After finding cute and fluffy wild burros but no bighorn sheep in Death Valley, I began a series of weekend trips in search of bighorn sheep. We don’t have bighorn sheep in Michigan, so it was important for me to find them in California while I was still living here. When I mentioned my latest goal to others, they would instantly tell me where they had encountered the animals. Duly noting each sighting location on a list, I began my quest.
My first searching adventure was to visit friends near Thousand Palms. On the way there, we stopped to hike Whitewater Preserve, a place where a friend had spotted bighorn sheep. Arriving before the park opened, we first hiked to Red Dome (see below) because I had read on All Trails that bighorn sheep had been spotted there. No bighorn sheep. Then we turned around and hiked up Canyon View Trail. I spotted some poppies, but no bighorn sheep. At the ranger station, I got some awesome bird photos (see below) and was told by a ranger that the bighorns start peeking their head over the top of a huge cliff of stone around 3:00. Since I’d already been there for about six hours with no luck, I decided to move on.
The next day took us to Joshua Tree National Park. As previously explained, if you see the words “National Park,” you know these folks aren’t messing around, and it’s a place you shouldn’t miss. Joshua trees are medium-height trees with spiky puffs on the branches. Once you hit a certain elevation, you will see a lot of them along with a kind of cactus named cholla (sounds like choy-ya). Joshua Tree had great photo-ops between the cool boulders, Joshua trees, and the cholla garden, but, sadly, no bighorn sheep.
The third day of this trip led us to Pioneer Town. This is basically an old western-style town that is used for movie sets. There are snow-capped mountains behind it and bighorn sheep crossing signs all the way there, but no bighorn sheep. No public bathrooms either. Needless to say, the visit to Pioneer Town was short.
The next stop was Morongo Canyon Preserve. The lady at the visitor center said she’s never hiked the canyon and not seen the bighorns, so off we went. Eight miles later, not only is it a kinda boring hike, but there were no bleeping bighorn sheep. I felt like I had the luck of someone searching for Bigfoot. On a brighter note, I did see a big horned owl, a barn owl, and a vermillion fly catcher. I even caught a photo of the vermillion fly catcher…wait for it…catching a fly! But no bigfoots (Bigfeet?). I mean bighorns.
On the way home, we made a last-ditch effort and swung into Whitewater Preserve again. It was dusky and, at first glance, I spotted nothing. Approaching a ranger, I inquired, and he turned to point to the tippy top of this very, very high cliff of stone, telling me to watch for the bighorns to poke their heads over the top. Minutes passed as I strained my eyes in the dusk before, voila, a head poked over the cliff to look down at the bystanders below. As I put on my camera’s long lens and patiently waited, eventually, a large family of bighorn sheep appeared and started to venture down the cliff that appeared to be straight up and down. I watched them, including a couple of babies, for about a half hour before it was too dark to see what was going on.
So, yes, I achieved my goal to see bighorn sheep; but was I satisfied? Nooo. Due to the dim lighting and long distance, my photos were as grainy as a bigfoot photo. Heck, maybe that was a bigfoot in the picture. I couldn’t be sure. So, although I could technically check this off my photo bucket list, the quest would go on in search of a quality bighorn sheep photo-op.
The next bighorn expedition was to the Salton Sea and Anza-Borrego Desert. Back in the 1930s, the Salton Sea was a Hollywood playground. Nowadays, well, let’s just say I didn’t see anyone playing except the two kinds of fish that can survive in the water.
Our first stop was Bat Cave Buttes. This is a hike just a mile or two off the road that takes you through flat, scrub-filled desert to some buttes. The cool thing about these buttes is that there are a ton of creepy caves in them. It was extra creepy because, due to the sprinkling rain, we were the only ones out there. A mountain lion could have had cubs in a cave, and we could have become lunch, but we didn’t. The deepest cave was too scary for this big chicken to enter because we could hear the bats squeaking. Hence the name Bat Cave Buttes. I’ve seen enough episodes of Scooby Doo to know what happens when you go into a cave filled with bats, so it was a hard pass for me. Plus, I couldn’t remember if I was up to date on my rabies shots. So, yes, we checked creepy bats off the list but not bighorn sheep.
The next stop was Imperial Sand Dunes. These dunes are pinkish red, and it seems to be the hot spot to ride around in your dune buggy. As I snapped photos, the trickiest thing was to find a spot with no dune buggy tracks. So we found lotsa buggy tracks but no bighorns.
Running out of light, we decided to skip the mud volcanoes and headed for our hotel in Anza-Borrego Springs. Our hotel was fashioned after the buildings in an old western town and was super cool. The lobby had lotsa pics of bighorn sheep, so I was optimistic that tomorrow would be my lucky day.
The morning of our last day was spent photographing super-bloom wildflowers in the desert before hiking to Maidenhair Falls via Hellhole Canyon. This 5.6 mile hike winds through a canyon that I’d hoped would be covered with bighorns; but, alas, it was just covered with rock. Eventually, a few palms appeared, and then we arrived at a small to medium-sized waterfall next to a wall covered with ferns. Hence, the name. Maybe I should hike a canyon named Bighorn Canyon…
I’d been seeing signs for a local treat called a date shake, and we decided to try one in between hikes. The shakes only came in one size, and let’s just say it was super sized. We sucked down the yummy shake and headed to our next hike: Palm Canyon.
Palm Canyon requires an entry fee and will go down in my memory as having one of the weirdest bathrooms ever. It’s built of reddish stone walls, and there is no roof, so birds and planes can fly over and see you doing your business. Wait, it gets better. There is no entrance door on the women’s side. Once you enter, there are two stalls separated by a stone wall, but, like the entrance, the stalls have no doors on them. This park could spring for flush toilets but no door or even a shower curtain for some privacy? So anyone could walk in and, ta-da, there you are, giving them a little wave as you do your business. I guess planes and birds aren’t the only ones watching you. Good grief, it’s like being on stage!
Palm Canyon is actually a very charming hike. There is a stream gurgling along the entire route, and there are signs saying that wildlife (there was a photo of bighorns) drink from the stream but won’t if there is human scent in it, so please don’t go into the water. My hopes were high as we started up the trail that, after the first mile, split off in many different directions, and let’s just say that no one is going to win an award for trail marking here. There are little to medium waterfalls along the way; but, at the end, there is a huge waterfall. I think. The kicker is that you hike all the way to the end of the trail, and there is an oasis of palm trees surrounding the waterfall. When I say “surrounding,” I mean “blocking.” I looked around for some additional trail because, surely, it must end with a waterfall view, but noooo. There were signs everywhere forbidding people from going any farther or leaving the trail to view the falls. How mean. To add to my disdain, let’s just say that it’s not a good idea to drink a giant date shake in between hikes. It can only end in tears, even if you make it back to do your business on stage in the “bathrooms.” Oh, and did I mention no bighorns?
My third trip in search of bighorns was to Palm Springs. We chose the South Lykken Trail that was an out-and-back eight-mile trek. This is a beautiful hike in the spring because there are tons of wild lupine, yellow poppies, cactus flowers, and canterbury bells. Even if I didn’t see bighorns, I had a great time photographing the wildflowers.
After over three miles of flowers, we approached a lookout, and a fellow hiker told us there were bighorns ahead. Weeeee! Off I went! Just around the bend, we saw a male bighorn right near the trail. Woot! I was too excited to pull out my long lens and didn’t really need it as I happily shot away, hoping for a photo worthy of National Geographic. Then we noticed there were three more male bighorns on the cliffs above us and another below. The sheep closest to us as well as the three males above were perfectly lit as they eventually stood and then descended the cliff, straight towards us!
Soon, other hikers gathered as the wild animals progressed down the cliff, seemingly unbothered by humans, and crossed our path right in front of us. This was one of those amazing moments you never forget and, if you didn’t get the perfect photo (see below) here, there was something wrong with you. As the animals eventually moved down the cliff and out of our sight, we continued our hike.
Do you think I was satisfied? Yes and no. Another hiker had told us of another trail behind the museum where the females and babies hang out. Did I mention baaaaabies? Yes! So off we went to do another hike.
The Museum Trail is crazy steep, and my legs are still sore from this hike. True to the hiker’s word, we first saw several male lookouts perched on rocks near us, and then we saw the females, teens, and babies work their way toward us….painfully slowly. As we waited for the babies to get closer, I was shooting the lookout male through my long lens when I thought to myself, “Huh. He’s not really fitting in the frame anymore.” I lowered my camera and did a double-take as I realized the big guy was coming straight towards me and was very close! Eek! Big chicken that I am, I quickly stepped aside as he passed right by me and headed up the stony cliff at the back of our trail. Phew!
The females and babies got closer but, after forty-five minutes of long-distance photos, I had to give up. We still had one more hike on this day trip, and a date shake was calling my name.
The third hike was Tahquitz Canyon. If you know anything about this canyon, you’ll know that’s it’s supposedly very haunted. Long story short, Tahquitz was a powerful shaman who was a good guy turned bad. His people banished him to this canyon, and legend says it’s still haunted by Tahquitz. One of the workers reported a sighting of a man who disappeared right before her eyes. One of my friends who lives in the area reported seeing the famous green comet flying across the valley well below the mountains.
As we hiked the canyon, I’ve gotta say, this was a pretty nice place to be banished. It’s very lush and green, and there is a large, rapidly moving stream running through it. At the end of the canyon, there is an amazing waterfall. Yes, they actually let you see this one! You have to cross the stream on stones though and, with all the 2023 rain, you will get your feet wet. But the view is worth it. I didn’t get a creepy vibe from the canyon, but I did have an obnoxious ray of sun that kept standing out in my photos. Maybe that was Tahquitz, or maybe it was just a beautiful day at the end of a bucket-list trip.
Mission Bighorn accomplished, I felt so content on the way home that I didn’t even stop at the super-bloom fields of yellow poppies for a photo-op. I had other things on my mind…like a date shake. This time, we got it after the three hikes of the day were finished. The perfect reward. If you’ve never had a date shake, add it to your bucket list. It’s not something you’ll find in Michigan.
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Daterella's Adventures In Dating 