Joshua Tree Camping

 This weekend, we spent a chilly couple of days camping in Joshua Tree. Last time we'd visited, we'd stayed in a trailer just outside the park, but this time we wanted to try camping! 

We left after work on Friday, and arrived after dark to set up camp. Our site was right in between the funny shaped Joshua Trees, and the park is a dark skies reserve, so we had a great view of the stars too. We made dinner and wrapped up for bed. It got down to about 5 degrees and during the night the wind really picked up. It came in big gusts, and pulled the tent around, even dislodging a couple of the pegs. 

In the morning, we made breakfast and then set out for a hike which started from our campsite. It was a 6 mile loop which passed through fields of the desert trees and shrubs and climbed to a lookout point where you could see out to the edges of the desert over rolling hills. 

It was very windy at the top, but we could see so far and on our way up and down saw some huge trees and lots of ground squirrels. 

We were back at the campsite for lunch and then drove into the park for another hike. We'd done most of the bigger trails and spots last time we'd visited, but there were still a few more we wanted to see. Our first stop was Barker Dam, which was a 1 mile loop to an old dam. It used to store water for cattle in the area, but since 1900 there hasn't been enough water to sustain herds. There was a little puddle at the bottom, which while small, was still pretty impressive in the middle of a desert. The trail took us through big rocks and we sometimes had to scramble up to follow the path. This was a pretty busy trail because of the short length and the car park was very full. But, because our car is so small compared with the other models people take on outdoor adventures, we were able to squeeze into a little space. 

After doing this trail, it was still early, and we discovered another trail that started from the same car park. This one was very flat and sandy and quite confusing to follow. 

There were several points where the path split into two, without any signs indicating the right way forward. We did take a couple of wrong turns, but in taking these we did discover an abandoned house, an old rusty wind turbine and an old fashioned car. 

The end point for this was the Wall Street Stamp Mill which until 1966 was used for processing gold ores. Around it were a couple of old rusty cars; the mill was in use up until the owner died, after which everything just stopped where it was. 

After we got back to the trailhead, we made one more stop at a section called Hall of Horrors. We'd passed it a few times, but hadn't stopped as there was no trail, just big rocks to explore. We went for a little explore and found some caverns, but didn't stay long as we were pretty tired by this point! 

We went back to camp (Mitchell had a nap in the car) made our dinner on our little propane stove and tried to start a fire. It was still a bit windy, so it took us a little while to get it going. The fire starter we were using kept going out, but we managed to build up the wood to protect it and after it caught it kept lit pretty well. We made smores and laid out the picnic blanket next to it to sit and keep warm in the evening. We sat for ages, just watching the fire until we'd used all the wood. 

That night was less windy, but felt colder. We'd bought hand warmers, and I'd stuffed one into each sock, so my feet were nice and toasty at least. In the morning we packed up slowly and headed home. We showered and then went to see our German friends. They were having some people over to watch the Super Bowl. They'd made loads of food and we all had fun talking and watching the half time show. None of us really watched the game, but we were vaguely of rules and scores happening. 

After the game ended, we all went down to the pool and used the hot tub for a little bit. That was really nice, as we've not used it much before. 

A very packed weekend, but lots of fun!

Lots of love,

Emily and Mitchell

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