Hiking in Joshua Tree National Park

Took a small break in blogging!  I l traveled to California for my cousins wedding, and a little vacationing on the side.  
One of my favorite things to do aside from running is exploring and hiking.  I won't say I hiked endless miles this last week, but I did get a little hiking in.

I'd like to share some of my photo's.  I was out in the middle of the day, so the photo's are not the best quality:)  As those who know me know I prefer sunrise and sunset photos the best:)  But hey, it all still works:)

These were taken in Joshua Tree National Park.  The desert and the heat has never really been something that has bothered me, I have always acclimated very  quickly to new places.  It was only about a 100 degree's out on this particular day, so it wasn't too bad especially since I am good at keeping hydrated.

I will say, if my foot wasn't injured I would have been standing on top of that
little boulder mountain for a picture:)  

This is Skull Rock

 

Maybe because I am from Utah and I have lived and hiked around deserts my entire life, but I find there is so much beauty in the desert if you look.  This National Park has beautiful large cactus and large bouldering rock formations and beautiful vista views.

The beginning of one of the trails, hiked around for a beautiful view on the other side

This is the view from Key's View - You can look out and see the Mountains of Mexico
in the far distance, as well as Palm Springs in the valley below.

Don't you love how big these cactus tree's grow.
The tallest in the park is about 40 feet tall.

Again if the foot wasn't injured I'd of been on top of this one too for a picture:)

Okay, so if you look really really hard, you can see me up on top of one of the boulders.
The picture doesn't make them look very big, but take my 5 foot size and compare it to the rock
next to me and you get the idea, they are bigger than they look:)
I am like a kid and I can't resist climbing a big rock:)  I had to be extra careful with my injured ankle
so I sort of climbed these with one foot and my hands.  But it works.  The only difficult part
was climbing with my hands on the very hot rocks:)  But all was good and fun!

You can call me weird, but I so appreciate the beauty of the desert
and I loved this photo for some reason!

One of the hikes to an old mill and dried up lake:)

I had a great time.  We had driven from Utah, so headed down through Las Vegas (hitting 122 degree's at the hottest), we stayed near Las Vegas for 1 night.
Then the next morning (4th of July) drove through the Mojave Desert in California and into Joshua Tree National Park.
When we were done at the park, we headed down to San Diego and then Oceanside Beach.  Put my toes in the sand, and sat and listened to the waves roll in as we watched the Fireworks shoot off from the Oceanside Pier - and had surround sound as the fireworks in Coronado went off behind us.  Then right after we walked around the corner of the beach to watch the Fireworks at Sea World (amazing show, by the way).