Camping in Joshua Tree National Park

Sharon and I have camped many times in JTNP and this year is no exception. Recently we camped there two weekends in a row. They couldn't have been different!

The first weekend was cold! Windy! But pleasant. It started out as just a day trip to the park but ended up as an overnighter at Jumble Rocks. Sharon slept in the truck with Luci the Wonder Dog and I slept out on a big flat rock. I only had two of those thin fleece blanks that women throw on their knees when the air conditioning is on full blast in the car. Or in my case just on. By 2 a.m. I was froze to death and climbed in the front seat of the truck. I don't know which was worse! Luci kept Sharon warm but the back seat put the mom in a bad mood for the rest of the weekend...imagine that. Sharon thought I was crazy sleeping on the rock especially since we had a five foot California king snake visit us earlier in the day. But the stars were brighter than you can imagine, complete with the Milky Way and satellites orbiting the planet. It was great 'til 2 a.m.

Did I mention the coyotes that awoke us at 5:30 a.m. They sing! They don't really howl. They sing. Luci didn't think it was too cool though! She said, "I don't have to go to the bathroom yet, I'm staying in the truck where there's no animals! Except for dad of course!"

The next weekend was pretty hot. Not for me but for a certain redhead I know. It only got up to 103. I don't know what her problem was... This time we went to camp, again at Jumble Rocks. This time we had the big tent with my extra wide cot for Sharon and two mattresses, pillows, sleeping bag, headlamp, Swiss Army knife (for the coyotes) and her candle lamp that melted all over my cot during the day. I slept on the bare tent floor with my backpack as a pillow. Yep, spoiled myself this time! Got down to 64 degrees during the night. It was great sleep'in weather!

The first morning we had bacon and eggs cooked over an open fire in my big 14" skillet. Everything tastes better when cooked on an open fire. Luci had eggs too but she prefers the bacon. We had a little bees with our breakfast too! The place is so hot and dry that the bees can find even the smallest amount of water. In this case it was our five gallon water jug. I'm talking thousands of bees! Never got bit all weekend. Although Luci tried to snatch one out of mid-air and paid the price.

Sharon planned a solo hike to Barker's dam this morning. I had to entertain Luci while she was gone because Luci's aren't allowed on the trails. Don't know why. There's so much coyote poop on the trails you can go from one end to the other by just stepping on the mesquite bean-filled piles of poop! Anyway, Luci and I went into town (a thirty mile drive) to get some more ice, a can of Alpo (which gave her the skitters) and a six pack of mini Pinot Noir.

Sharon hiked in the morning heat to the dam and saw about 25 big horn sheep hanging out at the water. She had her cameras and took some great pictures. She hiked back and had not used up her alloted two hours so she hiked another two point something miles to an old mill. When she got back to the truck she was out of water and hot! Red face, the whole works. We went back to camp but wasn't there long. I had to drive her around for three hours with the air conditioning on full blast to try and cool her off! She slept good that night and the temp dropped to about 60 degrees. Nice and cool in the morning. More bacon and eggs for me but Sharon didn't feel like eating. She just wanted to leave before it got too hot. She sat in the truck with the air on while I broke camp. Didn't help me a lick!

Next time I'm going have to put a swamp cooler in the tent...