As the sun starts to set in Joshua Tree, the rocks and mountains start to take on a whole new dimension. The colors are more brilliant and the smooth curves become a slick silhouette in the sky. The name-sake trees strange angles look like aliens who have inhabited this isolated desert.

In the course of a few minutes, the once hot sweat-inducing valley becomes windy, brisk and cold. The National Parks human visitors aren’t the only ones to take notice, either. The birds who were once circling the sky and the ground squirrels who were scavenging for food have taken refugee from the cold.  Jack-Rabbits instead head out for the night, darting across the street as car lights exit the park.

There is a peaceful feeling that comes with the cold, quiet night. The sky is light up like Christmas time with hundreds and thousands of stars that my bright light Los Angeles eyes haven’t seen in a long time. Constellations are perfectly seen, along with all the beautiful stars that make up the Milky Way.

After a day of hiking and cliff climbing, the sunsets over Joshua Tree National Park put the perfect exclamation point to a beautiful day and for some reason, make my tired legs seem to hurt a little less.