Storm Chaser

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY EIGHT

And I thought yesterday was humid.

When I walked out of my house to go and do my hike this afternoon I wasn't sure where I was going. When I looked South and saw this cloud formation I knew. I was going to go and chase some rain.

On the way I saw the biggest rainbow I've ever seen; it was so large in fact that I couldn't fit it in one picture. I uploaded a video below with the whole thing.

I got out to some fields in Thermal and headed up toward the mountains near Rabbit Peak. I doubted I'd be able to get very far but the main concern was to be safe and not get lost in the flood.

I got as far as I could drive and got out and started walking. I wasn't going to be able to cross this area here so I'd have to find another crossing.

This was actually not bad. It never got more than just a bit over ankle deep but I wasn't going to able to cross the same area when I came back. It filled up that quickly.

I follow the alluvial fan up a bit and am pounded by the rain. Being in the desert I don't generally have rain gear with me and the only thing I have is a blanket that I use to try to keep the water off my camera. It's not very effective.

The water is really moving down this wash. That bush in the middle of this picture is actually moving. The water is washing it down toward the Salton Sea.

I hike around a while until the rain diminishes. It doesn't help that not one bit of my body is dry. I actually have nothing that will help me dry my camera lens.

I made sure I parked the Jeep in a good place, on high ground. It looks like someone didn't do the same during a previous flash flood.

These floods are nothing to mess with; every year people get killed in flash floods in the desert of the American Desert Southwest. I have to walk around a bit before I find a safe place to cross and get back to where I started. I'm not really sure how far I hiked today but I know this: it was far enough.

Below are a couple of short videos I took. The first one is the rainbow and the second one is of the flood. I didn't bring anything to shoot video on the actual hike and that's a good thing. Everything got soaked including my camera. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll work again.

It Only Hurts When I Walk

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN

Today the desert was like a swamp, hot, muggy, sticky, disgusting. It made me wonder, not why I live in the desert but why anyone would live in some place where it's often hot and humid, like Florida. Last night's hike was a sweatfest and I started to get a little chafing on my thighs. I tried to treat it this morning but by this afternoon it had only gotten worse. Just walking became painful. It is not what one wants to deal with when you have a hike to do.

When I left the house to head up to the trailhead the moon was already up to greet me.

And while the sun was down there was still light coming from the West horizon.

Unfortunately, when I got to the trailhead the mountain obscured the moon and left me somewhat bereft of light. But since I was walking quite slowly and gingerly it didn't matter much. It doesn't require too much light to move at a turtle's pace.

After a while the moon made its appearance and the landscape changed. I could see! It didn't cause my pace to quicken but it did alleviate my fear of inadvertently stepping on a snake.

With the moon in it's full glorious glow I was tempted to start moving quickly to cover more terrain but my swollen and irritated inner thighs quickly said don't even think about it.

I love the desert landscape at night during the full moon. It's almost magical.

And I can't wait until next month so I can go out and hike somewhere footloose and pain free. I'm thinking Joshua Tree would be a good spot since it looks a bit like a moonscape. So put October 3 on your calendar. Full Moon Hike at Joshua Tree. You're all invited.

Meeting Up In The Moonlight

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX

The vast majority of my hikes I do alone. I like hiking by myself because I can travel at my own pace, change my destination on a whim, not worry about making conversation. On occasion I've gone with a friend or two and sometimes I've taken some kids along but tonight was a different thing entirely.

I had someone contact me about a group going out on a moonlight hike and he asked me if I'd like to come along. He was leading a group of hikers coordinated over the internet on the meetup.com website. I'd never done anything like that so I thought it might be fun for a change.

The group, The Palm Springs and Inland Empire Hiking Group was meeting behind the Target in Palm Desert and doing the Bump and Grind Trail similar to what I'd done last month. I wasn't able to make their actual meeting time so I showed up as soon as I could.

By the time I arrived almost an hour after the group started, they were well on their way up the trail.

And the moon was already on the rise.

Of course with the moon coming up so high on this cloudless night I'd have no problem seeing my way and I was able to leave my headlamp in my backpack and depend entirely on moonlight.

But the group left a little glow stick at the trail junction just in case.

It's a good thing, too. If someone were coming late who didn't know their way, they may have ended up going to wrong direction and found themselves at the Palm Desert Cross instead.

Tonight was quite humid for here, somewhere in the 30% range. The tropical moisture from Tropical Storm Jimena has not brought any rain but it's certainly brought some stickiness. I made my way up the trail and caught up to the group at the top of Bump and Grind.

Everyone was standing on the edge of the plateau enjoying the view of the lights below.

It was a very good sized group for a Thursday night. They'd considered doing Friday but since the group is based in Riverside they didn't want to fight Friday night traffic coming out here and who could blame them?

After enjoying the view and conversation, the group headed down the road section back to the parking area. It's always nice to meet other people who enjoy hiking and if you're looking for a group to go out with you should check it out. And if hiking in the moonlight sounds like fun, Friday is the true Full Moon.

Beginning of Nowhere

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE

The Coachella Valley Nature Preserve was open all summer but with limited hours and limitations on where you could hike due to various projects. With August over they are going back to regular hours although the work at the McCallum Grove continues until the end of the month.

I always feel welcome here for some reason.

Maybe it's the old palm tree log cabin.

Or the fact that it's air conditioned

But I think the coolness is also intrinsic to the place itself. There's just something cool about an oasis in the desert. It greets the traveler in a harsh and dry landscape and says to him, "Relax, refresh yourself and let go of your worries. They are not welcome here but you are". At least that's what it says to me.

Now there are still some projects that need to be worked on and I feel bad that I didn't bring any tools to help today.

Because things did tend to get just a big overgrown during the summer months.

But the McCallum Grove Pond is coming along quite nicely. It'll be ready for visitors at the end of the month.

Now after I left the pond I hiked out toward Moon Country and saw this little trail so I decided to take it. I think I'll head out to that little dirt hill in the distance.

I wander out here and soon see that this is a very unforgiving section of desert. Either that or this was an old chop shop.

I get to the hill and it's got some interesting designs from the erosion. It's not really quite in the middle of nowhere, it's more at the beginning.

The middle of nowhere is out there somewhere beyond the old truck skeleton. I think that's where I'll go explore next time I come out here, when it's cooler.

Nice Neighbors

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR

I went out this afternoon to go and hike up to Dead Indian Palms. I'd tried to get up there in the winter earlier this year but it was locked up and closed. I vaguely remember hearing it would open again September 1 for a few months. Maybe I was just imagining it.

I park along Highway 74 and start hiking toward the oasis hoping the fence is down or at least the gate unlocked. If it's not, I figure I can just climb the ridge behind this sign. I'll be able to see the oasis from up there.

The fence is still up and there's no sign with any information at all. The sign that was there has been painted over. It would be very easy to skirt the fence and go beyond it but I don't know if that would really be the right thing to do, especially since I'm documenting it with pictures. It's one thing to break the law, it's quite another to tell everyone about it.

So I'm left with this option. Steep, rocky and loose just the way I like it.

As I head up the ridge I hear some sirens and see several emergency vehicles heading up Highway 74. A bit later I see a tow truck so obviously there's trouble up there.

There's the palm oasis. I remember back in the day hiking back there with my trusty hiking dog, Shasta and seeing several Bighorn grazing on the hillside without a care. They seemed so unconcerned with us. They had plenty of grass on the hillside, they had water in the oasis and we had the freedom the enjoy their presence. I wonder, what happened?

For some reason governmental bureaucrats think hikers somehow negatively impacted

the sheep although several other factors are far more important in understanding the decline in the sheep population. Drought, development, predation, disease. Years ago both hikers and sheep roamed the hills without a care but back then there was no country clubs or mansions built in the sheep's territory. Now, the foothills around Palm Desert have been built up, overtaken by development, the oases has been depleted by overdrafting the water table and the only ones punished are those who appreciate wildlife and its habitat since they've seen it first hand. Of course, money talks and hikers walk.

This ridge has always been somewhat interesting to me because there are remnants of a bulldozed road that goes a few hundred feet and stops. There is also some old cable up here which makes me think there might be an old mine or something here but I've never found one.

If not for a mine why would this cable be here?

Beyond the road there's a trail that continues up the ridge but for how far? I sometimes wonder if there's an old trail here that perhaps led up to the mountains or some of the higher oases in the area. I guess I'll have to wait until it cools down to find out. As I round this corner I notice sometime move but can't see what it is.

I get around the corner and no further than 20 feet away from me is this young ram.

He casually ambles away from me looking back to see what I'm doing up in his terrain.

I continue up the trail and he just walks away off the trail giving me a wide berth but never hurrying. It's too hot to hurry.

He's obviously not too scared or taken aback because he gets to an area less than 100 yards away and starts grazing. I stand and watch him for about 15 minutes but he never moves further away or rounds the corner out of view. He's comfortable just hanging out on the ridge and seems to enjoy watching me as much as I enjoy watching him. We're just two guys enjoying a walk in the mountains.

As I start to head back, he follows me down. I have to get back before dark so I can't see how far down he comes but I tell him I'll be back. There's a lot to explore in these hills and I want to do it before they shut it all down. Then the only place to explore wilderness will be in our imagination.