June & July 2025 (One Month - One Picture)
Explore Landscapes #93
This is a double feature, as I missed both June and July's post, so it should be titled 'Two Months - Two Pictures', and there's a bonus image for good measure!
Milky Way over Joshua Tree National Park | © 2025 Jon Norris
June 2025 | Joshua Tree (CA) | Paris (France) | Joshua Tree (CA)
I started off the month celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary with Jackie and Tilly (our Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier), and where else would we spend it, but Joshua Tree National Park.
We had a lovely weekend, did some hikes on our own (without Tilly, who stayed at the hotel) on park trails (including an early morning hike up Ryan Mountain to avoid the heat), walked Tilly where we could take her (Oasis of Mara, Keys View Loop, Cap Rock parking lot), and later met up with my friends from the Desert Institute, and enjoyed a pot-luck together.
Jackie and I enjoying the view of the Coachella Valley from Keys View on our 28th Wedding Anniversary | © 2025 Jon Norris
I was home for a few days after our Joshua Tree trip and then headed off on a work trip (day-job) to Paris for the Airshow for 11 days.
I was back in Joshua Tree for a three-day weekend of dark sky workshops at the end of the month, which I always thoroughly enjoy.
Looking up towards Brown Knoll as we walk towards Jacob’s Ladder | © 2025 Jon Norris
July 2025 | Gunthorpe (UK) | Edale (UK) | Joshua Tree (CA)
After the workshops at the end of June I was home for a little less than 12 hours before we set off for a month-long family holiday back to the UK (where we’re originally from). For me it was a mix of holiday and juggling working California hours remotely, which worked pretty well due to the 8-hour time difference, but did make for long days.
A highlight of the UK trip for me (aside from catching up with family and friends) was a day’s hiking in the Peak District.
We hiked the Jacob’s Ladder and Kinder Scout Circular Trail, which follows the start of the Pennine Way from Edale up Jacob’s Ladder and then loops around the front of Kinder Scout and back down to Edale.
The route is a good day’s hiking covering 7.9 miles and 1,800 feet of ascent. Just prior to the steep stone steps that make up Jacob’s Ladder, you cross the River Noe via a 17th-century stone packhorse bridge, a grade II listed structure.
As you gain height the views are stunning as you look out across the gritstone landscape. The rocks up here have been weathered into all sorts of shapes and have curious names such as Pym Chair and the Woolpacks.
We enjoyed a pint and some lunch at The Old Nags Head in Edale and then headed back to Gunthorpe. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable hiking day in the Peaks.