Not Again

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The day started on a down turn. I awoke about 4ish and noticed the refrigerator was off and it was about 50 degrees in the trailer. My conclusion – we ran out of propane again. The culprits were the heater, refrig, and water heater as all use propane. The trailer remained cold and when my travel partners arose, we agreed to institute a conservation program that would reduce propane and battery usage. We then headed to Yucca Valley (10 minutes away) to fill the tanks and were able enough to find a service station for the fill-up. After a belated hot breakfast, we decided to take a 4 mile loop hike.

Even though it was about 2ish, we started off on a partly cloudy breezy day on the short loop trail. It was up through a river (OK dry flash flood stream) of sand and gravel. Again I forgot my hiking sticks and the sandy soil played havoc with my knees. At about 3:30 as the sun was slipping over the mountains, the wind was increasing, and temperature falling, Emily felt we should turn and head back rather than face hiking in the dark. It was a wise decision with winds reaching the 15-20 mph as we headed to HoW.

KC was looking out the window waiting, but he was none to happy to be left behind in this strange HoW. It takes him several days to adjust and he shows his fear by refusing to enter the trailer regardless of the weather conditions. If you remember, I consider KC on the verge of a psychotic break and was concerned this adjustment would send him over the edge.

We also had a discussion about changing our camping plans to keep us closer to dump stations and water (only 3 of nine campgrounds have fresh water available) and businesses to support any future problems. We decided an extra night stay at Black Rock Canyon while driving to explore other locations would work best.

Tonight was a video from Emily's collection of European travels with Rick Steves (PBS). Although in Closed Caption (CC), it was difficult to associate the descriptive words with the scenery they described. My brain would became tired of processing and I did occasionally drift off. Venice is likely a great place to visit, but not in CC. Maybe someday I will trek to Europe and delve into the world of history and art, however tonight was not the night.

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Photos

Valley near Sunset
Long shadows enhance the desert floor as sunset approaches