Surviving the Heat Wave of the Coachella Valley

We paid for a week's stay when we first got to Sky Valley Resort. There are so many things to see in this part of California known as the Coachella Valley, and we didn't have any trouble keeping busy for a week. We were also blessed with great neighbors in this very friendly park. One of our neighbors spends their summer in Alaska, fishing off their boat almost every day. They blessed us with some of their harvest--all wild-caught and fresh frozen--salmon, halibut, and cod. During our week at Sky Valley, we ate salmon grilled on a shingle, then salmon tacos, and finally mango/avocado salsa topped salmon. We'll be remembering Ted and Gina every time we eat their tasty fish.

During the week, the temperatures continued to climb. The high temperature record was broken when the thermometer hit 96 degrees by the end of the week. Considering that we were still technically in the winter season, that was surprisingly warm. But all that heat was coaxing the wildflowers into brilliant blooms. The brittlebushes were covered with yellow flowers all along our road.

We have found that Californians know the importance of having a hat to shade that intense sun. We went to the weekend market at the College of the Desert campus. There were over 300 vendors at the market, and a good number of those were selling hats. After trying on most of them, Denisa finally purchased one that has a sizable brim for shade, and has SPF 50 sunblock.

She wore her new hat to one of the many produce tents. There are beautiful strawberries coming into season, and we bought a box. We also bought some fresh vegetables, as we love to eat fresh locally grown produce.

By 10:00 that morning, we were already running for relief from the heat. We spent some time at the resort swimming pool cooling off, as those pickleball courts didn't even look welcoming in the 90 degree heat. We probably would have headed on down the road if we hadn't already paid for seven nights.

We had one more hike we wanted to take in this area, so we did it in spite of the heat. We headed to the White Water Canyon Trailhead on Sunday after church.

This four-mile trail starts with a steep hike up the side of a mountain. It was already getting warm, but the mountain breezes helped to make it more comfortable. There's something about hiking towards a snow-topped mountain that makes one feel cooler, even if it isn't your destination.

We were glad to see that even at this higher altitude, the spring wildflowers are beginning to open up.

The state flower of California is the poppy, and we are seeing more and more of them on our hikes and along the road ways.

One of the reasons we chose this hike was that it included a section of the PCT--the Pacific Crest Trail. This trail runs continuously for over 2,600 miles all the way from Mexico to Canada. As it winds through the three most-western states of the United States, it includes some of the best landscapes. It reminds us very much of the Appalachian Trail that we enjoyed in the east last year.

You might notice that we are wearing some pretty sophisticated blue ascots today. They are actually a special fabric that holds water longer. Worn around the neck, the wetness helped to keep us cool as temperatures reached over 90 degrees again today.

Just as the first of the hike started on a steep uphill, the end was a steep downhill back to the valley.

We thought it was interesting that this hike is named the White Water Canyon Loop. Knowing about the 6-year drought in this part of the state, we are guessing that this is the first year there has been some rushing water under this bridge.

We had one more water crossing to get back to our car. This one didn't have a bridge, and it took some fancy rock jumping to get across. Mark just happened to catch Denisa mid-leap as she tried to keep her hiking boots dry.

It was a good final hike of our week here at Sky Valley Resort. We feel like we've had a good taste of many aspects of the Coachella Valley!