Joshua Tree NP trails, a few shots

[Dave92270]

I went to Joshua Tree NP yesterday for some off-road fun once again, here are few pics. Nice weather and H3 did great as always. Most trails are easy, except that path can get narrow at some areas (minimum traffic, and 99.9% small Jeeps usually) and so scratches from bushes are hard to avoid every once a while.

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[Dave92270]

this hill doesn't look steep on the pics, but once I saw sky only in front of me (I quit taking pics at that point) it felt different.

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[Desert Dan]

Great country
Nice photos and colors!

How was the temp?

[Dave92270]

Great country
Nice photos and colors!

How was the temp?

yes it is really nice area to explore, and there is hardly ever anyone else there (I go to areas that are generally far away from park's paved roads), for instance yesterday I haven't seen anyone over the course of some 3-4 hours; temperatures were around 100F, although I noticed rather unexplainable drops to some 90+F (on the inside mirror thermometer), maybe because a bit higher elevation then the valley..

[fourfourto]

Nice pics http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif looks like a GR8 area to wheel:clapping:

[frenzy1]

amazing pics !! thanks for sharin' !!

[Dave92270]

glad to hear that you liked the pics, guys. I'm going out to terrain every other week or so - I'll take some pics next time again. The only problem is that I don't dare to "play" on any obstacles whole a lot out there because I fear getting stuck or break something. Maybe I should get the hilift jack or simiilar recovery device at least; last time I wanted to "play" and begun roll over some boulders - and almost instantly got a big rock stuck under my right wheel - I backed out of that quickly after I hear ugly "dragging" noise from under the vehicle, and I think it was smart because the rock would probably end up wedged in my front wheel well (and maybe screw up or break someting while there) ... I admit I got cold sweat when I saw what is bound to happen - being stuck would result in some 15 mile walk thru desert canyons in 100F+ heat (on a cold day); so I generally avoid any risks.

BTW I bought a new lens today and hope to get better shots next time :)

one more shot from my usual "lite" wheeling:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2674795689_bcfa1a0285_b.jpg

[tnd2]

What camera/lenses are you using? The shots look great.

[Dave92270]

What camera/lenses are you using? The shots look great.

Thanks. I recently bought EOS 40D with EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM, shots in this thread were done with that DSLR+lens combo. It was my 2nd copy of that lens, the first one had focusing issues and I exchanged it; I however still didn't like the wide angle performance, so I returned it yesterday and ordered supposedly much better EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM lens - considering how much I paid for it, I should've bought myself a winch instead:) . BTW in the past I used mostly film, both B&W and color, and I still do use film, although for some things such as off-roading I'll probably prefer using DSLR these days.

[tnd2]

Thanks for the info, I upgraded from a 10D to the 40D a few weeks back myself. Now to just get the time to get out in the truck and shoot.