James and I like to set off on random trips when we have the time. We don’t tend to plan very well and they’re usually last minute. This suits us just fine. He asked me if I wanted to go Sunday night and we left early Monday morning. (I should probably also inform you that our weekends are Monday and Tuesday.) Usually when we set out for such adventures we go hard and are about as active as we can be, but this time we decided to chill. The place where we hiked out of was off of Geology Tour Road at the first backcountry camping site. (If you’re driving towards where we hiked out of, we went to the left.) With Sequoia still in our minds and the toll that it took on our bodies, we only hiked about three and a half miles in and then went to find our campsite. We hiked off trail and explored the rock formations until we found a little patch of sand, at the bottom of some massive rocks, that we could call home for the night.
Once we had set up camp, James went to explore while I drew. I ended up drawing a small flower that was next to our site and a crystal that I found too. After James came back, we went to go watch the sunset. 
I have to say that the pictures do the sunset no justice that evening. The colors were really something to behold. We also have a custom that we do when the sun goes down; we clap for the sunset. Somebody told us about this once, apparently it’s common in a certain Latin America country (can’t remember which one), but everybody stops what they’re doing and claps for the sunset. We loved the idea so much we started doing it. I think it’s a way of acknowledging the world we live in and all of its surrounding beauty. It’s a way to be present and in the moment. It’s a way to bow to the sun and recognize his beauty and all the hard work that he puts out for us to live and the world to function. That sunset will only happen once, ever. And it was on that day. There was no moon that night and the stars were clear and bright. We slept without the rainfly on our tent so we could see the stars (it was also bloody hot might I add) and every time I popped my eyes open, they were there to greet me. In the morning, I was up with the sun while James snoozed and I went to sit on a rock and drew the landscape. I don’t think I moved for about an hour and a half to two hours! (James had woken up at this point, gone to the bathroom, done naked yoga, and made breakfast.)
After not having moved for so long, I rushed to the bathroom myself and then enjoyed my own naked yoga, airing out places where the sun don’t shine. We then packed up camp (the heat becoming too much) and hiked out. The hike out was much harder than the hike in, for whatever reasons we could not come up with, and we ended up getting more tired faster. I ran out of water about a mile and a half into the hike so James and I had to split what water he had left (and his was the smaller hydrator pouch!) taking only a sip or two every half mile. (We always struggle with carrying enough water.) Once back to the car, we chugged the gallon we had inside and ate most of the food we had, craving fresh veggies. On our way out of JTree, we stopped at Nomad Ventures to pick up a copy of Joshua Tree Rock Climbs by Robert Miramontes, the most comprehensive book on JTree climbs to date. (3000 climbs!) We also stopped at the little fresh food, organic market down the street to pick up the vegetables we were craving. All in all, it was a relaxing trip with a little bit of activity and lessons learned along the way. (Look below picture for lessons!)
Lessons learned:
Chocolate in the desert is not the best idea ever.
Sand trails are really hard to walk well on, it’s easy for the feet to get lazy, which can equal getting injured. (This is a sand trail.)
If you are thinking about getting a blow up air pad, pay attention to the noise level. (If that bothers you of course.) It was my first time trying out my Big Angus sleeping blow up pad, and it was horribly noisy. I felt like I was notifying the whole park that I was turning over! (The same day we got back, I returned the pad to REI and instead got a Therm-A-Rest one. I haven’t tested it out in the wild yet, but I can tell you that it already doesn’t make as much noise.)
Pack more water than you think you will ever need.
Stretch before you hike, after you hike, and before you go to sleep at night.
And you probably don’t need your sleeping bag at JTree right now or later into the season. (I have a three season bag and had it unzipped the whole night.)
THE DULCE ADVENTURES 