Living on Vancouver Island, B.C., as we do, we’re used to a little bit of rain in January. So, facing a few days of it here in southern California is no big deal. It might have been, if we were only here on a 2 week vacation, but we’re down here for 4 months, so it’s just a minor inconvenience at most.
“Hey Guys, when’s all this rain going to stop so I can go outside”
With that in mind, we made plans to do some sightseeing yesterday – rain or no rain. When I was visiting the Cabot Pueblo the other day, I heard some folks talking about Pioneer Town up in Yucca Valley near the Joshua Tree NP. It sounded like a pretty interesting place.
As we drove towards Yucca Valley, we began to see some snow
I looked it up and saw it was just 30 miles away, so it seemed like a reasonable place to go for a drive, and besides, as I sat at the kitchen table looking up at Mt. San Jacinto, I could actually see big stretches of blue sky – maybe, just maybe, the storms were coming to an end!
It sure made for some great scenery in the mountains
We left our park, in sunshine, at 11am and headed west on Dillon Rd. towards Hwy 62 which would take us up to Yucca Valley. It’s a pretty good climb up Hwy 62 and it wasn’t too long before we were seeing snow in the nearby mountains.
Along the way, we had to cross a few streams across the road
As we got closer to the town of Yucca Valley itself, it became clear that the recent storms and cold temperatures had dumped a significant amount of snow over the entire area. I saw a sign that said we were approaching 4,000 ft and my dashboard temperature gauge showed it was only 38F outside. Still, I had driven this same route just last week and it was all desert and hot – just like the Palm Springs area – what a difference!
Welcome to Pioneer Town – how’d we get to Alberta?
When we drove into the town of Yucca Valley, we saw a sign directing us to turn left for the 4 mile trip up to Pioneer Town. This road led us higher up into the mountains and, as you might guess – more snow! In fact, this whole area looked at little bit like a scene from Alberta, not the southwest desert.
We couldn’t get to the town because the road was snowed in
Entering Pioneer Town, the temperature had dropped to a chilly 34F!! Luckily, it was sunny so there didn’t appear to be any chance of snow. Unfortunately, we couldn’t drive into the actual part of Pioneer Town with all the old buildings because the road was covered with a foot of snow. We couldn’t walk in either as I was wearing shorts and sandals – this is southern California, right?
I guess we’ll come back to Pioneer Town when the snow melts
The next job I had was trying to find a place to turn around without getting stuck in the snow. Luckily, about a mile past Pioneer Town there was a wide patch on the highway where I was able to do a quick 3 point turn and begin to head back down the mountain towards Yucca Valley.
Heading back down Hwy 62 towards Desert Hot Springs
We drove around Yucca Valley for a while until Paulette spotted the Joshua Springs Thrift Shop. So, we stopped there and Paulette took off looking for hidden treasures. She said it was a terrific place and managed to find some great Quilting magazines. So, I guess our trip up to Pioneer Town wasn’t a dead loss altogether.
The effects of the recent rains could be seen everywhere
By the time we got back to the Sands RV Park, it was close to 3pm and, although the skies were threatening, the sun was still shining. That didn’t last long though as by 4pm it was raining again. However, there’s hope on the horizon as the weather forecast is calling for sunshine for the next several days – including Saturday morning!
Have a great Saturday, and thanks again for visiting!
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