Dispatch: Week of June 5
Joshua Tree National Park proposes increasing camping fees, plus
Hello from California’s high desert, and welcome to Pride Month. Sending so much love to our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors, near and far.
In case you missed it: We’ve cultivated something of a bird haven on our small property, and I’ve gone full Bird Enthusiast (trademark pending). I wrote about the peace birdwatching has brought me, and some other examples of how the hobby has helped others for last week’s essay. You can read it here.
And now, onto this week’s news:
In local news:
We are only partway through the current heat wave that is expected to last through Thursday, with Basin temperatures hovering over 100 degrees during the day. Remember to keep pets off of asphalt and sand during the hottest parts of the day, and check on elderly or otherwise at-risk neighbors if you can.
Joshua Tree National Park is currently seeking public comment on its proposal to raise fees for camping and tours in the park. The entrance fees and wilderness backpacking permit fees will remain unchanged.
The price increases will go into affect in January 2025 if approved. The majority of campgrounds will see a $10 nightly increase, though some could have increases upwards of $20. Here is the full list of proposed changes.
The public comment period is now open and runs through June 30. You can submit a comment on the proposal online here or via mail to the following address: Attn: Nathan Rhyne, Revenue and Fee Manager, Joshua Tree National Park, 74485 National Park Drive, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277
A 2,300-acre solar power project near Boron is drawing ire from locals, Basin residents, conservationists, and even renewable energy advocates as it moves to remove Joshua trees, some of which are nearly 100 years old, to allow construction of the solar farm.
The project is owned by a California-based company that is largely owned by KKR, a large, global private equity firm.
North Indian Canyon will reopen on Thursday, June 6, Palm Springs city officials stated. Previous reports claimed the road would be closed through June 30 for sand mitigation.
Thirteen students were sworn in to their posts as members of the Twentynine Palms Youth Council last week. The newly created council includes: Isaac and Tallulah Coleman, Thomas Elkins, Jaguar and Judah Goodwin, Izzabella Hargrove, Vivian Hermosillo, Jax Langdon, Audrina McConville, Pearl Sullivan, William Sumption, Brett Viloria and Truman Walsh.
A fun one this week from NPR, in which artist Scott Kildall makes music using a Joshua tree.
In state news:
San Francisco fixture Anchor Brewing was bought by Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of New York-based yogurt company Chobani. Ulukaya says he is hoping to reopen the iconic brewery, which closed due to bankruptcy last year.
The Corral Fire has burned nearly 14,000 acres in San Joaquin County near Tracy, but is roughly 90% contained and evacuations orders have eased as
Del Mar City Beach was temporarily closed through Tuesday after a shark attacked a 46-year-old man on Sunday. The swimmer was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of the bites in his torso, left arm, and left hand.
In other news:
Former President Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts by a jury of his peers in New York stemming from his attempt to pay off adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Multiple female climbers have accused Nirmal Purja (also known as Nims), the climber famous for ascending all 14 8,000 meter peaks in a Netflix documentary and owner of a guiding company, of sexual abuse and harassment while on expeditions.
Claudia Sheinbaum won Mexico’s presidential election, making her the first woman to hold the position in the country’s history. Sheinbaum’s accolades include her work as a physicist with a doctorate in energy engineering, she served as mayor of one of the world’s most populous cities, and was part of the United Nations panel of climate scientists that received a Nobel Peace Prize.
Pupdate of the week: Oliver is protesting against our sunbathing ban this week, but I’ll take it since the temperatures are way too high for roasted potatoes out there. Alice is grumpy about being inside, too, but spends all day looking forward to her evening romp in the yard.
Trail tip of the week: Now is not the time to head out on a hike while the sun is up. My rule of thumb throughout most of the summer is to be back at my car no later than 10 a.m., so I get an early start to try and beat the heat if I end up going out at all. Even then, I drink plenty of water and electrolytes, wear sun protection and a hat, and load up on salty snacks. This week is a doozy, heat-wise, so it’s best to stay home if you aren’t able to make it out before the sun is up.
Read of the week: It felt poignant to finish up Beth Rodden’s memoir, A Light Through the Cracks, while I was camping in Yosemite and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Rodden is a professional climber, but her memoir is an incredibly personal look at her growth as an athlete and human following her kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan while on a climbing expedition in her early career. It was deeply moving to read about her insecurities, her hesitations, and her anxiety, many of which were not all that foreign to me, but also in how she embraced them as parts of herself she needed to see in order to be comfortable in her body on and off the rock. I cannot say enough wonderful things about A Light Through the Cracks, and I hope even some of you non-climbers will take a spin through it because it is that good.
Watch of the week: My to-watch list is growing faster than I can get to it, whether that’s because of my inability to sit still now that summer is upon us or because I have yet again overcommitted my time. At best, I am watching TikToks about people who grow vegetable gardens and film incredibly satisfying videos of them picking produce for dinner that evening. You’re welcome.
That’s it for this week! I hope you have a lovely weekend with plenty of time outside once it cools off.
- Megan
Hi Megan, love your Dispatches as always, but since you take integrity seriously, I would like to go a little deeper into a mistake many people have made. Trump’s convictions were not for making hush money payments to Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford (stage name Stormy Daniels) or Karen MacDougal (with whom he had an affair while his wife was pregnant). Those are not a felonious offenses.
He was convicted of making the payments in order to hide the truth from the American people prior to a presidential election, as well as paying off the Murdoch Corp. to not publish this information in their tabloids. It is sad that people have been led to believe that the drama is the crime, when the fact is that a jury of his peers believed that he intentionally defrauded American voters to sway an election.