Fun Monday

This is the assignment from Angela, this week: I'm going to make it a nice and easy Fun Monday this week. All I want you to do is take me on your favourite walk. In words or pictures. Or both of course! Tell me why it's your favourite and point out things of interest on the way.

The short hike to the Vernal Pools is a fave of mine. Oden, 8, and I went on this hike plus a longer on near the Visitor Center, last month.

This is the definition of a Vernal Pool: A vernal pool is seasonal pool that is present in the spring and dries up in late spring or summer. It doesn't have water in it again until winter rains recreate the pool. This makes it fundamentally different from a year-round lake. In particular, fish are absent, since they require year-round water. Some years, there is no water. No rain = no water.

Here are some more photos of that hike:

Here are two hikes I like at the Indian Canyons, near Palm Springs. I only go in the winter, because it's too hot for me to hike there the rest of the year. This week it was about 100°, all weekend.

The difficult hike is Andreas Canyon. The contrasting greens of the magnificent fan palms and more than 150 species of plants within a half-mile radius beckon the desert-weary traveler to this lush oasis. A favorite scenic foot trail leads through the canyon, passing groves of stately skirted palms, unusual rock formations and the perennial Andreas Creek, where one can still see bedrock mortars and metates used centuries ago for preparing food. This tranquil setting is excellent for photography, bird-watching or a picnic at one of the tables along the trail.

Murray Canyon is an easy hike south from Andreas Canyon. Foot and equestrian trails lead to beautiful recreation areas among the many palm trees. Lucky visitors may catch a glimpse of the peninsula Big Horn Sheep (an endangered species), or other wild animals still roaming the high ground above the canyon. Less visited, Murray Canyon has its own secluded beauty; and the endangered Least Bells Vireo bird is known to nest here.