West Side Loop, Joshua Tree National Park

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
1/4/2018	4.7 miles				37.1

Map: National Geographic Joshua Tree Map
Guide book: Hiking Joshua Tree National Park, a Falcon Guide (book didn't cover this hike)
Directions: Start out at sign for the Nature Trail, then follow signs for West Side Loop.

I woke up feeling sick. I had a sore throat and felt nauseous. I considered my options. I could spend the day in bed at our hotel room. Or we could try taking an easy hiking day. I decided I wanted to hike. Spending a vacation day in a hotel room just seemed too wrong. Since we were taking it easy, we decided to go out for breakfast, rather than having the hotel breakfast. We headed over to Crossroad Café, which turned out to be my favorite place to eat (vegan and vegetarian friendly).

We saw a coyote on the drive to this hike. We were planning on doing the High View Nature Trail, but then decided to do the longer West Side Loop (both from the same trailhead). Our book didn't have this hike listed, but it did show up on our map. Navigation was pretty straight forward. The hike starts out easy, and then later on has some steep ups and downs. Overall it was a moderate hike. It does have nice views. We went slowly, trying to take it easy because I wasn't feeling well. It was a quiet hike, and had views of both San Gorgonio and San Jacinto. After our hike, we sat in our car and had a lunch break.

Up next.....South Peak Loop.

Sign at the parking lot. This also leads to the West Side Loop.