CLARK DRY LAKE HIKE

Since the weather is cooperating with us, we decide that we are going to take another hike.  This hike is right in our own front yard here at Clark Dry Lake in the Anza Borrego desert. We decide to leave Oliver and Olivia home.

In comparison to last year, the desert looks dead. Plants, Creosote bushes, grasses, Ocotillo, cholla cactus; they all are not dead but have gone into dormancy.  What we see this year is grey and brown,  with one exception, a tree that I cannot identify.  

Rather than starting from the motorhome, we drive the Miata about a mile north  toward the dry lake that looks close enough that we could walk to it.  In the desert, everything appears to be closer than it actually is. 

As we walk, little sights draw our attention. We marvel at what wind, rain and heat can create.                                           Here, the shrub and grass are the same color as the sand. 

                                                                                                                                                                Talk about monochromatic!  At least in this next photo, I am able to get a touch of the sky and clouds.                

What creature of the desert has lived in here?  Is it still in there?  Did it cover it's track while inside sweeping the floor?

 




Looking north, the sky and the varied hues coming from the mountains provide distraction from the desert floor.

The tree stands in the wash waiting for next winter's rains.  Hopefully, the drought will end and next year bring green in the sleeping desert.  

 I climb a nearby hill and look out toward the dry lake.  Ahh!  I see something green!  Maybe there is water down there?  Let's go see.  

John says he has walked far enough knowing that we have yet to return to the car.  Good decision on his part as we have lost sight of the car long ago.


I continue on and on and on.  Until I reach my goal.   

There must be an underground water source.  But it is deeper than the other desert plants have reached.  

Since I have totally lost sight of John, I turn back and spot this interesting formation in my path.   


 What do we have here?  A mini volcano?  An aunt condo?  What desert creature lives here.  

Any ideas?  Where do the scorpions and tarantulas escape the hot sun only to come out at night?  That reminds me why I am so thankful that we have a black-light flashlight.  Those critters only show up at night with that kind of flashlight.

Continuing to walk back to where John is supposed to be resting, I find he is not there.  OK, where did he go?  I look around expecting to find him venturing out of the wash. Nope, no John.  

I look for shoe prints in the sand.  They all point North.  If he were returning to the car on his own, some would be in a southerly direction.  

I continue to walk south looking for tracks.  Only a Black tailed Jackrabbit darts across my path startling me enough to make me scream.  Tense?  No!  I'm not stressed...

Ahhh, after a while, I find John's tracks heading south. Rounding  a curve in the wash, there sits John in the midst of rocks.  That's my rock hounding husband all right. Geesh.

Oh well,  we return to the Miata and drive back to the motorhome.  We have had a great walk.  It was longer than the previous day, therefore we are both making progress.  

Did we arrive at Clark Dry Lake?  No.  It looks just as far away as it did from the motorhome.  Now, I am wondering how far from the motorhome the dry lake is.

The day was so nice that we could have taken the dogs with us.   

Thanks again for joining us on our desert walk. It is getting warmer so I think we will take Al's suggestion and hike the slot canyon next time.  Come back again and we will take you with us.  

God bless!

WHEN IN THE DESERT HEAT

John was fixing us a lunchtime snack and suddenly says he feels dizzy and needs to lie down.  

He feels better, so he stands and feels dizzy, once more.  

Hummm, I test his oxygen level.  It is ninety five percent, that is great. His pulse is fifty four. It is usually fifty seven, so that is acceptable. 

Then I check his blood pressure.  This is not acceptable. We are talking fifty-three over seventy-four.  I check it about twenty minutes later and it is worse.  Skin tugor, tent-like. Not good.

I called his physician in Indianapolis.  "How much water is he drinking?"  I ask John and get a very sheepish look.  

Now, this is at two in the afternoon.  He has been out in the sun working on the motorhome.  He has had nothing but two cups of coffee at breakfast.

"Dehydration, get him to a hospital and tell them I want him to have fluids by IV.  A hospital?  None in Quartzsite.  Yuma is an hour away, but there is a hospital in Parker, half the distance of Yuma.  So, off we go to Parker and the La Paz Regional Hospital.  

All the way, I have him drinking water all thirty two ounces!   Having him drinking water was better than making him listen to my ranting a raving about fluid intake!   

After an EKG, a brain cat-scan and a complete blood count (CBC), he was given the IV.  The drip was set fast so we were out of there fairly quickly.  And we were on our way home, where I, again, checked his vitals....just to be sure.  

So, how does one stay hydrated in the desert?

1.  drink water!  Not energy drinks  and water needs to be room / air temperature.  Cold water intake requires time to warm to body's temperature to be absorbed.2.  eat foods with a high water content.

2.  eat foods with a high water content. 

Everyone needs from eight to twelve cups of water each day. A better way to determine how much water YOU need is to note your weight, divide those pound in half.  Change the pounds to ounces.  (150 pounds divided by 2 = 75 pounds therefore you would need 75 ounces a day.) 

We are looking into purchasing these from Amazon. It just makes good sense to have one of these rather than carrying water bottles.                                                  These are reusable and just think about how many plastic bottles you would not be throwing in the landfills to take forever to break down.   

Symptoms of dehydration but not limited to:

1. thirst 

2. chills

3. headache

4. loss of appetite

5. muscle pain/cramps

6. feeling fatigued

If these signs and symptoms are ignored the condition can worsen to heat exhaustion or even worse yet, heat stroke.  

We are talking life and death here, so please do not take any chances while out in the hot sun.

Thanks for visiting the blog today and for shopping Amazon through my link.  

God Bless ..... and drink water!