Palm Wash

 This morning for some reason I didn't want to get out of bed.  Slept okay, but just felt tired.  At 8:45 I got up but Yuma wouldn't.  He can hear some military jets taking off in the far distance and it scares him.  I can just barely hear it and only when I'm outside.

It is already 68 outside as I lay on my lounger drinking coffee and eating crackers trying to decide what to do today.  Just then my neighbor Patrick came up on his Polaris.  He and Suzanne are heading north to a lake to do some fishing and he wanted to know if I needed any firewood they were just going to leave.  Nice of Patrick to offer.

I had been looking at this US Topo Map I have on my phone and it details this area very clearly.  Shows all the washes and where they go.  I could see that Palm  Wash was just south of me and it went all the way up to the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

At 1 o'clock, Yuma and I jumped in the Jeep and headed west on S22 through the badlands.  Right at the top of the badlands there is a place where you can drive down into the South branch of the Palm Wash.  I have been to this area a number of times over the years but didn't know the name of it.

We dropped down into the wash and went left for about a mile where it got too narrow to drive.  We got out and started our adventure.

The wash at this point is beautiful with all the cuts made by the many years of rain water running through it.

Yuma has to check every bush.  The beginning of our hike is under an arch.

I kept hearing someone whispering above me. 😁

 Not going to talk and just let you hike along with us.  Have to tell you, Yuma loves running the trail.  But he doesn't go far from me without checking.

Lots of fallen rocks in our path.

We're back to the arch for one last sniff.

My US Topo map said that if I follow the Palm Wash to the east towards the sea, I will end up back at the White Lion.  So off we went.  It was about 8 miles on S22 to get here, so can't be too much further to get back.  Difference will be 55 mph compared to 4 mph.  Wasn't long before I was out of the Park and back into the Truckhaven Recreational area.

Even have a sign in the wash to let me know.

The 12 miles of wash back to camp was mainly a wide sandy wash that twisted and turned like a snake.  Had to trust my Topo Map as it was logging my journey so I could see where I was.

Had to take one last look back at Santa Rosa Mountain.

Now I know why it is called Palm Wash.  I saw one lone palm tree on my way out.

Above is the US Topo Map log of my journey today.  The bullseye at the top right is the White Lion.  The straight lines were when I left taking the highways to get to the narrow wash.  The wiggly line is my slow drive back through the Palm Wash.  

I must say Yuma and I are worn out from all the bouncing around we did.  First and last time I drive that far through a wash just to find a palm tree. 😃  We got home at 4 o'clock.

It's 6:30 and I'm done with this post and time for dinner, TV and bed.  Watching Port Protection Alaska that Elva clued me into.

Goodnight.  See you later.