Coachella Valley Hiking Club Blog

Corn Springs Campout and visit to McCoy Springs Petroglyphs

Last weekend a group of club members had an overnight car camp at Corn Spring, a BLM Campground up highway 10 near Blythe. We had great food and a wonderful time sitting around the campfire. Corn Spring has been a stopping place for travelers for probably 1,000's of years.

There are interesting petroglyphs at Corn Spring but we had all seen those before. We drove up the highway to the Paylan/McCoy wilderness in our 4 wheel drive vehicles. It used to be possible to drive right up to McCoy Spring but since the area has become a wilderness we could only drive to the boundary. It was about a 10 mile round trip hike to the Spring. We found the petroglyphs and took lots of pictures. There is also old graffiti from the 19th and 20th century. The spring had also been a stage stop. One interesting thing about the petroglyphs here are that some of the new ones are dated. The amount of desert varnish that covers these dated, new petroglyphs can be measure and an estimate made of the age of the older petroglyphs. Some of them, by this reckoning are over 5,000 years old.

 

Here is a picture of the spring and some china shards that we found.

Indian Canyon Interpretive Hike

Sunday, February 25, Tracy Kupenberg led our group of 19 on the East Fork trail in the Palm Springs Indian Canyons. "What is a Desert and What Makes it Work"? was the topic of the day.

 

  On Sunday 2/18/07, Al Dempsy led a hike to Lost Horse Mine in Joshua Tree National Park. There were 18 people on the hike and every one had a good time. After we looked at the mine, we continued on the do the loop trail, about 8 miles.

The second picture just below is a nolina. Even though the flowers are all dried up they are still beautiful. There were some great views and as usuall for Joshua Tree some interesting rock formations. We even came across what we think is a grave.

About half way through the hike we came on the chimney of an old cabin that was associated with the mine.

The buckwheat flowers (erioganum fasiculatum?) had dried to a striking rust color.

Interesting E-mail

Here is the text of an E-mail I received from Katie Barrows. I think as many of us should go who can. I have also attached the flyer she mentioned.

wildflower_celebration_flyer_2007.pdf

 

A Wildflower Show and Celebration is planned for Saturday, February 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center at 51-500 State Hwy 74, Palm Desert. The event is hosted by the National Monument and Friends of the Desert Mountains. PLease circulate this information to anyone you think would be interested.

I have attached a flyer and below is more information about scheduled events. Last year's event drew 600 to 700 people. It is a quiet year for wildflowers but we'll have native plant samples to identify, etc.

The celebration will feature Wildflower Identification by the California Native Plant Society; a Desert Landscaping Workshop by Ruth Watling, Horticulturist; Illustrating Wildflowers, Sue Adams, Desert Naturalist; Plein Air Artists, works on exhibit and for sale; members of the C.V. Watercolors Society, National Monument and Wildflower Photography, on exhibit and for sale;Ranger Stories, booksigning, Michael John Meyers, author(9am-12pm); A Monument to Treasure: booksigning, Debbie Bertram and Susan Bloom, authors (11am-1pm) Other Event Highlights: Appearances by Smokey Bear, Special activities for Kids, Free Starbucks coffee
Guided walks on the Ed Hastey Desert Garden Trail, Discount on wildflower books and apparel at the Bobcat Bookstore.

Ron's log

I need to mention Ron's log, a great blog that is written by a man in Desert Hot Springs. It is a good source of news about hiking in the valley as well as many other subjects he is interested in.

The link is http://ronslog.typepad.com/ronslog/  Ron has great material in his blog. He is a keen observer of the local scene and his blog has often been for me a greater source of news of the valley and Desert Hot Springs than the Desperate Sun and the local TV stations.

Sunday, February 11, Phillip Ferranti led a group of 17 hikers and five lively dogs on a walk-about through the Mecca Hills. We visited some of the more interesting trailheads while enjoying another perfect desert day. 

                                                          Nikki

On Saturday, Febuary 10th, Paulette led a group of hikers to Hellhole Canyon in Anza Borego. I have no idea why they call it Hellhole Canyon. The canyon had running water and some nice waterfalls.

I don't think I have seen Anza Borego State Park so dry. There should have been a lot of flowers this time of year but there was very little. On the way back, we saw a big horn sheep with a lamb that couldn't have been more than a few days old.

It was a great hike, as usual with Paulette, and we all had a good time. Afterwards We had lunch at Casa Del Zorro, a 5 star restaurant in Borego Springs.   Eric