Things I Learned in Joshua Tree National Park - Part III

5. There's wildlife in them thar' hills.

Yep, Joshua Tree has all sorts of critters. While camping in the park, we got to fall asleep to the sounds of coyotes and wake up to the sound of Cactus Wrens. The coyotes we saw around the campground were scrawny, unhealthy and fearless. This coyote was a much healthier looking coyote than our campground stalkers:

As always, we saw lots of signs of wildlife on the trails. The benefit of rain in the desert is it washes the desert clean. The sand and the desert washes are great places to see animal footy prints and we saw lots of signs of coyotes and foxes. We had some excitement on the trail, when Meghan spotted a huge pile of ridiculously fresh poop and shortly after I spotted the tracks of One Big Kitty Cat. Our spidey senses were tingling and I reckon we were probably being watched!

6. The many Ass-ets of Joshua Tree include rock formations that look like butt crack.

It's a little know fact, but Joshua Tree National Park boasts a huge number of rocks that look like Ass. Who knew? The rock formations are really out of this world. One of the first places we visited was a place called the Wonderland of Rocks. How could we resist running through a place with such a fantastic name? The best surprise was of course, that everything looked like butt crack. That's probably why the climbers like it: great crack(s)!

Meghan, had recently taken a trip to Canyonlands and made here own geological discoveries! It still makes me smile to just to think about it.

7. Friends are Good.

'Nuf said. Meghan was a great road trip partner, a fantastic trail running accomplice and a great friend to spend some quality time with. We had fun. And fun is good. As are friends.

49 Palms Oasis

On this day, our run ended with a hitchhike back to the campground...

Sexy Hitchhiker Girrrl

Hypothermic Fun!

Mmmm. Coffee.

Leslie of the Desert

Joshua Tree National Park is a great escape if you are looking for some dry trails in winter months in a beautiful place! There was enough trails to keep us busy for 4 days of running and we were the only ones out on the trail. We had some FABULOUS runs in the desert! If you go to Joshua Tree NP, take a map you'll need it. Some of the trails are well marked, others not at all. We did lots of navigating, lots of cursing and lots of consulting with the map. It's a quiet time of year - it was just us and the climbers. Don't hitchhike - it's so quiet there's nobody there to pick you up!