Wednesday, December 21, 2011

A nice day for a hike…

Now this is what I am talking about!  What a day!  Beautiful weather, had to be about 70 deg. F. and lots and lots of sun, so it was simply perfect!  I was working on my new plane I am re-building, (you have hear this before…) and Tom dropped by outside and was walking around the resort so I joined him! Cheryl was not feeling well today after all her travel, so she took the day off.

This afternoon, we decided it was time for a hike, so we got Judy’s new 140 hikes in Palm Springs Area out, and picked one.  It turned out to be White Water Pacific Trail!  This trail is right beside Mount Gorgonio, and is quite the spot… we enjoyed.

This trail, will actually take you right up to CANADA!  Go figure…  It is also all about water, and you just do not get that out here in the desert!   Below the picture shows the trail head, and a big pond of water which was crystal clear, and flowing off the mountains in the background. 

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Tom had the right uniform on for the day, as shorts and t-shirts ruled, for sure! 

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The trail headed straight north out of the parking lot, right up White Water Canyon… the views were terrific all the way up.

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The trail was pretty well marked all the way, and I was carrying my Magellan GPS with me, which showed the trail on the screen, so there was very little chance of getting lost today!

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Water was running off the mountains, and every now and then, you had to jump over the river… very unusual for the desert! (Judy even did the shorts today!)

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Another river crossing…

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Great views as we headed up the canyon…

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The river was too wide in this spot, but they had made a bridge to use… it is mid-afternoon, but the mountain beside us is blocking the sun, so that is why we are in the shade!

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Looking north up the canyon…

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The Military heard there was a bunch of Canadians loose in the Canyon, so they sent out a scouting party… they didn’t have to land, as we were hiding when they went by…

 

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The book said there were great views, and they were right!

 

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After a couple miles hiking, we came to a section of the river that was going to be real hard to cross, and my GPS said there was only the end of the canyon ahead, so we decided to call it a day, and head back from this point in the hike.  We had walked uphill all the way in, about 450 feet of elevation, so it was all downhill from here back to the Jeep.

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Judy was working her way back, just a great hike today.

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This is a water conservation area, and a Ranger Station holds the Rangers that protect this area… it was a real nice building which we toured…

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Stopped on the way home in DHS for some needed supplies, and then enjoyed the hot tubs at our Resort to rest our weary feet!  What a nice day!

Till tomorrow…

4 comments:

  1. Looked like a really great hike ~ Glad you had fun!
    Happy Holidays
    Donna

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  2. Beautiful hike, love the shots of the river and pond. Glad the weather has improved from last week.

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  3. If you go all the way up to the top of Whitewater Canyon, and then cross the ridge over to Mill Creek Jumpoff - which is the top of Mill Creek Canyon - you're only a few miles from my house in Forest Falls. We're at 6000' at the "top" of the town, where currently it's 28 degrees. I envy you and your fellow Canadians there in DHS. We just got home yesterday from a trip to New Mexico and Arizona, where it was unseasonably cold. We figured we'd be more comfortable here at home with our fireplace and heater, than in our trailer burning up the propane. Enjoy your shorts/t-shirts weather!

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