891 February 3, 2023 Exploring Indian Gorge
Last night was so bright. The moon shone on the white sands. I had my window shade up so that I could see. I was looking for coyotes. We have seen them almost every time we have stayed here. I think that we could have gone walking around without a flashlight.
Tim watched the sunrise.
My beautiful surroundings are a powerful incentive to get out and walk. This morning, I walked out to the main road and then back to the RV across the desert.
We took the Jeep to Indian Gorge. This is one of my favorite Jeep trails. As we approached, we startled wildlife from their hiding places. We saw a red-tailed hawk struggle to lift off, a small rodent caught in his talons. We saw several black tailed jack rabbits bounding across the desert floor. Quail shuffled along our path.
A crow making a whole lot of noise in this otherwise peaceful place.
It was warm but mostly cloudy with only a few smudges of blue in the sky and no wind blowing. As we ascended into the gorge, the flora was greener and denser and there was more variety. There has been a lot of speculation about whether or not there will be a superbloom in the California desert this year. Wildflower seeds can lie dormant for years. When there is enough summer and winter rain, these seeds take root and this can result in lots of colorful blossoms. We have already seen more flowers blooming than we usually do when we are here.
These bushes were swarming with bees. We could here them buzzing and we steered clear!
We took the spur on the right to the end and got out to hike to the palms.
I decided to continue walking down the trail and Tim met me a short while later.
We took the spur to the left to its end and took another short hike there. We enjoyed our lunch sitting on granite rocks and gazing at the view.
Crunchy peanut butter with a honey crisp apple and Turkish figs was my perfect picnic…Tim ate his gruel!
Tim collected some firewood.
As we were driving, I noticed a huge domed boulder that looked like a cave. There was a sign indicating that this was a sensitive area. We parked the Jeep and went to look. This has been a shelter. There are fire scars inside. Native American people have occupied this area for more than 10,000 years. There is no way to tell how long this shelter was used. On the back side there was a slab of rock that had cleaved off. We could see manmade indentations in the granite used for grinding and collecting water. Often, when I see something like this, I am reminded of all the people who have walked here and lived here before us. Our lives and all our worries are so very small in the grand scheme.
I was continuously scanning and looking for bighorn. Looking for creamy colored haunches, for the telltale curl of the horns, listening for the clatter of hooves on the craggy rocks…but no sheep today.
We took the Old Stagecoach trail just enjoying the ride!
Can you see the purple verbena on the hillside?
It was nice enough this afternoon to sit outside in sunshine.
One more walk.
Watching the sun go down while grilling bison burgers and brussel sprouts with apples, walnuts, cranberries, garlic, and fig dressing.
I sat by the fire for a short time. The last two nights we have seen bunches of bats flying together out of the rocks.
