Two past tenses or past perfect + past tense?

[NeedHelp]

I have a question.
Which sentence is correct?
1) I had crossed the desert and came back
2) I crossed the desert and came back
If both sentences are correct, then is there difference in meaning between these two?
Past perfect confuses me.......

[Alan]

Of the two, only the second is acceptable.

You could, however, have both verbs in the past perfect: I had crossed the desert and (had) come back.