RENEGADE RAMBLE. Day 5: 11.9 Miles
I am seeking $20 donations for each mile but will accept any amount: ProtectOurPreserve.org/donate. We only need another $3500 to meet our goal of $25,000 by the end of July!
Brown’s Ranch Road. Hawksnest Trail to Dove Valley Intersection. Returning on Hawksnest Trail. SE on Stagecoach Trail. W/SW on High Desert Trail. Corral Trail. Browns Ranch Road to Trailhead.
It was {almost} chilly when I arrived at Brown’s Ranch at 4:50 this morning. For the first hour or so, I could feel the temperature rise and fall from one moment to the next as I gained and lost elevation.
I met a lovely matron of the Preserve on Brown’s Ranch Road; Regina has been hiking the Preserve every day for more than a decade. She looks like she might be sixty, but she informed me that she is nearly 80! Her doctor has told her that she needs to slow down, but I think she should spend as many moments on the Preserve as she has time to gather. It seems to agree with her… Although we didn’t talk long, Regina did confirm that’s she has signed our Petition and we made plans to hike together on another morning.
Visual splendor. Vistas. Panorama. Scenery. Horizon. Point of View. Purview. Perspective. Imparting the scope of what I have beheld in less than a week on the Preserve in a few photos each day is futile, yet I long to share it. Before the sun had risen today, I was graced with nearly every shade of green in the Sherwin Williams family. Among them were electric lime, envy, ryegrass, kale, and inverness, colors so lovely, I longed to hug the spiky splendor. Later, when the sun rose, the glitzy golden grass left me breathless.
On Hawksnest Trail, I heard a coyote barking for at least five minutes. He [or she?] left me wondering what was so exciting and also a bit uneasy. Several women have asked me if I am scared. The answer is yes, a bit at times. In considering my state of mind on the trail today, I decided I am much more fearful of the proposed Desert Discovery Center. So, I will continue to hike! Later, I was lucky enough to see a gila monster dash across the trail; my they are fast!
Again, I had the opportunity to talk to more than a dozen people about the proposed Desert Discovery Center, all were opposed or shocked by this ill-advised proposition.
If you’d like to hike a leg with me, or if you have suggestions about how ProtectOurPreserve.org might raise money and awareness, please contact me.