The Grand Canyon (via Joshua Tree and Barstow)

Joshua Trees
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The next few days took our breath away. Joshua Tree and the Grand Canyon are out of this world and then there were other great spots like Palm Springs and Calico Ghost town on route in case that wasn't enough.

Highlights:

• Joshua Tree National Park - the whole thing !!!
• Passing through one horse towns - ones where your brother is also your uncle.
• Not just the first sighting of the Grand Canyon but looking at it from various points, including looking up from 1000ft down

Sunset at Grand Canyon
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Lowlights:

• ??? - sorry, can't even make one up

Details

So after leaving San Diego on day 14 we drove through Palm Springs and on to Joshua Tree National Park. There was no time to amble around Palm Springs but it's surreal to see the dessert to your left and palm trees and golf courses to your right.

Arty sunset at the Grand Canyon
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Now Joshua Tree is something you have to see for yourself. And if you do, make sure you get out your car and follow a hiking trail.  The entire park is nothing but hills, boulders and Joshua Trees but it's kept so beautifully natural. The boulders are of a massive scale and it attracts countless rock climbers. We walked through Hidden Valley and then continued up to Keys View for a panaramic view of Palm Springs, the dessert and an expanse of mountains and valleys.

That night we slept in Barstow - I don't know what else you would do there besides sleep !!! and then on day 15 we continued the drive through Calico Ghost town on to the Grand Canyon.

Sub-zero sunrise
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The majority of these towns started with miners discovering silver or gold and grew from there. That was the case with Calico but when the silver ran out the town was desserted because of the intense heat. We took a short walk through an old mining tunnel and then hopped back in the airconditioned car.

We made it to the Grand Canyon just before sunset and were perched on the edge FREEZING with all the other tourists to get a great photo. It was below zero but all worth it. So worth it in fact that we got ourselves out of bed the next day (day 16) in sub zero temperatures to see the sun rise.

Resting on hike down Grand Canyon
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Later that day (after hopping back into bed to warm up) we did a 3.5 mile hike down to Cedar Ridge into the Canyon itself. We completed it in just under 2 and a half hours and let me tell you UP is very hard work and you shouldn't forget that when your first stretch is down and you feel that you can go forever. Anyway it was a very enjoyable walk with great views all the way (and very narrow paths at some points).

Later that afternoon we drove to the highest viewing point in the Canyon where there was visability for 156km. We tried to catch another sunset by taking a shuttle bus out to where cars aren't allowed and walking along the rim from The Abyss to Hopi Point but it was not as impressive as the previous evening due to lack of clouds, still beautiful though.