The Santa Ana winds, sometimes called the Diablo winds, are still raging in California, and we are still battling wildfires. When the Santa Ana's blow, Raymond Chandler famously wrote "every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks." Yikes!! I don't think anyone ever thought we could have a wildfire year as bad as last year, but now we're not so sure. And yes, everyone is on edge. As the helicopters were flying overhead during the World Series game last night, fighting a fire only about two miles from our house, I wondered if we should start packing in case of mandatory evacuations. Fortunately, it didn't come to that, and the fire has been contained. My granddaughter (and also our chihuahua) were frighted by the loud helicopters overhead... going back and forth over our house to drop water on the fire. She said "Papa, I don't like wind any more." I think that about sums it up.
But on to happier thoughts, and a trip out to the desert. I posted some photos recently of the Milky Way over Shadow Arch. That was my second hike out to Shadow Arch, and it made me wonder about my first hike (back in 11/2018) and what photos I posted. Guess what? There is no post!! Somehow all the photos from that hike slipped through the cracks, and that was a great hike with a ton of photos. Sooooooo... here's some photos from that first hike, when I initially "discovered" Shadow Arch.
I started my hike here. People who have been hiking this area a long time can tell you stories about when they used to drive this road to the base of the Coxcomb Mountains (in the background) to hike up to the peaks. At some point, it became designated wilderness area, which means there can be no roads, no trails, no motorized vehicles of any kind. Basically, there should be no trace of human impact, unless from long ago. And that's why I love this area. No one out here, and I usually don't even see footprints. You feel like you are seeing everything for the first time!
My first view of Shadow Arch. This is looking to the south. I was just so happy to find this arch. I spotted a round shadow on Google Maps and figured there had to be an arch here (hence the name).
The above three photos are shots of the arch from the other side (looking north). The Sheephole Mountains make a nice backdrop.
This area is full of interesting alcoves. Look at the large one in the middle of the photo above. I didn't climb down to it because it looked like it would be impossible to climb up to, and I still have a lot of ground to cover on this hike. Keep repeating... mustn't get sidetracked, mustn't get sidetracked....
Unusual rock formations.
This alcove looks cool. Ya, I got sidetracked, but just briefly. I wasn't able to climb up from below, but I could drop down from the top. Let's see what it looks like from the inside.
Nice!! Deep and spacious with a small port hole on one side. No signs of rock art or habitation, but I'm always looking!
Reminds me of a stick ball game... hit the ball in the hole, except the "ball" is at least 3' in diameter and probably over 1000 lbs!
Fast forward to the end of my hike (I'll come back to some of the other photos on a future post). The sun has set and the sky is showing those beautiful desert colors...
And just for comparison, below is Shadow Arch at night, under the Milky Way. You might remember this shot from a few weeks ago.
And finally, the hike back to the car. Getting dark, but I've hiked this area enough that I'm not worried about getting turned around.
If you look really really hard, you might notice a small dot of light just below the horizon. That's a car headlight on a lonesome stretch of Highway 62.
Thanks for stopping by, and if you celebrate it,
have a Happy Halloween!!
