Man that was a hard hike today.
Today’s hiking was a traverse of the Orocopia Mountains north and east of the Salton Sea. The washes and canyons trend north-south. The trail tends east. That is, the route tends east. There is no trail.
The country here is dry and brown, even in March. There are a few washes in which the creosote is greened up and even flowering, but the hillsides are all rocks and dry grasses. The rocks, though, are gorgeous shades of brown, especially in the early morning light.
The route follows a wash for a while then leads up a couple of hundred feet through a gully and over a ridge and down to the next wash, where the process is repeated.
The ground is loose shale, which makes the downhills–with their threat of a slip and fall–slower and more stressful than the uphills. I took my time, not wanting to end the hike early with a sprain.
A few traverses of washes and ridges led to Orocopia Wash, which was the launching point for the biggest, steepest climb of the day: some 2000 feet up in a distance of about 2 miles. It was a hard climb, and I don’t mind admitting I was pretty whipped by the time I made it to the top.
Made it to the top, time to smile
At 3800 feet, Orocopia Mountain is the high point of the Salton basin. The view was marvelous- San Jacinto and San Gorgonio to the west, the Salton Sea to the south, the Cottonwood Range of Joshua Tree NP to the north.
I had been thinking of spending the night there, but storm clouds were rolling in from the southwest. A check of the forecast confirmed that rain was on its way.
I wasn’t too concerned about lightning or high winds, but the prospect of hiking down 2000 feet on wet slippery rocks in the morning did not appeal to me at all.
I hiked down and found a bench in a gully. It’s just an ok site, but birds have begun singing at dusk, their songs unfamiliar but exquisite.
I’ve seen few birds and no bees, despite a reasonable abundance of flowers. I hope to enjoy more of their companionship in the days ahead.