Fish For Thanksgiving

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIX

Thanksgiving is coming up so I thought that a lot of families might be wondering what to do with the kids. Take 'em hiking! I'll give you a few suggestions of places that are good for kids. They're not too challenging and they've got something interesting for the kiddies to see and do.

My first suggestion is The Fish Traps out in Thermal. They're easy to get to, the hike is REALLY easy and there's an interesting story to tell.

Getting there: Take Jackson Street, south from Indio to the intersection of Avenue 66. As you near Avenue 66, you'll see a large line on the mountain. This is the old water line from the ancient Lake Cahuilla. About 500 years ago, a large lake filled the entire lower Coachella Valley. It was over 25 times larger than the Salton Sea.

Park on the right side of the road. The location is:

Lat: 33.569345º N

Lon: 116.213714º W

Walk along the fence until you get to the end and then turn right.

About a hundred yards from the fence there are some petroglyphs. In addition to original Indian petroglyphs--like this one--people have put up some of their own. The original petroglyphs are all symbols; the modern ones are mostly names.

Continue walking around the hillside and you'll soon come to the Fish Traps. There are dozens along the hillside of varying depths and sizes. Have the kids count how many Fish Traps they find.

There are tons of pot sherds here. Some, I'm sure, are original and some are more recent.

The Fish Traps are in rows along the hillside.

Some of the Fish Traps are really deep and could hold a whole family.

Others, like this last one, are more pint size.

Just be sure the kids don't take anything with them. Leave everything for someone else's kids to enjoy. Let them know this was here before the first Thanksgiving and is probably the oldest historical site in the Coachella Valley.

Ranch of the Seventh Range

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY

I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to the cooler days of Fall. While desert dwellers love the stark beauty of our harsh environment and would not trade it for all the mountains, beaches and plains on earth, we do grow weary of the infernal heat of summer. While it keeps the year round population of our area from becoming like that of Los Angeles it also limits my ability to explore beyond the few hours on the fringes of daylight. Thankfully, it will soon be coming to an end.

I had several ideas on where to go hiking today. I thought about going to the Tram, back to the Mecca Hills, to Joshua Tree. Ultimately I did not feel like driving to any of those spots and went over near Lake Cahuilla to hike near the site of the old horse stable, The Ranch of the Seventh Range.

The rocks here tell the story of water, when the ancient Lake Cahuilla filled the entire southern region of the Coachella Valley with a lake that was 27 times larger than the Salton Sea.

There are a few trails but mostly the area is open desert behind this flood control berm.

Or at least it was. There a now several reservoirs behind this chain link fence. It is part of a groundwater recharge facility intended to pump water back into the ground to replenish the aquifer which lies under the desert. We are, in a sense, lucky that our water is underground. Were it not Los Angeles might have stolen it like they did the water of the Owens Valley.

The sun leaves me alone with the stillness of the open desert and the unusual sound of water.

Wanting to see more of the recharge station I decide to climb up this little hill.

The recharge station spreads out across the desert.

For some reason I am now suddenly very thirsty.

Looking out toward the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument I look forward to the coming cooler days when I will be able to explore here more greatly. Tonight, however, I have to get home to watch the Ken Burn's special on the National Parks.

For some reason I have always been drawn to these twin mountains. On some cooler day in the future I will climb these. I'll let you know what's up there.

Social Climbers

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY NINE

I actually started to do two hikes today but only completed one. It's a good thing, too, because if I had completed the first hike I'd have never taken the second one and that one was better.

I went this morning to go and hike near the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Visitor's Center. The weather was not too hot and I hadn't been in a couple of months. The last time I came there were still wildflowers in bloom. Not so this time.

I forgot my hat at home and so slathered myself with sunscreen and hoped I wouldn't get too cooked in the time I would be out. This trail was originally created for people to walk their dogs on after they got booted off the Art Smith Trail but the Bighorn Institute complained about it being near their facility and so now dogs are stricken from this trail now, too. I didn't get too far when the batteries went dead in my camera. No hat, no dog, no pictures: that's three strikes so I'm outta here.

Later that day....

I decided to put my hike off til this evening. The sun would be behind the hill or some clouds so I wouldn't need my hat. I charged the camera batteries so I'd be getting pictures of the hike. I brought the dog. Also, some kids as well.

We went to the area near Lake Cahuilla where Ranch of the Seventh Range used to have a horseback riding stable. The shoreline of the ancient Lake Cahuilla is very visible in this spot. Nikolas had fun explaining to his friend, Jakob, about the ancient lake and how it once filled a large portion of our valley.

We hiked up the hill near these remnants of the old fence put up by the stable.

When we got to the top, we saw a trail heading up the hillside. This very well could have been an old Cahuilla trail. The trail doesn't look like one that a stable would want their novice horsemen using but you never know.

Looking down from the trail you can see how this must have once been a beautiful sandy cove at the ancient lake. Rather than trying to "save" the accidental Salton Sea maybe they should just fill it up again and make a huge lake. Sure, some farmland would be lost but imagine a freshwater lake twenty times larger than the Salton Sea. It would be the most popular destination in the world. Just let me buy some property here first.

We hike up the trail and then around the far end of the mountain. On the way back I ask the boys if they want to do a little climbing. Being boys they live to climb so I knew what the answer to that question would be.

As we make our way to the dry falls that we are going to climb, I notice another trail and figure this will be a good pathway down.

Nik starts the climb but soon realizes the hiking stick is not doing him any good. He would rather use his hands on the rock so he tosses me the stick. It's dad's job to carry all the extra stuff, in case you didn't know.

The boys quickly make their way up the rock and I follow behind. It may look scary but it's a pretty easy climb with ample hand and foot holds. I wouldn't let them do anything really dangerous without proper equipment. It feels exciting for them, though.

Nik supervises Jakob as he makes the crux move to the top. After topping out, we walk back down the trail I spotted and he back home. The trail is pretty eroded but passable. It was actually more treacherous than this dry fall.

It was a terrific little hike for all of us and I'm glad we got to do it on such a nice day. It was also wonderful to have a little company along. Most years you would never want to be out here in June but today it was perfect even if it didn't start out that way.

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.

C'est le vie

DAY NINETY FOUR

Sometimes real life gets in the way of your plans. Today, I had hoped to go to Joshua Tree. I had my hike all figured out and the pictures were already in my head. I just had to get them into the camera. But life just would not allow it.

First, I went and bought something for my computer that I found on Craigslist. Then I had to configure it, start a backup and check my email while I was at it. My older son informed me he wasn't going hiking but to the baseball field so that left my younger son and I to go. By the time we got ready, so much time had passed that it was impractical to make the drive and be back in time for a 4PM baseball game. Joshua Tree will just have to wait.

Instead, I went out to where Jackson Street turns into Avenue 66 and hiked over by the Ancient Fish Traps. I figured if Indians were here, they had to have trails so I set out to find some.

I wasn't long until I found some semblance of trail. I don't know if it is ancient or made by Native Americans but it is here and I just can't say no to a trail I've never done.

The trail becomes impossible to follow as I get into a bunch of rocks but I think I'm going to aim for that little saddle since that seems to be the obvious place to go.

I guess it wasn't only obvious to me as I pick up the trail once again.

The area up here is laden with trails and the remnants of some stone walls or possibly wind shelters or hunting blinds.

There are lots of little trails that go every which direction and I spend some time following them around.

One interesting thing is this area that is cleared and laid out with lots of quartz. It's like some kind of dance floor or maybe just a nice place to sleep for the night.

As I get up a little higher I am able to see the pattern of some of the trails below.

I also spot this trail leading to the West. Hmm, I wonder where this goes?

It heads across the hill and on to another trail. The area has a weird feel to it because there is a constant buzzing sound, like a low hum, the whole time I'm up there. I keep looking around to see a bee swarm or tons of flies or something but there is no explaining it. It sounds to me like the sound of power, of electricity, and it is kind of eerie. Not scary, just odd. I can honestly say I have never experienced anything quite like it.

I keep following the trail, which is wide in spots and in other places has bushes growing in the middle of it. Obviously, this is a VERY old trail. I can spot it across the way and continue on.

One last hill to climb and we'll see where this goes.

The trail starts going down toward this cove area. I can imagine what this looked like when the ancient Lake Cahuilla licked the shoreline here. It must have been like an ancient Rivieria. It had to be beautiful to behold. The trail obviously went down to where the water was and then went up the other side somewhere. I won't be able to find out where this trail goes or if there is another trail somewhere beyond. At least I won't be able to do it today. I have a baseball game to go to.