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By 5:30 p.m., our class of five was gathered in the Cap Rock parking lot — one of the lots that stays open at night for stargazers.

After a reminder to bring water and a rundown of Cap Rock Trail, which is a 0.4-mile loop with a bathroom near the parking lot, Norris led us onto the trail to start planning our shots.

From there, they drove to Cap Rock in Joshua Tree, where Kaufman doused the coffin with five gallons of high-test gasoline and lit a match.

Hiking a social trail behind Joshua Tree National Park’s famed Cap Rock, I came across a peculiar sight that, if you know what you’re looking for, actually isn’t so unusual at all: a crude cross made of dark stones below a scribble of orange graffiti.

According to Kaufman and several rangers, the body was cremated on a median bordering the Cap Rock parking lot.