On day 3, we fueled up with a hearty hotel breakfast then hit the road towards Joshua Tree. We met with National Park Service Rangers to learn about the beginnings of the park and to help conduct a research study. Students located off-trail tagged Joshua Trees using a GPS device, took various measurements of the trees, and recorded their data. These measurements are used to track these trees’ growth through the years and evaluate their health.

Next we ate our picnic lunches and began our tour through the park. We got off the bus to take a short hike through the Hidden Valley, explore a cholla cactus garden, and arrived at the Cottonwood campground. Students set up their tents and the dinner team began cooking. We ended the night with campfire s’mores and stargazing- we saw some incredible constellations in the dark desert sky!

On day 4, we packed up camp, ate breakfast, and started driving towards the Coachella valley. After a quick stop for coffee, we hiked in Thousand Palms and saw some incredible trees! Next we headed to Cabot’s Pueblo Museum where we took an audio tour through a handcrafted homestead. We drove to our campsite in the Morongo Valley and set up camp.