While we pack a lot into these trips, the over all plan is always pretty fluid. Scott and I had always left a second night at Joshua Tree as an option in our itinerary. After a great evening sunset, animal show, morning hike, and visit to the visitors center, the heat of the day had us thinking perhaps we should move on to cooler pastures. The kids however had so much fun climbing around Jumbo Rocks that they unanimously voted we stay the second night.
Our campsite was at Jumbo Rocks, aptly named being as the campground was nestled amongst big rocks.
As with any desert park, the key to hiking is to go early or late. Right after breakfast we set off to hike the Skull Rocks trail. The trailhead was within walking distance of our campsite. Since we were hiking in the early morning, we came across a few animal friends along our way.
We left the salt flats in Badwater Basin of Death Valley around 10:30am. After heading 45 minutes towards Joshua Tree we came across a road closure and had to turn around. This of course added about 2 hrs to our 4 and a half hour drive to Joshua Tree. I had found a restaurant online in Pioneertown that I had decided would be worth a little extra driving out of our way.