A good way to be wild - visit the intelligence of the untempered desert: January hike in the California Desert....warm temps in 70's and new life in the cactus and hillsides, already becoming spring, wild and alive, animated, rebirthing in green - the amazingly lit Santa Rosa-San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, one the most rugged areas in southern California.....we hiked all day and found an old Indian Trail that led us straight up and over a very deep canyon that contained a 4 story high dry waterfall inside of it - and found our way back into the canyon, past the waterfall and safely down. Much sign of peninsular bighorn sheep, and water filling the deepest holes....
Grateful ocotillo, bursting with green in the first winter of significant rainfall since 2005-06 
More ocotillo, in fact, a natural ocotillo farm backlit in mid-winter sun, a hillside full... dangerous on this hillside - extremely narrow Indian trail, and a several hundred foot dropoff just to the right - I admit I experienced a bit of vertigo - don't - look - down - heart-stopping hike...
View looking east, across the lower Coachella Valley just adjacent to the Salton Sea, towards the Mecca Hills and, left of them, the little San Bernardinos and right, the Chuckawalllas.
Bird's nest tucked into a cholla cactus nearly 6 feet tall - fresh life vibrating intelligently from the dark stem of a plant that was once dying - beautiful. It was a great day, wildness survives.
Hello Ruth! You were in my area! I drive by the monument on my way up to Anza every weekend! Isn't it beautiful? Especially in the early morning or late afternoon. Here are my two blogs:
ReplyDeletehttp://desertswest.blogspot.com/ and my Palm Desert daily photo blog: http://desertsandbeyond.blogspot.com/
Cheryl Ann