We left a little late so most of the afternoon had already passed by the time we finally arrived. Of course it cost $15 dollars per car to get in. We were not too thrilled about that but this is not the kind of trip that we would normally take except with friends. Christian and I have been to Joshua Tree before. As a matter of fact, we even camped there once but I don't think we had to pay to get in then. It's typically too crowded for our taste.
We had a tough time finding 3 campsites next to each other. It took some time but we finally found a spot and set up our tents and things. The campsite cost $10 each as well. By the time all that was settled, we just had enough time to take a short hike around Hidden Valley.
Christian and the girls made it all the way to the top but I was just short of it because I didn't stop to put on my harness or sticky shoes. Apparently there was a nice view of Joshua Tree from the top!
I got a nice sunset on the short hike back to the car. We just had enough light to make it back.
A couple of people in our party was still out on the trail so we stayed there for a bit and then Christian and a couple others finally went back to get them.
We got back to our campsite to have a late dinner then settled back to watch the meteor shower. Christian climbed up to find a spot to do a time lapse of the stars.
It was beautiful out there but the meteor shower was not quite as grand as I thought it would be. I think Christian and I have seen a more active meteor shower before but it was the girls' first time. It was nice to sit out and relax with friends though.
We finally turned in some time near midnight. But the people around us had other ideas. In fact, many more people came after we turned in, parking illegally all around us. Needless to say, we didn't get very much rest. Luckily the girls fell asleep right away and was able to sleep through it all but the same could not be said for Christian and I. Not a minute went by without some car driving by, car doors slamming, drunk college students giggling and cackling throughout the night. It was awful. Christian had a roll and planned to sleep next to the camera up on the rock but could not sleep even with earplugs in. He finally came down at 4:am to see if we were awake or not so that we could just go home. I was the only one awake. If it was just the girls, I think I would have woken them up to leave. After all, they could just sleep in the car, but we had another friend with us and didn't want to wake her as this was her first campout and didn't get a lot of sleep the night before either since they were partying in her apartment complex until 4 in the morning the night before. The park rangers never came around to check on anything. After they collect their money, we were left on our own. And you know all the hordes of people than came in after dark didn't even pay their fee to get in.
Basically, the people didn't start to settle down until the sun was nearly up. We were just exhausted and pissed off by then. We had to get up and start out early as well since the girls' had swim lessons again in the morning and Christian had to go to work still. The girls slept some more in the car on our way back. We got back in time for me to jump in the shower and get cleaned up before taking the girls to go swimming. Christian took a shower and tried to take a nap while we were gone so that he could be coherent at work.
Our friends have been to Joshua Tree a few times to watch the meteor shower and they have never experienced anything like this before. They said that everyone usually settled down after midnight or so and the only thing you heard anyway was a few oohs and aahs when an especially spectacular meteor streaked through the sky. Just our luck.
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