West and Wewaxation

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN

Working in the hotel business you see a lot of crazy things. One thing that I have never understood is the number of people who come here in the summer. From the beach! Why someone would leave weather in the 70s to come out and suffer the scorching 110s? The only answer I came up with is some people are nuts.

Until one day.

I asked a guy why he left San Diego and its perfect weather to swelter in the desert heat and he replied, "I come here to relax". I asked him why he didn't just relax at home and his reply was that he couldn't. With perfect weather outside he'd just keep going and going and going and never relax. With the blistering and relentless sun of the desert summer he had no other choice but to relax. If he didn't relax he would probably die. It made perfect sense. Relax or die should be the new desert resorts ad campaign.

I was going to head up to the mountains this afternoon but I decided not to because I knew I'd overdo it. Since I'm still a bit tired from my San Gorgonio adventure I decided on a desert hike in order to relax.

I hike up the Bear Creek wash past this mountain that always strikes me like the profile of someone laying down.

There are several little trails that take off on the west (right) side of the wash but I don't take this one of the next two. They don't really lead to anywhere. I know; I've done them.

On the east (left) side of the wash, the sun is still shining on the higher peaks. That's a good reason to go on the west. It's been in the shade longer.

The trail I want is this one.

It actually goes somewhere.

It goes to this canyon, Coyote Creek. There are a lot of canyons, peaks and other landmarks in the desert called coyote for some reason.

When I drop down to the canyon I come to this dry fall. I could scale it but something tells me there's a trail that bypasses it instead.

I try scrambling this loose rocky slope to see if I can spot a trail.

I can but unfortunately it's on the wrong side of the canyon. Oh well, I'll use that one next time.

At least there's a nice view from this side of the canyon.

Rather than going back the way I came, I head cross country to the Bear Creek Oasis Trail and have a nice leisurely walk back the wash to my Jeep and get back just after dark.

I feel so rested.