A Desert Hike

For now I'm trying my best to keep this little blog up to date...mostly for family's sake but for the amigos out there too.  :)

 

This weekend was a 3 day weekend and so we decided to see what Arizona has to offer as far as hiking.  There are many pre-conceived notions that I had regarding this area.  First, I pictured no trees in our town.  Fortunately I was wrong on that one.  There are quite a few trees.  When it comes to hiking though...no trees.  Lots of cactuses (cacti?!?) but not many trees.  I know there are areas of Arizona with lots more trees but we are truly in the dessert here. 

 

I've honestly never hated the look of the desert.  I mean, I would say overall I prefer trees but I find the desert to be fascinating.  It's so barren and harsh...and the things that do survive do so in such interesting ways.  Cactuses are such interesting plants and when you DO see a cactus flower it's truly beautiful.  And the fact is...God created the desert too sooo...it can't be all that bad right?!?  Also, desert sunsets/sunrises?  There are few things more beautiful then that.

THAT being all said...I was a little interested to see what a desert hike would be like.  Joshua Tree has been on the "backpacking list" for us for a while now (only 3 or 4 hours away or so!)  Also I'm kind of a freak when it comes to heat.  I really don't mind it.  Jack though is a San Francisco baby to the heart.  He doesn't have much tolerance for heat...and neither does that handsome husband of mine. :)

 Jack loooooves to be outside though and he does pretty well with hikes.  The terrain was pretty rough on this hike and so he definitely needed a lot of help!

A little sampling of the terrain that we hiked through.  There are some really steep, awesome mountains...including some great rock climbing that this pregnant Mama is dying to conquer buuuut....that may be a good year away or so.  ;)

When you have such short little legs hiking is a lot of work!  :)  Our youngest little adventurer got hungry rather quickly...and then...

He immediately fell asleep.  We REALLLLLLLY need to get a child carrier hiking backpack.  It's been on "the list" since Jack was born but sheesh they are a little pricey.  With #2 coming though we will get plenty of use out of it once Jack grows out of it.

When you are in charge of the camera you must succumb to awesome selfies if you want to be documented in the adventure.

  Baby #2 enjoyed the hike too!  :)  Pretty sure she was lulled to sleep rather quickly.  She's also starting to hide my shoes!  Ha!

There were some huuuuge cactus.  Apparently these cactus really only grow in our part of the desert...they aren't in all desert environments like you would think.

 

Anyways, we had a lot of fun.  We really enjoyed getting outside with other hikers and experiencing a terrain that is certainly new to us!  :)

 

Desert hiking isn't so bad it turns out.  Even if the only shade you can find is the shade from a cactus.  Ha!