Well, I've been gone for some time and thought I'd drop in with some pics and stories. Went to Hurkey creek nearby, Joshua Tree, L.A. and Vegas.

This is Hurkey creek.





I considered building a shelter but found that in Southern California we have many big rocks that will do the job. The Son of a Dogfather did do some choppin' and I was VERY impressed with it's performance! The convex edge Horn Dog put on it I believe makes all the difference. The branch went down in what seemed like a few seconds, very little effort.








Here is the kit, just enough for a one day excursion:




The big rock theme continues in Joshua tree:

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Beautiful sunset, it's crazy how you can capture that image.

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Here is the campsite and some slacklining which the ranger made us take down, lol. The wind reached speeds of 40+mph which made the tent smother us throughout the night, surprisingly to me everything held. I slept ok but my friends didn't do so well, one decided to go to his car, ha! The next night wasn't so bad. I think I'll invest in a better tent, although the one used was fine for the simple camp we had. Btw, those little roll up inflatable mats are awesome!!! What a difference they make!

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Vegas is it's own kind of jungle. I lived there for 7 months and will probably continue to make yearly trips out there. I am not a gambler or a partier but Vegas is so much more than that, check out tripadvisor and you'll see the 150+ things you can do there.

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Sunset in Vegas

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Man, I wish I lived that close to J-tree... some of the best rock climbing in the country. Beautiful pics, thanks for sharing them.

Thanks Mustard Man, I try to go up quite a bit. I'm about 45 min from there. While there we some some guys from the marine corps base next door doing some 5.9 climbs at indian cove. We had just come back from bouldering for about 6 hours so we passed on the invitation to climb. The thing I love most about people into nature is the friendliness, always quick to include you in their activities.
God Bless America!

Cool pics Art! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Nice pics! I've packed through several of our parks and forests, but not that one. I need to get there some day. Sheesh... I need to get out camping again some day at all.

So that's where you've been! Good pics, Art. Glad the sharp SOD worked for you.

Wow, that is some beautiful terrain. Looks like you had a great time. it is amazing what the wind can do to a camp site--believe me, I live in OK and know LOL. And thanks for sharing.

J-tree wind is LEGENDARY in the climbing/camping worlds - many a lesser tent has met its demise in those campgrounds. It's not uncommon to see a tent, completely full of gear, including some pretty heavy stuff, blowing across the plain like a tumbleweed <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

All this is second-hand, unfortunately - I haven't gotten a chance to get to the park yet, but it's on my ticklist.

Awesome pics man, I need to come over to this forum more often!

Cool pics...

Nice pics man. Brings back memories when i use to live up in California City about 4 yrs ago.

I really miss that place. Bakersfield is soo boring.

that terrain is incredible!!!! i'm not sure my Wet Coast body would acclimate to such a dry area tho....

great pics!