The Grottos, Mecca Hills Wilderness Area

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR

The Grottos are a special area in the Mecca Hills Wilderness area where the erosion of steep mud and rock canyons have created cave-like formations. They are a fun area to explore due to the nature of the grottos themselves and the beauty of the surrounding canyons. They are reached from Box Canyon Road leaving the town of Mecca, near the Salton Sea.

There is a good parking area and a nice BLM sign pointing out some of the natural features of the Grottos area.

Hiking from the sign, you will see some trails heading up the hill to the right of the wash. This steep trail is not the official trail but I like it better anyway.

From the trail into the Grottos you get a nice view of the Salton Sea.

After a short hike of a couple miles you come to this canyon, the entrance to the Hidden Palm Oasis.

The oasis is listed on your topo map and is a very important source of water for wildlife in this area.

It's also good for thirsty puppies.

The walls of the canyon are multi-colored due to mineralization.

Hiking further up the canyon there are more places with interesting colors and shapes. My favorite is the rock "foam finger". You almost expect it to say, "We're #1" on it.

But even more interesting than these rock formations is this crease in the hillside.

Once inside you have to get down on your hands and knees and crawl through this little gap.

Once inside you have to have a flashlight or headlamp because it's DARK. The cavern goes back a hundred feet or so before any outside light is even visible again.

But this is not the way out.

The way out requires some climbing and some squeezing and crawling and a few other things that Kahlua really isn't up to today. There is a nice loop trip from the top of this Grotto that comes down into yet another Grotto but I'll just have to leave that for another day.

Today I'll just content myself with going out the way we came and enjoying the hike out.

Bear Creek Palm Oasis, La Quinta

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND TWO

I did NOT want to go hiking today. This morning I woke up with morning sickness, or what I'd imagine morning sickness to feel like. My head felt like a cactus had taken up residence within my skull and it seemed like two porcupines were doing battle in my gut. My son brought home some 24 hour flu bug home from school and shared it with the family. At least it's not H1N1. Yet.

Determined to do the hike that I'd been hoping to do for weeks, I set out to hike to the Bear Creek Palms. The Bear Creek Palms are a small oasis high on the north side of Sheep Mountain in the Santa Rosa Mountains. Getting to them requires a hike about eight miles and an elevation gain of around 2000 feet. It is not a good hike to take when you're sick.

The Bear Creek Palms are not really in Bear Creek and I've always known them as the High Palm Oasis but the trail starts from Bear Creek and that's the more common name for them.

This is Bear Creek as it cuts a deep cleft in Sheep Mountain.

The first mile of the hike follows the wash from the top of the La Quinta Cove and is really pretty flat. From there, the trail steadily gains elevation.

As you gain elevation the views really open up. First, Mount San Jacinto comes into view.

Then, Mount San Gorgonio.

Out to the Southeast the Salton Sea fills the horizon.

I get to the high point in the trail and can look down at the palms but I've got to head back home and get to work. It is an easy hike from here but I won't make it today. Feeling sick slowed me down a bit and I've run out of time.

These rocks are usually a good lunch spot but the thought of food right now makes me nauseous.

The trail feels twice as long going down as it does going up but that's always how it feels when you need to find a restroom. But luck is with me today and I make it home before nature calls. I hate to leave anything behind, except footprints, whenever possible.

Home Heat Home

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE

Today I arrived back home and it was beautiful. I missed the profound beauty of the desert landscape but I noticed how many similarities my home has to the Lake Tahoe area.

Temperature

Most days in Lake Tahoe during our visit the high temperature was about 75º. Most days this time of year the low temperature in the desert is about 75º.

Mountains

Both areas are surrounded by incredible mountains.

The Coachella Valley is surrounded by several ranges including the Santa Rosas, the San Jacintos, the San Bernardinos and the Little San Bernardinos.

Lake Tahoe has the Sierras. I guess if you're only going to have one mountain range it's a pretty good one.

Trails

Both area have wonderful networks of trails. The Coachella Valley has over 1000 miles of hiking trails within an hour and thousands of square miles of open terrain for hiking.

Lake Tahoe doesn't have quite as much but its hiking isn't bad. At least in summer.

Lakes

We have plenty of lakes in the Coachella Valley. In fact, there's even a community in Palm Desert called THE Lakes. Additionally, we have the largest lake in California just south of here, the Salton Sea. It's not as deep as Lake Tahoe but it's bigger.

The lakes in Tahoe are lovely but I wonder what these lakes look like in February.

There are loads of positive things about both the Coachella Valley and the Lake Tahoe area but there's only one place that I could ever undertake an endeavor like hiking every day and that's here. Lake Tahoe is a great place to visit but....

Under The Sea

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO

My youngest son, Nikolas, is doing a school report on the Salton Sea and needed some pictures of the water line of the ancient Lake Cahuilla. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the ancient Lake Cahuilla filled the lower section of the Coachella Valley about 500 years ago. The Colorado River flowed into the area and created a colossal lake over twenty times larger than the Salton Sea. The River then changed course and the lake dried up. However, the shoreline still exists and can be seen south of La Quinta near the Lake Cahuilla County Park. I figured it would be a good area to take a hike.

I climbed this peak last month and came here with the boys earlier in the year but this time I am going to hike around it rather than up.

There are several Smoke Trees in the wash area littered with blossoms. The trees are also swarming with bees. Smoke Trees either have the sweetest nectar out there or they are the only thing blooming right now because every one I see is covered with bees and I cannot get close enough for a better picture of the flowers.

The BLM sign may say trail but it's more of a road than anything else. So I head for a little off "trail" exploration.

There's not a lot to see except shotgun shells and broken bottles. Looks like someone camped here although not recently.

Someone used this area as a campsite much more recently. This is obviously a popular camping area since I see four fire rings on my hike around the mountain.

This mountain is a lot longer around than I figured. I wanted to hike around the entire thing but if I do that I will be late for work. I'm gonna look over here for a possible shortcut.

It looks possible but I need to go down a little further and see.

Oh yeah, this'll go. It's a bit steeper than what I climbed yesterday but at least it's solid.

This is what it looks like from the bottom looking back up. I will have to come back and finish my hike and to climb this just for fun.

I get a little further on I get my first glimpse of the "bathtub ring" of what was the ancient Lake Cahuilla.

The tufa on the rocks in the foreground are from built up minerals that were in the water of the lake. These rocks were once completely submerged beneath the lake.

Here is a closer look of the waterline along the mountain.

This was a fun little hike and it ended up being much longer than I expected. I actually had to run the last little bit to make it back in time to get to work. I'd like to come back and visit again when I have a bit more time to explore the interesting geology and history of this area that was once under the sea.

Third Time's A Charm

DAY NINETY

Has it really been three months?

Two times this year I have set out on the Boo Hoff Trail from the top of the La Quinta Cove and two times I have failed to reach the top. It was not that the trail is too hard; I just ran out of time. Today I did something different. Instead of starting in the morning and having to leave because of work, I decided to start in the afternoon, after work. The only thing that could stop me is darkness but don't worry. I brought a flashlight; my wife insisted. Today, the top is going to be reached.

Starting at the trailhead I walk up toward the Boo Hoff. The landscape is decidedly different than it was a couple of weeks ago. There are very few flowers and most everything has turned brown. No need for photos here. I always wonder why they put these signs on all the hiking trails out here. Maybe I'll call the Water District and ask. Or maybe not.

I quickly head for a small ridge to the right of the wash. It's just a bit rocky but it sure beats walking uphill in the sand.

Ah, my old friend. I will not be deterred this time.

On the way up, I see a lot of these big scary bugs, the Master Blister Beetle, Lytta magister. They're huge and they FLY. I can't really get a good picture because they won't stop moving and I'm afraid one of them is going to fly up my shorts.

This is a cool plant. I looked through almost 2000 plant pictures and I still don't know what it is called. I'm sure someone out there does. If not, I'll find out next time I go to the Living Desert.

As you climb, you get a good view of Mount San Gorgonio in the hazy distance.

Close to the top, you enter the wilderness although it's felt like wilderness almost from the moment I left the Jeep.

I get to this sign at the start of the Guadalupe Trail. Check out the dates on this sign. They should probably change it to read, TURN AROUND HERE! IF YOU'RE HIKING THIS TRAIL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. NO ONE WILL FIND YOU UNTIL FALL. GO BACK NOW AND LIVE. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

From the top of the trail, you can look down to the Martinez Landslide and the Salton Sea. Notice the water line from the ancient Lake Cahuilla on the hillside beyond the landslide.

You can also look up into the canyon where the Guadalupe Trail goes. This is one of my favorite trails. Hopefully, I'll get time to do it before July 1.

Looking down from where I came I'm happy I finally made it to the top of the Boo Hoff. I've got to get back before dark, though, because as I reach in the pack for a water bottle, I realize I left the flashlight on the front seat of the Jeep. Good thing I wore my running shoes.