There's no place on Earth like the American West, where one can experience a wide variety of absolutely stunning places and adventures.  The west has expansive spaces, solitude, jaw-dropping scenery - so spectacular, in fact, people come from all over the world to experience it.  Hear the roar of Vernal Falls in May in Yosemite National Park, stand atop the narrow sandstone fin on Angel's Landing with Zion Canyon spread far below, or feel Virgin River's current against your legs in Zion's narrows with rock walls towering far above.  The infinite Western Experiences list goes on.

The scenery doesn't have to be as dramatic as this, though, to be memorable.  The sea of sagebrush extending to the dark, flat basalt plateaus of the Great Basin can seem monotone at first glance, but walk through it during spring wildflower season, smell it just after a rain, watch a herd of antelope run swiftly by, or watch the sage grouse lek mating ritual;  suddenly this "monotonous"  place becomes spectacular.

For a few days last autumn, I treated myself to wandering with my cameras.  For me, it's a practice in meditation and like naturalist Ann Zwinger says, "another level of being."  What a luxury it is, if you are a nature lover, to have the time to "see" the natural world around you, to follow where it beckons; a bird song, a path, colors, the dark spot under a bitterbrush, or a hill top scattered with bunches of bright yellow flowers of the balsamroot waving in the breeze.

Here are a few images from "my neck of the woods."  I'm lucky to live where nature is so close.  But beauty is close to most of us if we just take the time to see.  A Boise foothills trailhead is within a mile of my house, as well as two farms where one can buy and learn about native plants.  My only limitation for this adventure was that all images are captured within a one-mile radius of my house.

This post received a few comments from friends that I thought worthwhile to mention.  One was that "Mother Earth is a gift."  So true, and to me a gift I will always have.  Also, some of the best images are captured "near home, where your familiarity can lead to shots that others would not see."

For more Boise photos, check out Gallery --> Boise.

Related:
First Cactus to Clouds Challenge - The Beginning of the Ultimate Desert Hike
​Pinto Mountain Hike - Joshua Tree Wilderness
​Desert Plants photos
​Monument Mountain Hike - Joshua Tree National Park
​In Memory of Roger Keezer

Our Hike
The past few times we have hiked the Art Smith Trail, we have seen Peninsular bighorn sheep in Dead Indian Canyon near the rust-colored metal sign that marks the Art Smith trailhead, not far from the parking lot.  They were listed as a federally endangered species in 1998.  This morning, the sun shone brightly on the deep-walled Dead Indian Canyon and a group of ewes with their lambs.  This trail, just west of Palm Desert, links to trails leading into the Indian Canyons in Palm Springs.

The Coachella Valley is a special place for me and I carry memories of hiking all of its trails with dear friends that I will always keep in touch with.  It's my "old stomping ground", or more aptly put, my old hiking ground.  Living there in the 1980's and 1990's, we climbed, traversed, slid, sweat, laughed, got stuck with cactus spines, boulder-hopped, and celebrated our hikes and friendships.  I am grateful I can still be able to hike these wonderful trails and when I do, all of the memories come back vividly.   I met Fred on Mt. San Jacinto, and he automatically became a part of our hiking clan.

Not many people venture off Art Smith to climb Haystack Mountain.  To our surprise, we found the same notepad in which we had made our 2011 entry in the summit register can!  I guess the dry climate and the sparse number of Haystack Mountain visitors helped preserve this small note pad.  It's a simple message:   "12/21/11  -  Fred, Sue and Scott - old friends who love to hike."  We missed Scott this year, but were looking forward to hiking with him to Pinto Mountain in the next few days.
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Walking on Art Smith Trail is a treat in itself, a meandering path with weathering rock piles, beavertail cactus and brittlebush blooming in the spring, and that satisfying crunch of gravel with each step.  One can imagine Cahuilla Indians walking to water sources on the trail and equestrians from the Desert Riders on horseback winding through washes across the open desert.  But to pick your own route cross country, dodging cholla cactus, sharp-toothed agave leaves and cat claw acacia shrubs, climbing up and sliding down boulders and dry waterfalls is the greatest satisfaction.

Art Smith Trail was busy due to the Christmas holiday.   This trail treks through a possible plutonic synform (a downward-closing or concave fold of topography).  Shimmering green California fan palms pop up occasionally to the left of the trail, and the valley patchwork of forest green golf courses sprawl to your right.

We left Art Smith at 3.4 miles from the trailhead at a wide wash and headed west-southwest across relatively flat, open low desert.  From here, it was 1.3 miles to the summit.  We encountered no major rock barriers, only a few very small waterfalls and sandy benches covered with rounded boulders.  I was surprised to see a few small junipers; the land is generously dotted with hedgehog cacti with their inch-long needle-spines.

I recommend returning by the same route unless you are open for more adventure and willing to negotiate the steeper and rockier terrain to the southeast.  We did just that but also ended up in a thick and tangled palm oasis, the palm fronds  clashing in the breeze.  Briefly crossing the oasis, crunching through dead fronds, we found our way out by ascending a steep canyon wall.  Out into the open again, we saw not far from us two mountain bikers on the Art Smith Trail.  Back to civilization. 

As we hike back along this very familiar trail, I picture a scene from 25 years ago - a faint image of a group of friends, walking in rhythm, boots crunching, happy voices laughing and talking, celebrating friendship and this great land.

​I bet we find both of our summit register entries the next time we summit Haystack.

References:
Bighorn Institute.  2019.  Endangered Peninsular Bighorn Sheep. 
Retrieved from https://www.bighorninstitute.org/endangered-peninsular-bighorn

Dibblee, T.W., and Minch, J.A., 2008 Geologic map of the Palm Desert and Coachella 15-minute quadrangles, Riverside County, California.  Dibblee Geological Foundation.

Patten, Carolyn. "The Desert Riders."  Palm Springs Life, October 1, 2010.  Desert Publications, Inc.
Retrieved from https://www.palmspringslife.com/the-desert-riders/

Pearce, Al.  "Dunn's Road Could be One of the Most Beautiful in Desert."  Desert Sun, Volume 45, Number 214, 11 April 1972.  In website:  UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research.
Retrieved from https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19720411.2.59&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1

Schumann, W.  1993.  Handbook of Rocks, Minerals and Gemstones.  Harper-Collins Publishers and Houghton Mifflin Company.

Taylor, Joan.  "The Dunn Road:  A Checkered Past."  Desert Report, 2007.  Sierra Club publication.

Winter, John D.  2010.  Principles of Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, 2nd Ed.  Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey.