Go East, Young Man

Day Forty One

Mount San Jacinto looking sublime under a fresh layer of snow.

The mountains were spectacular today with their new coat of fresh snow.  I was already to go up  and spend the day snowshoeing but one thing got in my way: life.  Yes, things do not always work out the way I want them to.  

First, I had to take the kids to school.  Then, the Tram does not open until 10 a.m. so I'd have to wait for that.  Finally, I had to be at work at 12 so my time was somewhat limited.  What to do?  I hightailed it east where I couldn't see all that snow.  I  went out by the Hayfield Dry Lake and I hike out to a little canyon there.  

After a couple of wrong turns I get to  the edge of the wilderness and head up toward the canyon I want to visit.

I see this large boulder with some petroglyphs on it.  Seems like I came to the right place.

Up high on this hillside, it looks like an old mine.  I'll have to come back and check that out another time.

As I enter the canyon I see this little dugout area and wonder if it's a mining test dig or has some other significance.

Just inside the mouth of the canyon is a nice panel of pictographs.  Pictographs are painted onto the rocks rather than etched into the desert varnish like petroglyphs.  They are under a little overhang and so have not been washed off although some have faded.

On this rock in the wash, there are two nice size bedrock mortars.  There is also a lot of sand on this rock.  I wonder.....

After a bit of excavation, I find other bedrock mortar, larger than the other two.

There are also a number of petroglyphs in the area.  Hopefully, when I get more time I can come back and explore a bit more to see what else I can find.

On the drive home, I get a full view of the beauty of our snow covered mountains.  I missed playing in the snow today but I got to explore a special place that I'm looking forward to returning to soon.