Destination: Whitewater River
Starting Location: Tamarack Road
Today’s Miles: 10.40
Trip Miles: 220.00
Tamarack Road (209.6, 1360) to Whitewater River (220.0 2605) ascent (3150), descent (1950)
What an incredible day! Liz and Gottago left at 5:00 a.m. to deliver some hikers to the trail and I slept in until 7:00 a.m. What luxury. Then I had a wonderful morning with Ray drinking coffee and having a real conversation. When the gang reassembled we ate a wonderful home cooked breakfast and spent the hot hours of the day cleaning gear and getting organized. Our stay in Rancho Mirage was truly memorable and the hospitality of Ray and Gottago will be something I will always remember. Thank you very much.
We hit the trail at 4:00 p.m. and Gottago took some very hot and tired hikers to Cabazon after dropping us off. We headed up the trail with the thermometer exceeding 100 degrees. Fortunately we had a very gusty wind that provided good evaporative cooling. Within an hour the temperatures had begun to recede and when we got to the wind energy facility we were blessed with more trail magic as the facility staff had placed a note on the trail inviting us to get some water. And not just any water but an Igloo cooler full of ice water. No one was around to thank so we left a not of gratitude. We continued walking to the white water river under a full moon that cast beautiful shadows on the desert. We soaked our feet in the cool water of the river and I am now writing this under a magnificent sky as I lay on top of my bag in soft sand. What magic
Destination: Whitewater River
Starting Location: Tamarack Road
Today’s Miles: 10.40
Trip Miles: 220.00
Tamarack Road (209.6, 1360) to Whitewater River (220.0 2605) ascent (3150), descent (1950)
What an incredible day! Liz and Gottago left at 5:00 a.m. to deliver some hikers to the trail and I slept in until 7:00 a.m. What luxury. Then I had a wonderful morning with Ray drinking coffee and having a real conversation. When the gang reassembled we ate a wonderful home cooked breakfast and spent the hot hours of the day cleaning gear and getting organized. Our stay in Rancho Mirage was truly memorable and the hospitality of Ray and Gottago will be something I will always remember. Thank you very much.
We hit the trail at 4:00 p.m. and Gottago took some very hot and tired hikers to Cabazon after dropping us off. We headed up the trail with the thermometer exceeding 100 degrees. Fortunately we had a very gusty wind that provided good evaporative cooling. Within an hour the temperatures had begun to recede and when we got to the wind energy facility we were blessed with more trail magic as the facility staff had placed a note on the trail inviting us to get some water. And not just any water but an Igloo cooler full of ice water. No one was around to thank so we left a not of gratitude. We continued walking to the white water river under a full moon that cast beautiful shadows on the desert. We soaked our feet in the cool water of the river and I am now writing this under a magnificent sky as I lay on top of my bag in soft sand. What magic
Robert Francisco 
Leave a Reply