Don’t take a nap inside a tent - regardless of the fly being left off - when it is 113ºF out. There is still no airflow and all the stagnant, hot air will give you heat exhaustion. Isn’t that ironic? Waking up from a nap only to be made sleepy and lethargic.

The afternoons will stretch long, and your shadows longer still on the granite rock faces. Summer in the deserts are never forgiving. You’ll be made to feel helpless, useless even; so you’ll seek shelter anywhere, even if it is a moral-less corporate giant. You’ll give thanks quickly, under your breath, and spend the rest of your afternoons wandering the aisles and eating too many Fudgsicle bars. ThankyouWalmartforexistinginthisdeserttown.

Sun sets and we’re looking to get high: bigger boulders, higher ground, better sunsets. And desert sunsets are magnanimous. Everyone claps for them, I might have cried. It was too beautiful and we are so lucky to have had this experience.

Sun sets and we’re looking for places to hide: from the scorpions and tarantulas we see. Our campground runs along their path of migration. Everyone screams, I might have screamed loudest. We are so lucky to not have been stung or bitten.

Night time in the desert is dark. And so loud. We fall asleep to the sounds of coyotes singing and snakes slithering about. There might have been owls, but I was already deep asleep.

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113ºF In Joshua Tree