America, F**k Yeah!

Second hand couch, one previous owner, now deceased.

Although I am on this trip to primarily climb, I feel it is always good to get out and experience the culture of the country that you are living in. So today in order to get that true American experience we drove out into the Southern California desert to shoot some mother fricken guns.

It was quite an experience as I have only ever very briefly shot with an air gun before. Today I shot with a 12 gauge shotgun and a 40 caliber Glock, and believe me I never want to be on the receiving end of one of those things. I think we live in a world where we have become desensitized to guns as they are often portrayed on TV, films and video games as being glamorous and the fact that people are being shot sometimes does not even register with the viewer. It is not until you let the recoil rattle through your shoulder or pull at your wrist and arm, that you really appreciate the power behind the weapon. I like to think that I have reasonably strong shoulders, but shooting the shotgun with buck shot cartridges was fairly intense.

I am not a great marksman but did manage to shoot a few cider bottles to smithereens, which I have to say was quite satisfying. Wes on the other hand is fairly nifty with the old trigger and I would recommend that he is probably quite a good person to stand behind should Dooms day ever come.

As you can see from the photos below the area we were at is popular with the local gun community and the ground was just littered with an amazing array of brightly coloured cartridges and junk that had been shot to hell.

Me with a bad ass gun, just don't ever give me one when I have bad PMT

The 2nd amendment states the right to keep and bear arms, so felt it my duty to comply

Pretty colours

The scene of the crime.

Sharp shooter extraordinaire.

Shotgun boy, don't mess!

After our gun games we headed off to Joshua tree national Park. It was a relatively quick visit but well worth it as it is a very pretty desert landscape.

A Joshua tree

I have almost recovered from my recent injuries and now feel rested enough to get back on the road, so am looking forward to be heading to Hueco Tanks in Texas in the next few days. Psyched!

Photos by Caroline Harvey and Wes Dodson.