5:47 am the sun is close to peaking over the mountains near a cholla cactus garden. It paints the sky an almost neon orange.

5:48 a.m. The sun has started to peak over the mountains setting the sky and the spines of the cholla cactuses ablaze with an incredible shade of orange.

5:54 am the famous cholla golden hour as the sun is almost completely over the surrounding mountains.

A bridge crossing a small dried river bed. The hiking trail was mostly flat making it an easy but beautiful trail for any age group and level of fitness.

Even after the golden hour was over, the cactuses were still a beautiful shade of orange. The sky was seemingly painted by an artist using pastels.

A loggerhead shrike looking out for predators while perched on a joshua tree, the park’s namesake.

Loggerhead shrike perched on the spiny leaves of a yucca plant.

A popsicle shaped rock formation momentarily made the heat feel even worse as I started to crave ice-cream.

A loggerhead shrike perched upon a branch with a sandstone boulder in the background.

A dried river bed now filled with various types of desert brush and critters.

Wind shaped the sandstone landscape over thousands of years creating inviting rock climbing spots like the one pictured.

A raven joining its mate on a sandstone outcrop near the famous “skull rock.”

Male phainopepla perched on tree with chest puffed out.

Snow-capped Mt.San Jacinto as seen across the Coachella valley from the Keys Viewpoint.