Boo Hoff Trail, La Quinta

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE

The Boo Hoff Trail in La Quinta is the closest major trail to my house. I have actually walked to the trailhead from home but my time is limited these days so driving there gives me more time to enjoy it.

Starting at the trailhead, you follow the main rock lined road until you get to a split.

Instead of going to the right or the left continue straight toward the base of the the ridge seen to the right of the Palo Verde tree here.

Once you're past the rocks on the flood control berm, continue to walk toward the same ridge and you'll eventually find a trail. That trail will take you to that ridge, drop into the wash and then onto the Boo Hoff.

Once you are on the trail it is easy to follow. It climbs continually until you are well above your starting point.

Looking to the west I can see that snow covered peak of Mount San Jacinto and, through binoculars, what looks like a trail on a ridge above Bear Creek Canyon.

At the top point of the trail someone has built a campsite with a fire ring.

I don't know what they found to burn up here but you can't argue with the view.

I'll never understand, though, why people can bring up full bottles and cans but are somehow unable to remove the empties. They not only weigh less when empty but from here it's downhill.

It's a good thing that my pack is mostly empty. I'll get this trash out of here.

Someone also left some chonies up here but I'll leave those here for the wind to take care of. Civic responsibility only goes so far.

I won't make it back before dark but I brought my headlamp and I'll be good. I don't mind hiking in the dark; it's very peaceful and let's my mind focus on nothing more than my next step. I need that sometimes. In fact, I think we all probably do.

Sheep Canyon, Santa Rosa Mountains

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY EIGHT

I went today to a place in the Santa Rosa Mountains south of Martinez Canyon that I'd never been to. I figured with a name like Sheep Canyon there was a good chance there might be Bighorn there or something else interesting.

To get to where I'd start hiking I'd have to drive through some orchards and a bit of a garbage dump. It's obvious that someone's been here before.

I head up the canyon looking to see if there might be a trail leaving the wash and heading up toward the hills.

I get past the mud cliffs and find an area to leave the wash and look around. The terrain is not easy to traverse. It's very rocky.

If you don't watch your every step there's a distinct possibility of falling and getting hurt. I get a bit injured and come inches from planting my face on a big boulder. Fortunately, my injuries are minor and I can continue on.

In the midst of a big boulder field, we come upon this nice barren flat.

It's readily obvious that this area has been visited before.

There's a benchmark from the General Land Office, a government agency that ceased to exist over 60 years ago. The date on it says 1917 and there's a good possibility it was put here then.

Looking south I see what I came here to find, a trail.

I'm sure there are dozens of trails in these mountains that no one knows about and I intend on finding them all.

The trail heads down to this wash but this is not the canyon I came here to explore today. It looks like there's possibly a palm oasis up there but that'll have to wait for another day.

We head over to Sheep Canyon to give it a little look.

The trail drops right into the canyon and I quickly see why.

The canyon is full of mesquite, a food staple of the Cahuilla Indians.

A bit further up the canyon is this weird looking rock area. It looks almost like concrete that has been weathered. There is lots of indications that Indians lived here.

There are several bedrock mortars all over the top of the rocks.

Some are over a foot deep.

On the south side of the wash is a little area that was obviously a campsite. There are a few fire rings and numerous mesquite bushes all around.

A few trails are up here as well.

It is obvious that someone's spent some time up here since the Indians moved on. I'd like to spend more time looking around but I also want to head up the canyon bit further and see if I can find another trail. I will be back, though.

The canyon has some very interesting geology.

More importantly, both to the wildlife in the area and the Indians back in the day, there's water. The water is flowing very well so there's a good chance that this is spring fed.

There are many sheep droppings near the water and it's evident that this must be a good place to spot either a sheep or other wildlife. At least, some biologists think so.

On the way back to the Jeep I make one more stop at the "concrete slab" to see how many more bedrock mortars I can find.

I count fourteen but there's a possibility there are more since there's some sand from the recent rains. When I come back--and I'm definitely coming back soon--I'm going to bring a little trowel to move some sand around and plan on spending more time. There's a great campsite so I might even plan a backpacking trip. This is one of my new favorite places.

New Finds in Carrizo Canyon

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN

Today I went back to Carrizo Canyon in South Palm Desert. I went here a couple of months ago and went up one fork of the canyon but today I wanted to do the other. I got a text message from a guy I know (Steve, although some know him as Bluerail) and he came along. It's always nice to have company so if you ever want to come along, just send me an email.

The gate for Carrizo Canyon will only be open until the end of December so if you want to hike this canyon you'd better hurry.

As we walked up the canyon, we stuck to the right hand side and came upon these ruins of an old homestead.

Next time up here I'll have to remember to bring some charcoal and burgers.

People have been feasting in this canyon for centuries as this bedrock mortar testifies.

Last time, I went up the right fork so this time we decide to head up to the left.

We don't get far when we come upon this trail heading up out of the canyon. We take it.

The trail leads to a little flat area that has some poorly organized rock circles.

There is an overlook of Carrizo Canyon but there's no way to get down there.

The one thing that makes this little side trip worth it is the view.

We hike back down and go up the main canyon and climb this dry waterfall. That huge rock at the top is just sitting there and it makes you wonder what amount of water and force did it take to get it in that position.

Above the waterfall is more vegetation than in the lower canyon. There are several Palms and Cottonwoods.

This Cottonwood, though, has seen its better days.

It's nice for it to have a big cliff to lean on.

We come upon another massive boulder stuck in the canyon, blocking our way. We could possibly bypass the boulder by climbing on the right but I know it's much harder to climb down something than to climb up it. I also don't think Steve wants to carry me out if I fall.

There is a good amount of water in the canyon right now and the ferns are lush and green. There are many treasures to be found in this little canyon but the pictographs are modern. Next time I think I'll do a hike all the way up the canyon so I don't have to downclimb anything. Who knows what else might be further up canyon?