June 1st is just around the corner and I have some work to do. I need to get more miles in and ASAP. Going to have to get up early and get out. I bailed on Mon/Tues and drove, so I suck.
I searched through the blog and the last time I did this hike was Oct. 4th, 5th 2008. I was hiking pretty much every day then and doing some serious distance. It was a rough trip then and am sure it will be just as rough this time too. Better go pack my work clothes for tomorrow.
This week I had to travel to California for business. Business, well actually to play golf. Our company was sponsoring a golf event with a partner and the team member who was supposed to go was unable to do so. I was fortunate to be able to attend in his place.
The event was scheduled for Thursday, so I took Friday off and flew Candy out with me. We left on Wednesday and stayed at the resort where the golf was being played. We had three of our customers join us and sadly this was the first time I had met them.
We had a blast, all three of them were pretty cool to hang out with, none of us were ace golfers, but all had a decent game. I even played decently for someone who doesn't play all that much. I had some great shots. I birdied a par 3 with a nice shot next to the hole. That made me pretty happy.
It started at 7 am and we finished up with the lunch and awards by 2:30 pm. We didn't bring home the gold, but we did end up coming in fourth out of about twelve teams.
Once done Candy and I headed over to Palm Springs. This was our second time going and we both really like this area. We arrived about 6:30 pm on Thursday, checked into the hotel and then headed out to the street fair. We had Thai food for dinner and then walked up and down several blocks checking out the various vendors. Then we headed over to the Casino and dropped twenty dollars. That went quick, so we just headed back to the hotel.
The next morning we were up early and off to Tahquitz Canyon to do some hiking up to the falls. We had out swimming suites with us so we could jump in and cool off.
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| Tahquitz Canyon |
The water is really cold, but it is so much fun to get back behind the rock and under the falling water. We hung out for a while getting in and out.
When we finished up we were ready to head back down the trail and we came across a rattlesnake. After seeing this one, we had our eyes open on the way down.
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| Tahquitz Canyon |
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| Tahquitz Canyon |
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| Tahquitz Canyon |
We saw lots of other wildlife including lizards, hummingbirds, butterflies.
Water is definitely life. You are surrounded by desert and where there is water you will find a variety of flora growing and wildlife is all about if you are looking for it.
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| Tahquitz Canyon |
On Saturday we drove out to the Indian Canyons and hiked on the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. We did Murray canyon and found another great waterfall to play in.
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| Seven Sisters |
This hike is a little longer than Tahquitz but well worth it. Part of the trail is desert and the rest follows the water. There are large palms all along the water that you go through. You have to cross the water several times and balance on the rocks.
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| Murray Canyon |
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| Murray Canyon |
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| Murray Canyon |
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| Murray Canyon |
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| Palm Canyon |
Our hike today was just about 5/miles. We drove up to the top of Gold Camp and then caught the trail, well really more of a washout. It is a pretty decent incline on the way up and being that we hadn't done this hike in a while, we did have to stop and catch our breath.
I don't know what the elevation gain was, but per my health tracker app, it said we climbed 40 flights of stairs. When we got to the top we stopped and had a little snack. We then worked our way down the other side of the mountain down to High Drive Road. Pebbles had a blast today as we didn't see anyone on the trail. She had no issue climbing up and would stop and keep looking back to see if we were coming.
We got out on the trails both Saturday and Sunday. Both days were great to be out. On Saturday we did 4/Miles through Bear Creek Park. Had Pebbles with us and she was off leash most of the way. The creek was running strong, so snow is starting to melt in the high country.
We came across several good photo opportunities but only had our phones with us. The camera on the phone works ok, but not ideal for trying to zoom and capture good close up pics. Our other camera is nice and takes great photo's but a pain to carry with you.
After we finished hiking and got cleaned up, we drove over to Target to look for a compact point & shoot camera. We ended up with Canon Powershot ELPH 190. Should be easy to carry and hopefully will take a decent picture.
Who doesn't love a good tamale? On our way home from Target, we saw a lady who was setting up on the side of the road We drove down and pulled a u-turn and headed back. We got Pork and Cheese and Jalapeno.
Candy made up some ceviche so the tamales were a great addition. I think they are all gone.
"I don't normally buy food from the side of the road, but when I do, its tamales."
Friday evening I pulled into the driveway at home. As I exited the truck the aroma of Lilac was in the air. So seems that flowers didn't get zapped to bad from the last cold snap.
The bush isn't as full this year, but the suckers that I transplanted 5 years ago are going strong.
They still have long ways to go to catch up to the bush I took them from. We have been in this house for 20 years and the bush was here when we moved in. I love the color and the fragrance.
Saturday, Clark and I headed out about 11:30 AM on our way to scout out our route for our hike. 
Made our way over to Phantom Canyon drive. Our plan is to start about 5/miles in, where the dirt road begins. We kept track of our distance on the way so we could start looking for camping spots at about mile 11 and beyond. As we drove we found a place to pull over and eat our lunch. We hung out and goofed around the creek. Pebbles loved it and she even got into the creek to cool off. Clark chose to use the log cross the creek. We tried to get Pebbles to follow up but she wasn't up for it.
We are going to be sleeping in hammocks instead of a tent. This will be a first for me. Today I set up my hammock so I could see what is the max distance I can have between trees.
