unique big boulders. We stay through Thursday, doing serious desert hiking, star gazing at night, and doing one or two overnight backpacking trips. We will
risk flash floods and accidents which can easily become fatal in our extreme location, all to have the opportunity to bury our human waste in the desert and pack out our used TP in ziplock baggies (whilst enjoying all nature has to offer, of course). Backpacking will be limited to two days at a time because of water. We carry all the water to drink, cook, and use for hygiene (1-2 gallons per person/day). It will be easy to get lost out there so brush up on your compass & topo skills. Rock climbing may be an option. Horsebackriding in the park is available. Let me know your desires.

Early Thursday morning we reluctantly say goodbye to Joshua Tree and drive to Palm Springs. We leave the desert behind and enter an alpine climate via a tram (unless we find a way to hike up) and do an 11 mile hike taking us to the summit of Mt. San Jacinto (10,804ft.) which has a view John Muir thought was one of the most sublime in the World. Thursday night we check out Palm Springs and camp near it.

Friday morning we head to Coachella Valley Preserve, ten miles away. We do the Pushawalla Palms Trail which follows the San Andreas fault into an amazing deep canyon oasis in the Indio hills. Then, we drive to the Salton Sea where we can hike, swim, boat, fish, and camp our last night together in Cali.

The next day is Saturday and we head back to L.A. for our flight home. We should be in VA by Sunday morning.

What do you need to bring?

-good hiking boots
-Sunglasses
-sunlotion
-hat (for sun & warmth)
-layered clothing (syntheitc if possible) Temperature changes of 4o degrees within 24 hours are common in Joshua Tree.
-Rain protection
-gloves for scrambling (recommend leather).
-toiletries
-money

The club can supply:

-headlamps
-backpacks
-sleeping pads
-sleeping bags
-stoves
-pots
-tents

What are the possible costs?

The club is helping us out with about $500 worth of the costs!

-You pay your flight
-club is giving us $150 toward a rental car, so, divided by 4 people I am guestimating
that it costs us $75 each. If someone is 25 or older it is cheaper to rent.
-club is paying for our gas!
-cost of our food depends on you. The club contributes $7/day
-The club covers almost all of our camping fees ($5/person/night) as well as park entrance fees
-We will need to buy stove fuel out there, as we cannot bring it on the plane: a few bucks/person
-Tram (?) in Palm Springs is $21
-There are always unforseen costs. Perhaps if we do something in Palm Springs.

Please confirm within a few days if you can do this.

Some links of interest:

Joshua Tree N.P.
http://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm
Palm Springs hiking
http://www.hiking-in-ps.com/cvpreserve.html
Salton Sea
http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/about/history.htm