Chelsea, Pedro, and the boys came up to Wrightwood on Friday night, planning to go to Joshua Tree NP the following day to do Chelsea’s pregnancy photo shoot with our favorite photographer, Holly Carlyle (we got to know Holly five years ago when she shot Chelsea and Pedro’s wedding, and she’s been a veritable fixture in our lives ever since). We had yet to make the drive east through the San Bernardino mountains, so we figured we’d spend Saturday afternoon wandering up through Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear before meeting the gang in Joshua Tree. Although the road trip ended up being quite long, it was well worth it as Holly led the caravan up into the park about 5pm. We stopped first at a picnic ground near Hemingway Rocks, apparently a popular climbing spot – Chris scrambled a little on various formations while Jane helped with the boys. We then drove further into the park to Hidden Valley campground, from which we hiked south into the desert about half a mile to gain wide open vistas across the park’s interior. You wouldn’t think this would be a nice place to visit in July, and indeed it was quite warm though it was early evening – however, the clear air and the big blue sky with its wispy clouds made the views come alive, especially as the shadows began to lengthen in the setting sun. We only had our pocket camera with us, but some of the photos below turned out quite nice – enjoy, and we’ll definitely be coming back here for some extended hiking when the weather cools off.