Feb 9, 2014: Painted Canyon

More canyons to explore today. Some wide, some narrow:

 

 

 

 

I was amazed to see that feral bees abound.

At low elevation, the canyon was warm at night, so I continued to play with my camera.

 

 

Feb 8, 2014: Painted Canyon

This is the Painted Canyon Trailhead. Busy during the day but ours alone from late afternoon until the next morning.

We got up early to catch the morning light.

A wonderful echo chamber in which to practice our recorders.

Feb 7, 2014: Painted Canyon

The road to Painted Canyon was unpaved, washboard sand. Driving 4 miles on it shook us so hard that several cabinet doors in the trailer opened and the contents dumped out. Furthermore, a metal hinge on one of the cabinet doors actually tore apart!

 

 

It wasn’t until the morning after our late arrival that we could see the beauty of our surroundings. We spend the day hiking through the canyons, and climbed up to the ridge tops between them.

Part of the trail required climbing ladders.

 

The evening light, bouncing off the orange an purple tinted canyon walls enhanced the lighting of our photos.

Feb 6, 2014: Santa Rosa Mountain Switchbacks

 

The high winds and a bit of over night rain in the mountains surprised us. A twisty road led our descent from the Santa Rosa Mountains to the desert floor.

Feb 5, 2014: Pinyon Flats BLM Campground

These images are from a hike on Pinyon Flats.

Feb 4, 2014 Palm Springs and Pinyon Flat

Now in Palm Springs, it finally feels like we have arrived at our main destination. We arrive at the first backcountry camp area of our trip just at sunset.

 

Feb 3, 2014 Jurupa County Park, Southern California

We spent one night at Jurupa Canyon County Park—a pretty but very sanitized camping experience. We did, however, enjoy taking showers (finally) and doing a laundry.