written by Julie Hackler & David Fink
February 22, 1999 to March 2, 1999
Joshua Tree National Park, Califorinia
And to think, we weren’t even going to stop here. So far, this has been the coolest place, not to mention the camping is FREE! Out of the 10 campgrounds they have in the park 8 are free.
The main attraction to this place is rock climbing. They have these huge mountains which are just boulders stacked high on top of one another. Technically, it’s lava from the earth’s center that cooled when it got to the surface. Either way they’re great for climbing. We thought about trying it, and maybe still will, but my fear of heights and the thought of a small $50 rope being the only thing between me and injury, scared me a bit. So we stuck to hiking.
Our first hike was a 1,500 foot climb to the summit of Ryan Mountain. The view made every step worth it. You would have to spin in circles to get the full panoramic views.
Other notable trails were the 49 Palms Oasis Trail and the Lost Palms Trail. The later was an 8 mile hike to a desert oasis. Strange to see all the palm trees and green plant line in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
The Joshua Tree is the odd looking tree that only grows in desert conditions and is plentiful here. I bought some seeds and am going to try my skills at gardening indoors.
We also decided to take a side trip to Bear Mountain ski resort, about 2 ½ hours from our Joshua Tree camp site. It was so confusing, skiing in 70 degree weather? We had no idea how to dress. 
But we eventually put something together and had a good time. Dave wiped out once and I thought I’d be cool and plow snow on him while he was down, instead I skied right onto him knocking us both further down the slope. So we laid there for 10 minutes just laughing at ourselves.
At night, I finally figured out some of the star constellations with the help of a compass and a book I bought. So I entertained Dave with explaining what I learned. We also listened to a book on tape that Bob bought us. It is going to take some time to finish though, since is about 18 hours long.
We were both really glad we stopped at a place that we first thought didn’t have much to offer us, we were wrong. I guess you can never tell!
White Sands NP
----------------------Las Vegas
We welcome any suggestions or comments. hacklerj@mindspring.com