I like paper maps too! Pants, I threw together a rough draft route suggestion from Joshua Tree to Mariposa (note: I haven't double checked the finer points so not 100% that there might be a dirt road in there somewhere! :lol: ). There's a lovely campground near Shaver Lake called Dinkey Creek. The road up there is an out and back (not a bad thing!) and there is a bridge in the campground that I found on a rally that is a little bit of magic. B)I've now got all of the State maps for this trip. Yeah that's right, Pants still uses the old fashioned, made from trees state highway maps. It's a great way to get a 30,000 foot view of the big picture.
I need to spread 'em out on the table and start thinking about route. I'm avoiding it because I don't want to do it. I'd rather just wing it day to day and blow with the wind. But I think is going to be a little bit different. I will need to tie myself down just a little more.
It sounds like in all likelihood, I will need to come into the park from the West. I'm fairly certain that I will be heading to YFO from Joshua Tree N/P. In that light, I may stop to see the Giant trees again in Sequoia before heading to YFO. For Pants, seeing these massive things once in a lifetime just doesn't sound like enough.
Here is the route. Maybe some other folks in the SoCal area can chime in.