Snuck In an Overnight at Joshua Tree

The holiday season this year on SoCal included a lot of rain and stormy weather. Don’t get me wrong as this is great for the ongoing droughts here but when it comes to doing trips it isn’t the greatest since I am not well sorted for inclement weather and have become a bit of a softy about it. We had to scrap our family trip to Pinnacles that we had planned due to storms and planned something for later in the week. I wanted to go to Joshua Tree and to my favorite wild camping spot so had to squeeze it in between weather gaps and the family trip. So on Tuesday 28DEC2021 I headed out to my favorite wild camping spot in Joshua Tree for an overnight.

This is a great spot as it is a 5-mile easy hike (takes a comfortable 2 hours) and is quite reliably not taken. It is well enough away from everything and has epic views. The spot I go to is off the main trail and has a small clump of juniper trees so that no matter which way the wind is blowing (and it blows a lot) there is a place to camp in the shelter of the trees. It is called Juniper Flats and is in the shadow of Quail Mountain which is the highest peak in Joshua Tree. I have climbed the peak before and that was when I discovered this camping spot. It is a place I like going back to. It is great for overnights just to get away. Only downside is that Joshua Tree is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from home. Well, also it is a dry camp so I have to bring water but for an overnight that isn’t too bad.

Juniper Flats trail at Joshua Tree National Park

Had a good drive up to Joshua Tree and got on the trail at about 2pm which meant I had a comfortable hike to my camping spot and lots of time to set up camp before dark. In Orange County the weather was quite cloudy and a bit rainy but as soon as I got up towards Joshua Tree it was lovely and clear. The weather forecast was for a cold windy night with only a very low chance of precipitation so I decided to bring my bivy tent since it would be better in the wind and a touch warmer. Got to my spot and figured out where to camp based on the prevailing winds. I dragged a log over to sit on and got my campsite all set up. I even found a nice flat rock to cook on. It was cool and the wind was blowing quite but tucked in behind a juniper tree I was well out of the wind and comfortable. I made dinner and enjoyed the hot meal as my hands were a bit cold. After eating and tidying that up it was dark and there wasn’t a lot more to do so I crawled into the bivy, put on my headlamp and read my book that I had brought.

I was feeling very cozy in the bivy. I was also being quite careful with my sleeping pad as well and had climbed in quite gently. I have only used the bivy three times and two of those times I have managed to get a hole in my sleeping pad and have a miserable night’s sleep. I was a bit apprehensive about bringing the bivy as I didn’t want a repeat of that experience. Luckily, the holes have been small so it takes about an hour for the air to leak out enough that I am on the cold ground so the last two times ended up being a night of waking up every hour to blow up the sleeping pad.

Juniper Flats at Joshua Tree - Camp with Bivy Tent

After reading for a bit and being totally bored I shut down the lights and went to sleep. It was just before 9pm by this time. The wind was still blowing but only slightly affecting me. About an hour later I woke up feeling a bit cold and thought I must not have got the sleeping pad fully inflated or else the warm air I blew into had cooled and it was now not so full. So, I blew it up and went back to sleep. It was a short-lived sleep as I was again awake at around 11pm with that same cold hard feeling of being on the round. At this point I knew I had somehow put another hole in my sleeping pad and it was going to be a long night. So for the remainder of the night approximately every hour I woke up to blow up my sleeping pad. I was quite cozy warm otherwise. Each time when I woke up I did notice a bit of ice forming on the inside of the bivy from the condensation but it wasn’t too bad at all since it made the tent material a bit stiff and this not flapping in the wind. I also noticed at about 3am the wind had died down quite a bit and I could see the stars.

I waited for the sun to come up over the ridge and warm things up a bit before getting out of bed. I packed up pretty quickly and headed out. I had a couple bars on the walk out for breakfast. The sun was quite warm and felt good on the hike out. It was a lovely morning with almost no wind and a warmth from the sun. Got back to the truck and headed home feeling refreshed from the overnight.

When I got home I got the kids to help me find the hole in my sleeping pad. Interestingly it was on the top near where my head was. Not sure how I put a hole in it but I did. I have now fixed it and am even more apprehensive about using the bivy bag and avoiding a hole in my sleeping pad. The good news is that it wasn’t from something poking on the bottom as I was pretty careful about that this time. A previous hole was likely from something poking up. The first hole was two holes (top and bottom) near the head that I know came from me stepping on the sleeping pad.

Morning view of snow-covered San Gorgonio from Joshua Tree

Not sure when I will come out here again but will likely do it again this spring. This is a great winter camping spot but after about March it gets a bit warm for camping there.