After Christmas Camping

Hello Friends. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.  We wanted to share a few pictures from our camping trip in Joshua Tree National Park. We left on Sunday right after church and camped two nights in the park before coming home and getting back to work.  We hiked several miles each day, and got to the top of a few mountains with great views!  We also hiked to the Lost Palms Oasis, which is an area with a spring and a large grouping of huge palm trees in the middle of the desert. 

A great view of the snow caps from one of our hikes.

Joshua Tree, actually part of the lily family

Desert camping in the winter was something new for us.  We knew it would be cold, but we also new we had the gear to handle it. It was between 32 and 35 at night in the high desert and up to 55 during the day. Monday it was windy and felt colder than 55 during our hikes, especially at the top of the mountains.  On Tuesday we drove down to the low desert, where it was closer to 65 during the day, with sun and no wind. It was beautiful hiking to the Oasis that day, feeling some warmth after a couple of cold nights in the high desert. 

Brian is staying warm by the fire and cooking some delicious camp food

This large oaf was spotted trying to sneak into our camp site. Brian was able to capture it on camera.

Hanging in the cholla cactus garden

The Lost Palm Oasis. Largest grouping of California Fan Palms in the park.

We absolutely loved Joshua Tree. The terrain was beautiful, and the hiking was spectacular. We can't wait to go back in the Spring when the flowers are blooming. We hear it is quite a sight.  Exploring the desert was so new to us, but what a beautiful place! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out facebook for more photos of our trip.