Barefooting Joshua Tree National Park

My 1966 VW Beetle at camp in Indian Cove, Joshua Tree National Park

Spent the long Thanksgiving weekend scrambling the gorgeous boulders of Indian Cove in Joshua Tree...barefoot naturally.

Indian Cove Campground from on High
(if you have good eyes, you can see the Volkswagen on close-up photo)

The beauty and primordial elegance of a landscape of boulders is almost too much to bare. One wants to run and jump and play among such wonders. The eye cannot take in enough. The feet beckon to explore and climb and see. And that is what I did.

The Beetle from Afar

Most people assume that the desert is totally unsafe for barefooting. Filled with hot rocks, plants with sharp points, poisonous animals...it must be far too dangerous to barefoot, right?

Wrong!

Barefoot Boulder Play

With your eyes open and your senses keen, one can make one's way through the maze of Joshua Tree unscathed and pain free. I must admit, 10 years ago, before I had been barefooting as much as I do now, I did do a day hike barefoot in Joshua Tree and found it to be difficult at the end of the day.

Many of the rocks, although appearing smooth, can sometimes be quite rough and sharp. But my feet were fine this time.

Bliss of Barefooting

I spent several days just climbing among the boulders, finding my own routes up to the top, playing a giant rock puzzle game with endless possibilities.

Cholla...best not to step on...

All in all, I would say that Joshua Tree is a barefooter's hiking, climbing, scrambling paradise and look forward to a barefoot hiking group camp out in the future.

BFT