A carload of hopeful explorers rolled out of the bubble that is Echo Park shortly after noon yesterday. It was Ilya’s birthday, and his goal was to spend the day in the desert. For two hours we traveled along I-10 and Rte-62. We chatted, we sang Superdrag and Big Star songs as ordinary signs of civilization began to fade. Strip malls and multiple-story buildings turned into dusty expanses and small shops or warehouses. We reached Joshua Tree exactly two hours after the trip began.
Our first order of business was to find an Internet Cafe so Ilya could put in a few minutes of work. We spotted a place called Beatnik, whose walls were covered in old soundtrack LP covers and paintings by local artists. While he worked, Ilya munched on a sandwich. Sari and Nicci read a local paper, attempted a word-find puzzle, and ate nachos. I studied the questions and answers of Trivial Pursuit “Baby Boomer Edition” and had a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. A local kid waltzed in with a record player and a stack of records. He set them up on the minuscule stage in the front corner of the cafe, and made the sorry, cliched mistake of dropping the needle on U2’s Joshua Tree. It was around this time we left Beatnik.
Following a brief stop at the park’s information center, we began to drive towards an area called Hidden Valley. We parked our car in front of a large rock formation where some rock climbers were setting up their gear. We walked around the area, found some tiny rocks to climb, and then decided to return to the car for our supplies before venturing deeper into the desert. After walking about a half-mile out, studying the flora and fauna (I chased a lizard but I think everybody else missed seeing it before it sped into its hole), we settled on a location. We discovered an area filled with various-sized rocks, which provided a good deal of privacy. There were large flat rocks, some jagged monolith-looking ones, and several smaller ones that clung to the base of a central, large rock. We estimated it was something like forty or fifty feet high. Since the large structure offered a good amount of shade on one side, Sari covered herself in a blanket, drank some whisky with Nicci and the pair zoned out for a bit. After setting down my water and camera I began scaling the big rock. I made it halfway up, and was soon joined by Ilya. The trip was almost cut short when Ilya slid down the side of the rock, but he regained his composure and even figured out the best path to the summit. With the two of us at the top of the peak, we could see great distances in every direction. Three-hundred sixty degrees of mountains and empty space (one, two, three, four). Idyllic. Arcadian. Whatever you want to call it, it was beauteous and awe-inspiring. The indigenous trees were microscopic from that height. The coyote cries sounded close enough that we should have been able to see them. We remained there for the majority of the day. Several hours. He went down once to check out a large, bowl shaped rock with Nicci, but I liked the cool breeze and the height advantage so I remained up there for the duration.
Then I felt inspired by nature to strip naked and soak in the sun on my new private rock. Butt naked. It was refreshing. When Ilya scaled the rock for the second time I made sure I was somewhat clothed when he reached the top. We chatted for a while and watched the sunset (two) while the girls below did whatever it is girls do when they’re incapable of climbing rocks and missing out on all the fun. They talked about clothing and hair and shoes, perhaps? Who knows…What’s more, who cares?
As the sky darkened, we drove a few miles deeper into the park before turning around and heading back in the direction of town. We stopped for a bite to eat at a Mexican restaurant. My quesadillas were pretty bad, I lost my appetite after a few bites. We sat outside for a few minutes before deciding to hop in the car and return to Los Angeles. A visibly inebriated older gentleman joined us briefly at our table to talk about L.A. and the Joshua Tree area. For some reason he took a liking to me. He said he liked looking at me because I was cool, “looked healthy” and was a “good-looking guy.” It was a bit more than slightly unsettling. We left shortly thereafter. With the sunroof open, it’s been years since I’ve seen that many stars. The ride back was relatively quiet. The boys softly sang The New Year songs and the girls slept in the back like little sun-poisoned angels.
video:
Interview with Ilya – Lots of wind noise (103MB)
Nicci stumbles around – More wind noise (25MB)
