Florian's 2012 desert/hiking/cycling/stargazing/camping/traveling blog


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Map of local hiking trails

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Past year's blogs from 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001




Thursday, 5/17, Ride 12 miles

City loop taking 45 minutes.


Sunday, 5/13, Ride 19.4 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 12 minutes. Temp 99°.


Saturday, 5/12, Tramway Willow Creek / Tahquitz Valley loop

Hike tramway to Hidden Divide, Willow Creek, Saddle Junction, PCT, Tahquitz Valley and back over Hidden Divide. Nice tangent arc above the sun as i was coming down above Willow Creek. Quite a few PCT through hikers from Saddle Junction south. Almost went to Tahquitz Peak but the lookout was closed and trail still had snow. Left my reading glasses someplace on the mtn. Kind of a long hike but so much easier than doing the Skyline. Looked for C2C group at the tram bar but UTL. 14.3 miles per GPS, 4 hours 54 minutes hiking time, 5 hours 34 minutes total time.


Friday, 5/11, Shannon trail

Hike Shannon lollypop. A bit warm.


Thursday, 5/10, Ride 10.6 miles

City loop taking 41 minutes.


Sunday, 5/6, Ride 15 miles

Easy city loop to loosen up after yesterday's Skyline hike taking 1 hour.


Saturday, 5/5, Skyline trail

Hike Skyline trail to tramway from Ramon trailhead. 5 hours 54 mintues total time. 4 minutes slower than my PR. Perfect temps with light breeze at times.


Friday, 5/4, Tramway to Wellman Divide

First tramway hike of the year. Summer pass is up $10 from last year to $70. Hike the high trail to RV then up to Wellman Divide. Still quite a bit of snow above RV. Cool 55° and a bit breezy. Up on the 10a car and down on the 2p car. Nice to be in the mtns again for another summer of hiking. Tomorrow i do the Skyline!


Thursday, 5/3, Ride 18 miles

City loop taking 1 hour 10 minutes.


Sunday, 4/29, Ride 15 miles

City loop taking 58 minutes.


Saturday, 4/28, Guadalupe trail - Map

Hike Guadalupe trail with Mike Sugarman. Meet Mike at Sawmill trailhead near Pinyon Flats and leave my truck. Drive down to La Quinta trailhead in Mike's truck. Good hike. We hike at about the same speed. Mike's a good guy. Hot coming up from Horsetheif Creek but otherwise temps just right. 15.1 miles per GPS taking 6 hours 20 minutes actual hiking time.


Friday, 4/27, South Lykken trail

Hike up and down the south Lykken trail and Cahuilla Canyon to first stream crossing.


Thursday, 4/26, Ride 10 miles

Canyon loop taking 36 minutes.


Sunday, 4/22, Ride 14.4 miles

City loop taking 54 minutes.


Saturday, 4/21, Ride 17 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 5 minutes.


Friday, 4/20, Murray Hill

Hike Murray Hill from Rimrocks looping around and going up the south side via Wildhorse trail. 4.7 miles to summit taking 1 hour 46 minutes. Found geocache GC12CPQ near the summit. Came down via north side back to Rimrocks. Temps hotter than i was expecting with the official high being 102°. Topo map of my route here. 8.22 total miles taking 3 hours 24 minutes total time.


Thursday, 4/19, Ride 15.2 miles

City loop taking 56 minutes.


Sunday, 4/5, Ride 21.4 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 20 minutes.


Saturday, 4/14, Shannon trail

Hike Shannon lollypop.


Thursday, 4/12, Anza-Borrego day trip

Day trip to Anza-Borrego with Jim Doss. Depart house about 7:30a. 102506 odo. Leave my truck at the second stream crossing and explore Coyote Canyon in Jim's jeep. Saw one backpacking family near Sheep Canyon but otherwise no other vehicles above the bypass. Windy and a bit cool at times but otherwise nice sunny day. Here is a topo map showing our route. Only 3 campers at Pegleg monument. Home about 4p. Drive 174 miles not including miles in Jim's jeep.


Sunday, 4/8, Ride 17 miles

City loop taking 1 hour 3 minutes.


Thursday, 4/5, Garstin trail

Hike Garstin, Smoketree, Araby, Wildhorse loop.


Sunday, 4/1, Ride 22.5 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 25 minutes.


Saturday, 3/31, Shannon trail

Hike Shannon lollypop.


Thursday, 3/29, Palm Canyon hike

Hike Palm Canyon, Victor, Vandeventer, Fern loop. Nice day. Temp 80° at end of hike. Total time about 2.5 hours.


Saturday, 3/24, Anza-Borrego camping, day three - Photos

Light breezes during the night. Overnight low 64°. Drive up Coyote Canyon to 3rd stream crossing and back. Canyon is closed 6/1 thru 9/30. Stop at the first campsite along Truckhaven road for one last little break before driving home. Home just after 1p. 92 miles today, 302 miles trip total.


Saturday, 3/24, Ride 21.4 miles

Anza-Borrego S22 east from Pegleg Monument and back. 21.4 miles taking 1 hour 20 minutes.


Friday, 3/23, Anza-Borrego camping, day two - Photos

Perfect night with no wind at all. Overnight low 56°. Sunrise 6:40a. Ran into Kevin Key camping at the Carrizo overlook. Drive through Bow Willow. North loop empty, south loop about half full. Egg Mtn to check for messages. My old Verizon phone works here but not museum Sprint smartphone. Over to Carrizo overlook and both phones connect. Drive back north through park and stop at library in Borrego Springs to use wifi. Buy ice at market. Was thinking to camp at Ella Wash but decided to try Coyote Canyon instead. Camping at the same site Wen and i camped at last spring. Arrived about 2:15p. 82 miles today. 88° at 3p with some high clouds and a light breeze. Very nice in the ocotillo shade. Southern AB has more military aircraft. Not much up here. More traffic on this road than i was expecting. Friday afternoon probably not the best time to camp here. Evening breezy but okay. Nice view of Canopus. Canned ravioli for dinner. Nice HST pass at 7:52p. The Kindle light makes a great tent light.


Friday, 3/23, Ride 20.4 miles

Anza-Borrego S2 south from Indian Gorge road to county line and back. 20.4 miles taking 1 hour 18 minutes.


Thursday, 3/22, Anza-Borrego camping, day one - Photos

Anza-Borrego camping trip departing house about 10a. 101993 odo. Short stop at Ella Wash overlook. Arrive Carrizo Valley site 1:15p. 128 miles today. Temp 86° at 3p. Calm and clear. While watching an Osprey fly over noticed Venus visible in daylight. Chatted with Border Patrol drive-by. He gave me phone number in case i ever need to contact them. Sprint museum phone no connection. But my Verizon phone connects if i stand on a boulder. Perfect afternoon at my favorite place in the world. Sunset at campsite about 5:45p. Temp 82°. Canned beans and sardines for dinner. Forgot to look for Canopus from campsite after dark so walked half way down the road and there is was.


Sunday, 3/18, Ride 10 miles

Short city loop taking 38 minutes.


Saturday, 3/17, Ride 19 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 10 minutes.


Friday, 3/16, Desert day trip

Shooting my new Glock 19 for the first time at the little hill SE from the Cottonwood Road overpass. Nice spot and no one around. Love the gun! Shoots clean and straight. Afterwards drive through Cottonwood campground. Glad it's reopened after the flood. About half full midday Friday. Stop at Walmart on way home and buy 200 more rounds of ammo.


Thursday, 3/15, South Lykken loop

Eddie and i hike south Lykken trail going up from Cahuilla Canyon and coming down via Cahuilla Hills drive. There are now no trespassing signs and security cameras on Cahuilla Hills drive that weren't there the last time i did this loop. I walked down their precious private road anyway. I wasn't about to hike all the way back up. Besides, Eddie was tired.


Sunday, 3/11, Ride 23 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 25 minutes. Endomondo track.


Thursday, 3/15, South Lykken loop

Eddie and i hike south Lykken trail going up from Cahuilla Canyon and coming down via Cahuilla Hills drive. There are now no trespassing signs and security cameras on Cahuilla Hills drive that weren't there the last time i did this loop. I walked down their precious private road anyway. I wasn't about to hike all the way back up. Besides, Eddie was tired.


Friday, 3/9, Araby trail

Hike Araby trail with Kai and Eddie. Endomondo track.


Thursday, 3/8, Cahuilla Canyon

Hike Cahuilla Canyon to the second stream crossing. Endomondo track.


Wednesday, 3/7, Four planets at once

Four naked eye planets visible all at once in the evening sky ~ Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, plus full moon. Only missing Saturn.


Sunday, 3/4, Garstin trail

Hike Garstin lollypop. Warm beautiful day with lots of people on the trail.


Saturday, 3/3, Ride 20.5 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 15 minutes. Endomondo track.


Thursday, 3/1, Shannon trail

Nice quick hike up and down the Shannon trail. Endomondo track.


Sunday, 2/26, Palm Canyon hike

Hike Palm Canyon, Dry Wash, Vanderventer trail loop. Always one of my favorite local desert hikes. Also did a short exploratory hike up the West Fork trail then down the unmaintained trail to the trading post. Won't do that again. Made a GPS track using Endomondo. Nice little Android app. Hiked 10.1 miles in 2 hours 34 minutes.


Friday, 2/24, Ride 12.8 miles

City loop taking 48 minutes.


Sunday, 2/19, Ride 16.8 miles

City loop taking 1 hour 4 minutes.


Saturday, 2/18, Middle Lykken trail

Hike the middle Lykken trail from Mesquite ave with Eddie. We had fun. Only my second hike for all of February. All this work at the museum with new servers and sites is interfering with my part-time job semi-retired lifestyle thing.


Sunday, 2/12, Ride 11.4 miles

City loop taking 44 minutes.


Sunday, 2/5, Ride 19.4 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 12 minutes.


Saturday, 2/4, Ride 19 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 10 minutes.


Friday, 2/3, South Lykken trail

Up and down the south Lykken trail and then Cahuilla canyon to the first stream crossing.


Sunday, 1/29, Ride 20.6 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 16 minutes.


Friday, 1/27, Ride 10.8 miles

Canyon loop taking 39 minutes.


Thursday, 1/26, West fork Palm Canyon

Hike west fork of Palm Canyon to the stream crossing and petroglyphs. Also explored the Dos Palmas spring area a bit. Beautiful trail on a perfect day.


Sunday, 1/22, Ride 18 miles

North on Gene Autry to check out the downed power lines from yesterday's wind storm then loop through city taking 1 hour 9 minutes.


Friday, 1/20, South Lykken trail

Quick hike up and down the south Lykken trail.


Monday, 1/16, North Lykken trail

Hike north Lykken trail from Ramon.


Sunday, 1/15, Ride 19.2 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 12 minutes.


Saturday, 1/14, Ride 22.4 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 22 minutes.


Friday, 1/13, Cahuilla canyon

Hike Cahuilla canyon to the second stream crossing. On my way down did a little poking around on hillside south of the main drainage.


Sunday, 1/8, Ride 21 miles

City/canyon loop taking 1 hour 20 minutes.


Saturday, 1/7, Shannon trail

Hike Shannon trail with Kai.


Friday, 1/6, Garstin/Theleman trails

Hike Garstin, over Smoketree mtn, and down the Theleman. Nice loop on a very pretty day.


Monday, 1/2, Shannon trail

Up and down the Shannon trail.


Sunday, 1/1, Ride 25 miles

New Year's Day loop going out on Ramon to Bob Hope, then coming back on Frank Sinatra, Da Val, 30th Ave, Date Palm, Vista Chino, and Farrell taking taking 1 hour 30 minutes. Good way to start the year!



Past year's blogs from 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001



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