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The Oasis Volume 6, Issue 5 May 2005
The General Meeting is at Desert Pride Center, Palm Springs 760 327-2313. The meeting is the first Tuesday of the month, May 3, from 7:30-8:00 PM for social hour, and member’s meeting from 8:00-9:00 PM. The Core Group meets from 6:30-7:30 PM. The Center’s ad-dress is 611 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Unit A., Palms Springs, CA.
THIS MONTH: Brian Kovalsky, President, Wilderness-Within, will speak at our May 3, 2005 general meeting. His interests include kayaking, hiking, touring, back-packing, camping and skiing. Mr. Kovalsky’s video-slide presentation will focus on the hiking trails, wildlife and natural habitats unique to this area.
Welcome New Members As of April 24, 2005
Dennis E. De Groot Tim Harris
Michael Rhoadzhagen
Robert J. Egan Michael L. Stemmler
Flash! Bruce Maughan , Palm Springs Chapter President, leads his first hike and all return safely. Of course his eyes were glued to his GPS all the way. Read the whole story by Patrick Hinrichsen on page 5 with photographs by Chris Teseo.
NEXT MONTH: Michelle Hedgecock, Outreach Specialist Repre-sentative from the Aqua Caliente Cultural Mu-seum, will speak at our June 7, General Meeting. The topic will be “History of the Cahuilla People”
THANK YOU, CRAIG Craig Jones led the camping trip to Mule Mountain again this year. Craig worked hard to organize the trip and proved that you don’t have to leave all the comforts of home at home. Fresh-brewed coffee? A drink? Heater? As a result, everyone had a great time. The Mule Mountain area is well known for rock hounding and everyone enjoyed looking for treasures (although no one found gold). Craig’s efforts alone would have been enough, but after the trip he turned over the registration fees and raffle proceeds without deducting any expenses. That was a big boost to Great Outdoors’ bank account. Thanks Craig.
Mid Year FINANCIAL REPORT info 10/01/04-03/31/05 Income: 2767.19 Expenses: --2035.62 Net Total: 731.57 Balance of cash account: $5358.02 Total members as of 03/31/05: 162
ATTENTION UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Most hikes meet in front of HUNTER’S Video Bar on Arenas Rd. unless other-wise specified. Bring plenty of water and a snack or lunch.
Non-Members We will add you to our newsletter mailing list free of charge for 3 months. Please note, however, that a two dollar fee will be charged on day hikes, 4x4 outings, and moonlight hikes effective Oct. 1, 2004.
Deep Creek Hot Springs, Thursday May 19, at 7:30 AM Meet at Hunter’s on Arenas for carpooling. Deep Creek is a natural hot springs on BLM Land, near Hesperia and Apple Valley in the high desert. It is accessed from Bowen Ranch. There are about 5 thermal pools and a creek where one can swim. One has to wade across a shin-deep creek to get to hot pools. Please note: Area is clothing optional down at the hot springs. Bring good hiking foot-wear and footwear for slippery rocks is recommended though bare-foot is ok for “mountain goats). Bring lunch, towel, lots of water, sun screen, sunglasses, hat, book or magazine to read, plus $5.00 admission fee and money to share for gas.
Whitewater Rafting Trip, May 6-7-8, 2005 (All Chapters) See Page 3 for details
Explore Salton Sea Mud Volcanoes, Saturday, May 7, 9:00 AM This hike will explore erupting mud volcanoes on the south shore of the Salton Sea and much more. We will also take several short walks at nearby dormant (let’s hope) lava volcanoes: Obsidian Butte to collect obsidian and pumice and Rock Hill volcano to climb high enough to see to Mexico. We will walk along beautiful seascapes and through a wildlife sanctuary. This will be an easy guided hike during which member Patrick Hinrichsen will explain how geothermal activity makes all this possible.
Length: 3 miles Hiking Time 3 hours Elevation 200 feet Difficulty: Easy Return : 4:30 p.m. Hike Leader: Patrick Hinrichsen at 760-325-4591 Note: Driving time is 90 minutes each way.
Length: 2.5 Hiking Time: 45 minutes each way Elevation Gain: Substantial elevation difference. Difficulty: Light to strenuous Return: 6:30 approximately Trip Leader: Randolph Maxted @ 760-320-0331
Moonlight Hike, Monday, May 23, at 6:00 PM See page 7 for details
Hike Jo Pond to Cedar Spring, Saturday, May 14 at 9:00 AM Number 76 in the 120 Great Hikes book by Philip Ferranti. Carpool to Garner Valley. Shaded canopy and lovely meadows are well flowered before 1.5 miles of gently elevated switchbacks. This brings us to the desert divide. This year we will go east for 1 mile to check out the views before returning to the Cedar Spring Trail Marker and down one mile where we will have lunch.
Length: 9 miles Hiking Time: 5 hours Elevation Gain: 1700 feet Difficulty: Moderate Return: 4:00 p.m. Hike Leader: Craig Courtright 760-318-8957
Murray Canyon Trail, Tuesday, May 10 at 9:00 AM The trail goes south from Andreas Canyon before heading south-west up Murray Canyon. There will probably still be plenty of wa-ter in the creek, but we should be able to cross on rocks. There are nearly a dozen stream crossings because this scenic canyon is rela-tively narrow. The trail ends at a pool below some low waterfalls.
Length: 5 miles Hiking time: 3 hours Elevation gain: 500 feet Difficulty: Moderate Return at : 2:00 p.m. Hike Leader: Bruce Maughan @ 760-327-1789 Note: There is an $8.00 admission fee to Indian Canyons. ($6.00 for seniors).
Great Outdoors, Inc. Presents Whitewater Rafting Trip
A wet and wild weekend May 6-8, 2005
Contact: [email protected] or 951-274-0782
The river is calling…Do you have what it takes to answer? Join us for a weekend of shooting the rapids on the Kings River. This outing, sponsored by Great Outdoors Corporate Board, is a great way to spend a weekend, camping along the river’s edge, enjoying great food and having lots of fun. This promises to be a great day! The Kings River offers class III and IV rapids which will challenge the beginner and entertain the intermediate rafters. Space is limited so get your deposit in early.
Where: Kings River, just outside of Fresno, CA—about 3 hours north of L.A. Who: This is an All Chapter Event sponsored by Great Outdoors Corporate Board When: May 6, 7 and 8, 2005 What to bring: A list of equipment will be provided upon registration.
The Staff and Crew of Zephyr Whitewater Rafting are there to provide a safe, fun and exciting experience for all who attend. There will be catered meals , quiet camp sites and fun for all. The experienced staff of Zephyr have years of experience and are also easy on the eyes. Here’s what you ‘ll get for your money: Breakfast Saturday morning, a full day of rafting with a river-side catered lunch, tea served at camp, and dinner prepared espe-cially for us. Sunday morning breakfast is served before another trip down the river. Zephyr provides all necessary equipment such as life preservers, wetsuits in cold water times, 4 all-gay staffed state of the art rafts, instruction and above all wild, wet fun. Join us for what promises to be a great adventure. Please note that there will be limited space available for this trip. There will be a $75.00 non-refundable deposit required. Hope to see you there! Contact Information: G.O. Trip Leader, Kendall Rabun at [email protected] or 951-274-0782 Co-leader, Dar Bjork at: 760-328-6916 Send trip fee (check payable to Great Outdoors) and completed registration from to: Kendall Rabun, 5268 Avondale Way Riverside, CA 92506
GREAT OUTDOORS/PALM SPRINGS Members’ SPRING
Appreciation POOL PARTY Sunday, May 15, 2005
Time: 3:00 to 5:00 PM Social/pool Drawing Raffle: After the barbeque we will 5:00 to 7:00 PM BBQ have 2 drawings for free 1 yr GreatOutdoors Cost: Free to members memberships. In addition there will be a $5:00 non-members raffle give away. Where: Ed Emond and Gardner Pond’s at 30480 Keith Ave. Cathedral City R.S.V.P.: Bruce Maughan @ 760-327-1789 Telephone 760-202-7413 [email protected] Bring: Swimwear, towel, Sunscreen, folding chair And to volunteer with shopping, cooking , clean-up .
Rattlesnake Canyon Join the Great Outdoors for another 4x4 (4 wheel drive) off- road adventure. We will drive 60 miles up into Yucca Valley on Old Woman Springs Road (SH274) and hopefully into some cooler May weather. Once we start on the dirt trail, we’ll traverse a little over 32 miles going through a private ranch, (see the scout pictures of the horses along the way) making our way into the Bighorn Mountain Wilderness area. Rattlesnake Canyon cuts through the wilderness area. After leaving Rattlesnake Canyon, we’ll continue on a long dirt road called Burns Canyon on our way back. We’ll pass right by Pioneertown on our way home.
Meeting Information Date: Saturday May 21, 2005 Time: 9 AM Place: Arranged By Phone/E-Mail Contact: Ed Emond at (760) 202-7413 [email protected] Ed Emond
We will encounter three difficult spots. For this trip, we are recommending only Jeep Wrangler style or very high clearance vehicles. If you have carpet strips, bring them along as there are some sandy trails on this trip. The trail is rated “Moderate” in one of our 4x4 books. The difficulty comes in a few areas where you have to get over some rocks and through one narrow passage. We had to build some areas up in order to have our Wranglers clear the higher rocks. As of 4/20/05, we have 2 vehicles signed up with 3 people and space for 3 passengers. Additional 4x4 vehicles and passengers are welcome to join. We are taking names on a waiting list. Rear passenger seats in Jeep Wrangler’s have a small amount of leg room, but worth the trip if you’ve never been off- roading. Passengers who call the contact (listed below) will be accommo-dated on a first come first served basis. It all depends upon how many additional 4x4 vehicles sign up. We will only assign 3 people to the smaller Jeep vehicles. This will leave room for carrying backpacks and supplies in the rear. Also, in case a vehicle has to drop out at the last minute (which has happened), the extra space will prevent someone from being turned away on the day of the event.
Above: (center) Ling O’Connor, Natural Sci-ences Instructor , Pasadena City College. Our group hopes she found her way back to Pasa-dena.
Above: Chris Teseo OUR PHOTOGRAPHER
Painted Canyon hikers find colorful rocks and colorful wildflowers Easter morning By: Patrick Hinrichsen Ten Great Outdoors hikers explored Painted Canyon’s colorful canyons Easter Sunday, discovering some of California’s oldest rocks and a wildflower display worthy of the holiday. Painted Canyon, a Bureau of Land Management Wildness Area in the Mecca Hills on the north end of the Salton Sea, is re-nowned for its colorful and rugged badlands formations. Hike leader Bruce Maughan led the group on the moderate-level, five mile “Ladders/Big Painted Canyon Loop”, a trail with several ladders leading from slot canyons up to a 1,200-foot ridge with vistas across the Salton Sea to Mexico. The route traveled into early geologic time. The trail started where the San Andreas Fault exposes two-million-year-old red “Mecca Formation” sandstone. The group ate lunch where the Painted Canyon Fault exposes greenschist and swirling gneiss, “basement rock” two billion years old, among the oldest in California. Painted Canyon gets its name from the bright colors minerals impact-due to pressure from the San Andreas Fault system-to cliff formations: swirls of red, brown, tan, yellow, lavender, green and blue. Other rocks have swirling black and white “zebra” stripes or polka dots. Geologist Art Nitsche, a member from Cathedral City, helped identify many of the rocks. A sidelight of the trip was a once-in-a-decade display of blooming desert flora. Hillsides were thick with red-topped ocotillo, florescent-purple beavertail cactus blossoms, purple lupine, yellow desert sunflowers and countless others.
WILD BIRD CENTER Thirteen people toured the Wild Bird Center in Indio on an excursion arranged by Dar Bjork. This is an intensive care center for in-jured and sick birds housed in a sanctuary near wetlands next to the Valley Sanitary District Waste Treatment plant. It’s a birdwatcher’s paradise with paths wandering around the ponds and by the adjacent fields. The center is run by Linda York, her husband, and a host of volunteers and through generous support of donors. For more information, visit: www.coachellavalleywildbirdcenter.org
BLM-BERDOO CANYON CLEAN-UP
By Ron Gilbert
On Saturday, April 9, five GOPS members improved their moral fiber by showing up for a clean-up of Berdoo Canyon organized by Wanda Raschkow of the BLM. Berdoo Canyon is accessible from Dillon Road and is a 4-wheel drive route through the Little San Bernardino hills into Joshua Tree National Park.
Because of its unique location and isolation, its popular with both tourists and illegal dumpers. Our task that morning was to try to clean up the worst of it from the area where the wash crosses the roadway just at the edge of the hills. We weren’t alone, though, as the clean-up crew consisted of a handful of uniformed officials, about ten high school kids, plus a truckload of men who seemed quite skilled at things physical. Many hands make light work, and in only a about three hours we had made a notice-able improvement in the area and overfilled a huge dumpster. The BLM is hoping to organize additional clean-ups and the participation of Great Outdoors is ESSENTIAL! The fact that we are a non-profit organization allows the BLM to get the dumpster donated free of charge by the waste disposal company. A wierd quirk of tax law indeed, but our continued involvement in clean-ups will assist the BLM in stretching its thin budget to keep our valley beautiful. Wanda Raschkow held out the tantalizing temptation that perhaps GOPS could adopt a couple of trails for regu-lar on-going clean-ups; one at low altitude for springtime weather, and one at higher altitude for summer. My less-polite personal summary of the day’s activity can be read on my weblog at: http://ronslog.typepad.com/ronslog/2005/04/berdoo_cleanup.html
Web Site Administrator Ed Emond
760 202-7413 [email protected]
Palm Springs Core Group http://greatoutdoors.org/ps
President Bruce Maughan 760 327-1789
[email protected] V.P. Outings Doug Quigley 760 202-4936
[email protected] Treasurer
Craig Courtright 760 318-8957
[email protected] Secretary
Chris Waasdorp 760 416-4281
[email protected] Newsletter Designer/Publisher Richard Cabitto 760 770-6040 [email protected]
Board Representative Dar Bjork
760 328-6916 FAX 760 328-5590
Membership Coordinator 760 202-0457
[email protected] Game Night Coordinator
Rick Opler 760 325-8666
GAME NIGHT
Palm Springs Chapter Events May 2005 General Meeting May 3 8:00 PM Water Rafting May 6-7-8 Mud Volcanoes May 7 9:00 AM Game Night May 9 6-9:00 PM Murray Canyon May 10 9:00 AM Jo Pond May 14 9:00 AM Deep Creek May 19 7:30 AM Rattle Snake 4X4 May 21 9:00 AM Moonlight Hike May 23 6:00 PM Miniature Golf May 23 1:00 PM
Monday, May 9, 2005 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Hosted by Alan Zimbleman, 760-416-6304 606 South Bedford Drive, Palm Springs
Bring your games, beverage and a potluck to share.
Directions: Ramon Road to Compadre (between Farrell
and El Cielo) South on Compadre one block, left on Theresa 2 blocks, right onto Bedford. House on the left
(east side) HOSTS NEEDED FOR GAME NIGHTS, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER. Call Rick Opler @ 760-325-8666
M iniature Golf Monday, May 23, 2005 @ 1 PM Location: Boomers 67-700 East Palm Canyon Cathedral City Cost: $7.00 per person Contact: Doug Quigley @ 760-202-4936
BUMP AND GRIND TRAIL — PALM DESERT Monday, May 23, 2005
Meet at Hunters at 6 pm Carpool to Palm Desert.
There is an elevation gain of about 300 feet. Return at 9:00 pm
Bring a flashlight and plenty of water. Contact: Monte Willcoxen @ 760-416-1530
PET SITTING
BY BILL CROCKETT
760.320.5522 [email protected]
Great Outdoors Palm Springs PO BOX 361 Palm Springs, CA 92263 May, 2005 Address Correction Requested
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