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Published: January 31st 2011
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Welcome to the Trail
Strange desert character The night was much cooler and predicted high for the day was in the mid 70s, so there was less urgency to get started on our hike up Palm Tree Canyon. We left KC in HoW which was a mistake as his barking brought a nastygram from the camp host. We started to walk to the trail head, but it was about a half mile away on a paved road. A bush quote seems appropriate here “fool me once, shame on — — shame on you. Fool me — — You can't get fooled again”. So TT was used to go the rest of the way.
The trail was cut around a ridge and up the canyon. We were initially greeted by an unusual desert sight (see photo) and then onward and upward. Although there were only a few stairs, climbing over, around, and through the rock falls reminded me of hiking in glacier rubble. As the canyon walls closed in, a stream suddenly appeared. It ran fast and clear and in this barren desert was like a mirage. Following along the creek and gradually climbing another half mile, a grove of Fan Palms came into view. It
Emily at Work
Yes she is pulling weeds - can't take the gardener out of the girl was likely they were at the head waters of the creek.
Having a snack and doing a fluid load in the shade of the palm trees was a welcome respite. The shade, a breeze down the canyon, and evaporation of the moisture created an air conditioning effect. Yes after a time it was a bit to cool and the warming sun felt good. Heading down the trail, I came to appreciate the work done by the park staff to maintain and clearly mark the trail. It was easy to go off trail in the rock falls, but the loss of markings became quickly obvious and retreat was necessary (yes I had the privilege of doing this several times). As the canyon widened, we faced the no longer warming, but hot glaring sun.
Soon we were out of the canyon and heading to TT, but stopped to take a few moments to look back and appreciate the hike and the experience of the last two hours. Since this was our last day and last hike of the trip, we reviewed our last 2 weeks. We so enjoyed the majesty of the desert and how it emphasized the importance of
Fan Palm Oasis
The canyon, the palms and the rock falls utilizing all available resources to survive. I was especially impacted by the Borrego Badlands, but return to a day last week in Joshua Tree at Hidden Valley where its diversity of landscape and the pile of rocks surrounding it proved to be my highlight of the trip.
However tonight was a full moon and I wanted to photograph its rise over the mountains to the east. It was an exciting time and one a photographer looks forward to, but it is humbling because it is not easy to shoot in darkness of a single bright disk. With shutter speeds as slow as 26 seconds, I took over 20 photos of which only a couple were decent, but will only include one.
Tomorrow back to NorCal and foggy cool weather.
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