May 5th Whitewater Preserve

Well, there's been some skipping of trail around here and by the magic of auto travel I am now sitting at a table under some cottonwood trees at an oasis in the middle of a blasted hot desert. Apparently there are some folks named Warner Springs Monty and Lake to Lake who are bringing some trail magic (in the form of food) here for the next couple of days and this has been bringing lots of hikers to this place. The plan is to hang out here tonight and hit the trail at first light tomorrow morning. Hopefully to get some miles in before the heat gets too intense and we have to find some shade to hunker down into. I'm ready to get back on the trail.

There have been reports of a plant on the trail called Poodle Dog Bush that has similar effects on people as Poison Oak. I don't like PO and react badly to it so I decided to go into Cabazon and pickup some long pants to wear to protect myself from the plant. I hate wearing long pants when it is hot but apparently this bush is worse than PO and last year put some people into medical care. This year the plants are even taller. Yikes! I got a pair of Columbia zip off pants for 21 bucks. A good deal.

It is hard to imagine but, despite searching Stacey's house high and low, I still managed to leave something behind, I think in her car, (or maybe behind the TV stand in the bedroom???) a super thin, 2oz pad that goes under my NeoAir sleeping pad. I just can't understand why I don't seem able to keep track of my stuff. Geeze.

The images below are of the food, and bringers of the food, and of the fish in the ponds in this beautiful place.