California here we come.

On Tuesday we pulled up stakes and headed west.  A 6 hour leisurely drive west on I-10 and we pulled into Sky Valley RV Resort just outside of Desert Hot Springs, Ca.   It was an uneventful drive which is just the kind of drive I like.  At some point we passed a large roadside sign announcing that the next exit would take us to a Penitentiary.  An equally large sign posted below advised motorists to "Absolutely not pick up any hitchhikers".   About a 1/2 mile further up the road was a sign notifying us of a road side Rest Stop.  HMMMM.  Given that they acknowledge that we shouldn't be picking up hitchhikers perhaps this is not the best place to put a Rest Stop.  Despite the urge for yet another bathroom break we kept on trucking.

Sky Valley is an older resort with over 1000 sites.  Most of these are occupied by Park Models, many of which are older and some in need of some upkeep.  Most of the RVs are older, smaller 5th wheels and we found our site a bit hard to back into.  Thank goodness the site across the street was empty which allowed me some additional room to maneuver.

Its interesting to see the difference in the topography as well as the obvious difference of the wealth of the residents between the north and south side of the I-10.   South of the I-10 is the location of Palm trees, Golf courses, gated communities and grass boulevards.  North of the I-10 is mostly rocks, sand, older houses and wind.  Lots of wind.  The wind being the result of being in the channel between 2 mountain ranges.  The State takes advantage of this by locating hundreds, if not thousands of windmills, all spinning like crazy and generating all sorts of electricity.  Those south of the I-10 are sheltered by one of the mountain ranges and enjoy a little less of the westerlies.  We are on the north side of the I-10 and so far the wind has only been an issue on 1 day.   We have found the residents to be very friendly and have already attended a block party.

Being this is our first time in California we will probably be out exploring for most of our time here but we have already attended a meet and greet morning coffee, visited the gym, signed up for the hiking club, photography class and soaked in the hot tub and pool.  The hot tub, pool and showers are all mineral water heated by natural hot springs courtesy of the numerous earthquake faults in the area.  So far no earthquake tremors.  Today we visited the College of the Desert Street Fair which is very similar to the Mesa Swap Meet.  I view the visit a success as we only bought lunch, some veggies at the Farmers market and despite a number of vendors selling purses Lori came home with the same purse she left with.

On Friday we went to the Coachella Valley Preserve for a few hours of hiking.  The Preserve is located just a few miles from Sky Valley and has a pretty diverse landscape.  Much of it is hills, sand and rocks but then there are 2 lush tropical oasis courtesy of the underground springs.  The underground springs are the result of the fault running right through the Preserve.  You may have heard of it.  The San Andreas Fault.  The San Andreas Fault consists of numerous fault lines running off the main fault which when viewed on a map makes the area look like a spiderweb of fault lines.  The main fault line hasn't had a major "event" since 1905 and some of the smaller fault lines haven't had an "event" in as much as 300 years.  Now there are 2 ways of looking at this.  It has been some time since there has been an earthquake so we should feel safe.  On the other hand we are probably due for a little shakeup.

As we were leaving the Visitors Centre the guide advised us that since it had been a cold night the snakes might come up to the surface to sun themselves on the rocks.  Just what we needed, an added element of danger to our hike.

The entrance to the preserve

The walk-way leading to the desert.  Much of the floor of the oasis is covered in water a few feet deep which makes its way to the surface through the fissures in the earths crust.   The Oasis growth includes Fan Palms, Arroyo Willow, Salt Grass, Bullrush, Cattails and Reeds.

Exiting from the oasis we came upon a desert wash which is still lush with Arrowweed, Golden Bush, Inkweed and Desert Smoke Tree.  Beyond the wash we are greeted with a more typical desert landscape.  

After a short walk we came upon a second oasis.

The Fan Palms, which are the only Palms native to California, surround the main pool of the oasis.   The Fan Palm is found wherever the water is within a few feet of the surface.  When driving around the otherwise barren landscape and you see a stand of Palms you know a spring exists.  

As the Fan Palm tree grows the leaves die off but remain attached to the trunk leaving a skirt or petticoat of dead leaves.  This skirt provides protection for the tree and a home for many animals, insects and birds.  Some of the trees are up to 150 years old and grow to a height of 60 ft with leaves over 6 ft wide. 

 Sometimes I just don't get people.  We are surrounded by all this natural beauty and some jerk left a disposable surgical glove at the base of a Palm tree.

And then under a bench we found a pair of underwear.  I understand the urge of nature can be unpredictable but to simply leave your accident for someone else to pick up is beyond words.

A good example of a lush oasis amidst the barren desert landscape. 

There are 2 snow capped peaks to the west of the valley.  Makes for a nice contrast.  The foreground is the Moon Country trail that we took.  The name appropriately describes the landscape.  

As we neared the end of the Moon Country trail we noticed a switchback heading up in another direction.  I decided we hadn't had enough of a workout and headed up Hermans Hike.  I heard a few complaints although Lori says its not complaining but rather a commentary on our progress.  The elevation change on Hermans Hike is 928 ft and here we are at the top.

Directly below is the San Andreas Fault and the snow capped peak beyond is Mount San Jacinto.  The peak rises 10,000 feet above the San Gorgonio Pass and the Coachella Valley which we are calling home for the next month. 

As we made it back to the Oasis the sun had moved to the other side of the wash making for a nice effect on the rushes. 

Back at the Visitor Centre a sign reminding us that we truly did walk across the San Andreas.

Its raining this morning, Monday, but its supposed to clear a bit this afternoon and I think we will take the day and drive around the valley to get a better sense of what is all around us.

Later.