Time Out of Mind

January 3, 2009

Day Three

Hikes never seem to go as planned.  I figured today I'd just go for a little half hour walk here in La Quinta and then head home to watch a little football.  Instead, I ended up hiking for over an hour and a half and got back to my vehicle just before dark.  It was just too nice to go home early.

I started at the top of the Cove with these competing signs.  One say, "Welcome"; the other, "No Trespassing".  Today I'll stick with the welcome side of things.  I hike up the little hill on the left.

Here it is a little closer.  Notice the little steps on the right.  When I first moved here I was told they were used in filming the first Ten Commandments movie.  I always called that hill "Moses Mountain" because of it.  But someone told me it wasn't true.  Then I heard it was used in some movie called The Shoes of the Fisherman.  Wrong.  Now I don't know when the were built or why but the mountain is Moses Mountain to me.

From the top of Moses Mountain, you can look down on a little picnic area called the Cove Oasis. It would probably look more like an oasis if they'd used native California Fan Palms instead of imported Date Palms to surround the oasis but it's a nice little spot to hang out with the family.

I climb down of the mountain and head out toward Martinez Mountain and a little cleft in Sheep Mountain called Bear Canyon.  I don't know why it is called this because there probably isn't a bear within a hundred miles of here.  I guess Sheep Canyon was already taken.

After hiking about 45 minutes I come on this little crease that ends in a dry waterfall.  The Bear Creek Palms Trail starts near here but I don't have time for that today so I head back to the car. There are so many little adventures to take and so many little canyons to explore I don't think I'll ever run out of places to go right here in my own backyard.  Some people would look out on these hills and see a lifeless expanse of mountains and desert.  Not me.  I look at these hills and see an endless opportunity for adventures.

I get back to the car right as the light is fading into night.  I'm going to have to start carrying a flashlight withe me, just in case.

A Hike A Day For A Year

With the New Year quickly coming upon us I started to think about what I might want to improve about myself.  Like everyone, there's a list of items that could use some work.  

I could be more organized, nicer and funnier.  I'd like to be a bit taller but I'm thirty years past puberty so I doubt I'll be getting any more growth spurts.

Eating healthier would be up there but Betty Ford doesn't have a program for Häagen-Daz addiction.  Swearing off fast food would last until I drove past an In-n-Out Burger.

Since I don't really smoke or drink other than the occasional cigar or sip of Scotch that's not something that needs to be tackled.  

Then it came to me: HIKING.  I love hiking.  Ten years of my life were spent tending a hiking shop and talking to people about hiking while doing far too little of it myself.  In the intervening ten plus years I have done much more hiking than I did as a shopkeeper but not nearly enough.  My ever expanding gut testifies to that.

So in 2009 I resolve to hike more.  Much more.  

My resolution is to hike EVERY DAY during 2009.  

Now these hikes are not going to all be long, challenging adventures although some will be. Some may be very short. Many will be boring and in the desert close to my house.  There will probably be a few walks on the beach included but I will strive to take at least one hike every day.  And I will write about them, every one.  Plus, I'll post pictures of some of the more interesting outings.

I hope you'll come along sometime and if you have any hiking suggestions, please send me an email.  If I'm going on a trip somewhere, I'll announce it in advance so if any of you have been there you can send me your favorite hike.

What have I got to lose except about 40 pounds?