Labor Day weekend was supposed to be spent camping at Lake Cachuma. Allie had spent time looking up places to camp and reserving 1-2 sites weekends per month. Thankfully we were warned that Lake Cachuma might be pretty hot. Sure enough, when we looked at the forecast for Lake Cachuma, we were dissuaded from spending the weekend tent camping there. You aren’t allowed to swim in the lake and spending your time at your campsite in triple digit heat wasn’t going to be that fun.
Instead we decided to head east to Palm Springs. Sure, it is hotter here. But we aren’t tent camping. We’re staying in an air conditioned resort with plenty of pools and social distancing restrictions.
Over the past week I have been thinking about going on a sunrise hike. I finally chose our location the day before. It was a hike I had done several years ago — also to catch the sunrise.
We went to bed early Friday night. Saturday morning our alarm woke us up at 3 AM. Groggily we eventually got ready and set off for the hour-long drive to Joshua Tree National Park.
We parked at the end of Cottonwood Oasis Road. When we arrived it was pitch black and we were the only car in the lot. We started down the Lost Palms Oasis Trail but took a left where the trail splits off towards Mastodon Peak. After starting the hike, I realized I had left my tripod in the car. But I didn’t want to go back to get it. In the end, it was probably good I didn’t go back. Though Faith ended up doing really well I did have to carry her a few times.
When we arrived at Mastodon Peak we sat down to eat a snack and wait for the sun to come up. It was still dark — which was my goal. I think Faith was wondering why we were just lying down on a rock in the middle of nowhere in the darkness.
Soon the sky started to lighten up. I was disappointed that the sky was so clear. Clouds make for much more dramatic images. But that’s the hard part about landscape photography, right? Mother Nature is a non-complaint model.
