I went to Joshua Tree. It was nice.

Oh, did I say nice? I meant FREAKING WINDY. But more on that later.

It was mostly nice. Mi amigo Alex was kind enough to invite me on a trip he already had planned with some of his friends to go camping and climbing to which I replied "will there be smores?" He replied with an obvious "Duh".

So I was in.

On this trip I had the pleasure of meeting and making some new friends (pictured below).

This is Kasey

She goes to UC Davis and insists that its not boring (so she's a pathological liar)

This is Bridget

Bridget is a dedicated vegitarian as she can be seen here eating a bean hot dog (I know, freaked me out too)

This is Jared

Jared is a culinary wizard. I highly suggest his smore soufflé.

This is Kenric

Aaaaaaannnddd this is Alex.

Alex is sometimes confused by camera straps.

Our first day was simply getting the camp set up so we would have some shade and see if we could fit a climb in before bed, AND THAT WE DID

Now, for the views

The Campsite:

The View from my perch towards the rest of Indian Cove:

The View from Below

Rocks are larger than they appear in photo

We enjoyed an awesome sunset the first night

THE WIND THOUGH

HOLY HELL

We didn't anticipate just how windy it was. We had the dumb mindset of "ah everything will be fine overnight" which it was not.

The Aftermath. The Carnage. Quesy stomachs look away. THE HORROR.

WRONG.

Just kidding. It wasn't terrible. But it was pretty windy. Needless to say we learned not to not leave the pop up open overnight.

Day 2 the gang split up. Jared, Bridget, Kasey, and Kenric decided to go hiking while Alex and I were off to climb. Many pictures of butts followed.

It was awesome until around 10 am when the sun did that thing where it gets super hot and ruins your day. So we decided to find some shade and nap it out. The wind carried over into the day and was actually getting worse which meant the pop up was a a no go AND I HAD TO SLEEP UNDER A BUSH. A VERY PRICKLY BUSH. It wasnt comfortable but it was shady so.

Once the sun was on our side again, we got the gang all together and had one of the most scariest moments in mine and Alex's life.

We found a route earlier that would be perfect for the group since we had some first time climbers with us and hustled back over since we had about two hours left of daylight.

To get up to where we can set the rope of for climbing, we had to climb up the back of this tower of rock. And in our minds were just like "oh the back way is always super easy it'll be fine". nooooooooooope. Alex and I get up about three quarters of the way up the rock and realize we've past a point of no return, for the way back down was just as scary as trying to repel ourselves over the rock the way where we were going to set the rope.

LUCKILY there was a nice gentleman nearby who helped us not die by wearing one of the harnesses we had and repelled us down which in itself was scary. Like, we knew the equipment would hold fine but the whole "launch your body over the side of a three story drop straight to your possible death" still kinda frightened us. But you know, hey we're alive so no big deal I don't still have nightmares or anything.

I will say that once we we were back on land (insert scene from The Pacifier) it was very pleasant for pictures

Big ass rock were were temporarily stuck up on. Jared's butt for scale.

GOLDEN HOUR

After a dinner of chili and a delightful smore sufleé, we tucked in for another night of wind and woke up to a collapsed tent trying to suffocate us. We did end up having a pleasant morning and was able to fit in another climb before ending our journey.

What happens when you bring a barista camping...

All in all, a solid trip that I had a great time on, Joshua Tree always seems to be a nice escape from life where you can climb to the top of a rock and be surrounded by only the howl of the wind and the warmth of the sun.