Dry Rain

DAY ONE HUNDRED

All day at work yesterday, people were telling me it was going to rain. That's the forecast, they said. Those people don't live in the desert. I KNEW it was not going to rain. Most days when the forecast calls for a less than 99% chance of rain, it is not going to rain. It's the desert. Hello?

Today I went for a little hike behind The Quarry Golf Club. I'd been eyeing the canyons back there for a while wondering what might be back there. Could there be an oasis? A water tank? Indian artifacts of some type?

I find a trail that leads across the hills to the south of The Quarry. There are trails all over this desert. I sometimes wonder if it would even be possible to hike them all in a lifetime.

I then walk past a huge house that looks like a mission, except I think it's bigger than a mission. I bet the owners probably spend about three months a year here.

I get a shot of this hummingbird getting some nectar from a Palo Verde.

There are some ominous clouds building up over the mountains and I wonder, Is it going to rain? Uh, no. I tell people who come in not to worry about rain in the desert. It's not as bad as rain elsewhere because it's a dry rain.

I walk up a long wash until the canyon narrows. I am surprised to see quite a few footprints along the way. I guess I'm not the only crazy person out here walking uphill in the sand.

I am relieved as the canyon narrows and gets rocky. I much prefer climbing these dry falls to walking in the sand. If I wanted to walk in sand, I'd go to the beach.

I get to a point where I am close to the end but I have to turn back. Work awaits and it's been crazy busy due to spring break. I can't wait for it to end. It's wearing me out.

I look back and I've got a long way to go. Good thing it's all downhill.

I stop from my downhill run to take a picture of a fairly common desert varmint. People often think these are chipmunks but this is an Antelope Ground Squirrel. Some species of this critter can live their entire life without drinking water. They get all the moisture they need from what they eat. No need to wait for rain for these little guy.

I didn't find a whole lot to interest me back here except the million dollar views. I may come back to see what I may have missed but I'll have to plan to do it on a day it's not raining.

Cache Me If You Can

DAY NINETY ONE

Hiking every day brings several rewards . There's the joy of just being outdoors, the thrill of discovering a new place, the pleasure of strenuous physical challenge and the excitement of setting a goal and meeting it. One of the greatest rewards, however, is meeting new people. On Monday, when I did the Lykken Trail hike, I met a couple of gals from Canada. They were heading up the trail to find a geocache and leave a little stuffed beaver in it.

For those unfamiliar with geocaching, it is like a high tech scavenger hunt using GPS to find locations and the internet to share where those locations are. People bring little trinkets and toys to leave in the geocache and take a toy or trinket with them.

After meeting these Canadian ladies, I got curious about where there might be some of these caches in my neighborhood. I was quite surprised to discover there are TONS of them. So I picked one, printed up the directions and went hunting. Nikolas loves an adventure, so he came along.

I don't have a regular hiking GPS (I've never seen the need) so I used the one from the car.

One of the waypoints on this trip are these water tanks. I'm on the right track.

I came upon this very rare Desert Hat Bush in full bloom. The hat was actually my size but I'm sure someone will be back for it. Besides, I'm looking for another treasure.

I get to my next waypoint, this Bighorn Sheep sign and am surprised to discover the cache is not up this trail, as I'd originally thought.

It's behind us, up this hill.

There it is, hidden under a big pile of rocks. It was really pretty easy to find even though I've hiked by it a thousand times.

Nikolas digs it out of the rocks. Let's see what's inside!

There's not a lot of treasure here. Some trading cards, a few coasters, some toys and pens. Nik asks if he can throw the "Hello Kitty" off the mountain but I tell him no although I kinda wish he would.

We decided to leave something someone can actually use. Someone with an iPod, that is.

Nik takes a little rock shaped superball

And let's the whole world know how cool finding treasure is.

We pack everything back up and put it back the way it was. A treasure for someone else to find.

On the hike back, we see these bees just starting to build a hive. Nik asks if he can throw a rock at it but I tell him no although......

We also spot this hummingbird just kicking back enjoying the afternoon.

You never know where you're going to find a treasure, or if you are, but the fun is in looking for it and discovering treasures and pleasures you never imagined.

Oh, to my friends and family who read my FaceBook post and think I sprained my ankle and will be changing my blog to Hobbling Every Day: Happy April Fool's Day.

For more info on geocaching and where to find geocaches in your area, go to: geocaching.com