Joshua Tree National Park

One of the things I love about America is visiting different National Parks.  This week, I am going to take you on the Travel Tuesday post, that actually started it all for me, and made Travel Tuesday's a thing on my blog for the past several years.  After this post, others asked me to share more about where I have been, and so I decided to start taking all my readers along on my trips, well virtually of course:)

I love the heat, I lived in St. George, Utah for a while and days in the 100+ and nights that sometimes if your lucky in the summer cool down to around 90 degree's is fine for me.  I still enjoy running, hiking and playing no matter the climate.  But the key to being able to stay active and enjoy the heat is making sure you are always fully 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:)  

Joshua Tree National Park, is located in Southern California and although I know most probably hit up this little gem in the spring, fall and winter.  I decided to hit it up in the hotter than hot month of July.  On the particular day I snapped these shots, it was only about 100 degrees out, so I was lucky because it could have been hotter.

This is Skull Rock

Not only a great place for adults, but kids will love this place.  So many fun rock formations for their little imaginations to run wild.

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 for it.  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

I am a little bit of a nerd in my mind, when I am out hiking I like to think about the geology and the reason that things formed the way they did, when they did to look the way they do now.

There are actually several hiking trails in this park, some are even short enough for the kids and the whole family.  But you will definitely want to bring PLENTY of water!

I love cactus too, I don't know why I always have.  Odd fact about me, when I was younger I raised cactus terrariums instead of regular ones like other kids did, LOL

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.  These are what gave the park it's name.

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:)

You can call me weird, for liking the desert, but I loved this photo for some reason!

There is camping in this National Park, or nearby.  This is a park, you can easily see and do a lot in one day, and it's not too far of a drive from San Diego, we drove there after for the night.

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

I had a great time on this trip.  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 drove through the Mojave Desert in California and into Joshua Tree National Park for a day.


Have you visited Joshua Tree National Park before?
Tell me about some of your National Park adventures.

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).