This is me entering the Wonderland of Rocks in Joshua Tree National Park. We were following a series of boulder choked canyons on a traverse though this stunning natural feature. Started off easy, climbing under and over them in the canyon floor.
We saw our first snake (in no mood to stop and take picture) in this aptly named rattlesnake canyon, almost trod on the damn thing!
But things started getting interesting when we had to climb out of one canyon system to the next, very hard scrambling and a maze of rock boulders. Needless to say after about 8 hard hours and numerous side trips up gullies and ridges to try and find the way, we were hopelessly lost… Most people consider this a bad thing, but in my experience getting lost usually turns out to be the highlight of a trip! This was no exception, on our travels we’d found a cave/shelter which we spent the night in to recover and return the same way we came the following morning.
Turns out this was one of 3 ‘castles’ in the park and judging by the entries in the log book, usually frequented by folk getting stoned and taking acid! This raised our spirits, and so did the can of lager and sleeping mat we found :)
There was even some slimey green pools we could filter for drinking water nearby, which was surprisingly chilled for a desert! We only had a couple of beach towels to keep warm, but we got a good fire going and spent one of the most magical evenings I’ve had there. Sorry haven’t got any pictures, phone ran out of battery, Nicky will post some pics from her camera when she gets back.
At the crack of dawn the follow morning we made our way back out safe and sound.
Pingback: Chaos In a Can « Nudged Sketches of Flighty Things
Pingback: 21st Century Poets | Blog | Chaos In a Can