Coachella Valley Hiking Club Blog

On Saturday October 21, a diehard group of eight altitude junkies led by Richard Simons hiked the tram to Marion Mountain and back. Blessed with clear skies, no wind, and very little foot traffic, this turned out to be an ideal day for what ultimately became a great hike. We had the opportunity to experience a little bit of everything which included a ride up the tram, off trail hiking, steep inclines, patches of last years snowfall, and boulder hopping from peak to peak at over 10000 ft.  With some absolutely incredible views at the higher elevations, I think we were all just a little bit better for the experience. Honorable mention goes to Sam’s magenta colored hiking socks which were a gift from his wife. At least that’s what he claimed.   

David  J

Copy of E-mail that could be of interest

Greetings All:

I am forwarding this to you all in attempt to spread the word

Happy Turkey Day to you all

Chuck

Greetings all,

Here is a fun opportunity for volunteers. I have distributed this to the California Native Plant Society and Desert Horticultural Society lists but thought some of you might know folks who would be interested in volunteering. Please forward as you see fit.

Join BLM Wildlife Biologist Mark Massar and a team from the Living Desert to plant Mecca aster in the Mecca Hills (near the Salton Sea). The plants have been propagated by the Living Desert and are now ready to plant. The dates are Tuesday, November 28 and Thursday, November 30. We will
meet at the Living Desert at 7:30 a.m. and carpool in 4-wheel drive vehicles (bring your own if you have it). We will drive to the site in the Mecca Hills (about an hour's drive) and spend about 4 hours planting Mecca aster and cutting chicken wire cages to protect the plants. We should return to Palm Desert by 3 p.m.

If you would like to participate, please contact Mark Massar (760-251-4821;
Mark_Massar@ca.blm.gov) or me (Katie Barrows, kate.cnb@verizon.net;
760-217-0121). Another trip is planned for December 11 and 12 so if
you can't make this one ... you can let Mark know that you are interested in those dates.

Katie Barrows
Associate Director
Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy 73710 Fred Waring Drive, Suite
205 Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 776-5026
(760) 776-9698 fax
kbarrows@dc.rr.com

I just received an E-mail from Mingo for those of you who know him. He has a new website. The address is:    

http://mingomorvin.com/

Pump and Grind trail head closed

Here is a link to the Desert Sun  about the closing of the Bump and Grind trail head.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611110324

Pictograph Hunt

  Last weekend a group of us went on a pictograph tour with the Matarango Museum in Ridgecrest. The pictographs were in two places off of 395 near Little Lake and Olancha. The first site we visited was at Ayers Rock just east of Coso Juntion.

 

The second site was on the east side of 395 in the same area. It was up Walker Creek Road. The pictures are not as good because the pictographs were in the shade. We have to go back sometime in the afternoon.

 

We went up to the end of the road and hiked up the creek to a wonderful waterfall. On the way we passed the ruins of an old pack station that had operated in the 30's.

 

We camped overnight and in the morning we went to Indian Wells Canyon to find some pictographs we had read about. They are marked on the Topo map so we had GPS coordinates. After going in the wrong direction for a mile, because I was reading the GPS receiver wrong, we finally found it up a very steep hill. You can see the image of two people holding hands and a cowboy.

 

No More Splinters!

The tables at top of South Lykken are looking good--rebuilt, sturdy and smooth. Thanks to today’s Sunday morning crew of eleven CVHC members, the job was finished in a couple of hours. The group hauled treated boards and tools up the trail, unbolted the old splintery stuff from the two tables and rebuilt the new ones, supervised by carpenter chiefs Jim Miller and Larry Liguo ri. Cutler Lewis and new comer Al Steinwasher did double-hauling, trekking twice up the mountain. The upbeat crew included Laurie Lantz, Robin Liguori, Al Dempsey, Allen Rosen, Peta Henderson and Sandie and Chuck Nisbet. We noted a bit of déjà vu in the air. Last year, a CVHC team—including the above group—carried good-sized Trex boards up the Museum Trail to rebuild the five tables at the top. This season, the tables still look great. So, with solid tables atop the Museum Trail and now the South Lykken, can Murray Peak be far behind? For that—let’s find a helicopter. Good work, CVHC—a benefit for all Valley hikers.

Sandie Nisbet     Pictures by Robin

There is an interesting article in the High Desert Star about Pipes Canyon with thanks to "Ron's Log" who first posted this information. I have always been impressed with the articles in this publication, especially compared to the Desert Sun.  It is as if they actually bother to find out the facts.

http://www.hidesertstar.com/articles/2006/11/01/features/feature1.txt

Annual Tram to Idylwild Hike

Saturday October 28th, was the annual Tram to Idylwild hike. Sixteen people took part. We had cars waiting for us in Idylwild. This event was started by Suzanne Randal and this years hike was lead by Doug Young. The weather was great and the hike took us about 4 1/2 hours, mostly down hill. When we arrived in Idylwild we had lunch at Aroma's restaurant. These wonderful pictures were taken by  Billie Harken with her Cannon Elph.