We arrived in Joshua Tree late Friday night, pulling into Jumbo Rocks Campground a little after 10pm. We weren't sure if we would find the rest of our party (our Cali friend Linda and Pepper, and Josh's parents Bob and Diane) after seeing the slew of vehicles, RV's and tour buses! After a little wandering around we found them and lucky for us they had managed to save us a spot. It was late and everyone was heading off to bed so we did as well.
We woke up Saturday morning and soon realized just how packed the campground really was. It was seriously like a city in the middle of the desert. After breakfast we all went for a little hike on the Skull Rock trail, then headed down a wash to play on the Jumbo Rocks. There were not many flowers in bloom but the area was very unique and beautiful anyway.
After our hike it was back to camp for lunch and an afternoon nap, but we were parked right next to the "college party" who did nothing but lay on their beach blankets drinking and screaming loudly all day right outside our tent. I was praying that they would at least be so drunk they would pass out early! We left the tent and went for another hike near the entrance to the campground which had even more amazing rocks. Walking through the campground you could really see just how large it was and how many people were seriously crammed in there.
Luckily Linda had a decent site away from most of the people so we congregated there to cook dinner and enjoy the campfire. A strong wind came through and wouldn't quit which almost made it unbearably cold. With full bellies and no more firewood we decided to turn in shortly after 10pm.
Sunday morning brought no wind and a beautiful weather after a comfortable night in the roof top tent. After some relaxing and a good cup of coffee we reviewed books and maps with Bob and Diane. Following our discussion we came to the conclusion that our goal for this trip was to see as much of Death Valley as possible, so we decided to skip doing the Mojave Road which was the next leg of our journey. We packed up camp and said our good-byes to Linda who wanted to join us but was having too many issues with her Tiger Camper. We were hoping to meet up with her a few days later in DV.
