Today was the long drive south to Palm Springs in preparation for the geocaching event Roughneck Rendezvous III at the Ocotillo Wells SVRA. I decided to go earlier than my friends from the Geocachers of the Bay Area (GBA) because there were a couple of interesting hikes I wanted to do.
My route took me into the dreaded (for me, at least) southland freeway system (the 5, 210, 10), but since I passed through during mid-day, the traffic wasn’t bad. When I got to Redlands I headed south-east on San Timoteo Canyon Road. This route included a short power-caching run with the caches named after auto raceways (start here). Power-caching trails like this are meant to be done by teams, but I wanted to see what it was like. The experience wasn’t enjoyable. The small, country road had a considerable amount of traffic and I could barely get off the road for parking. At times it felt unsafe, so I did a few and skipped a few.
Next, I navigated across Highway 60, intending to pick up a number of caches along the Jack Rabbit Trail. I was immediately put off by a large sign saying it was a private road and trespassers would be subject to arrest. After the fact investigation suggests an over-aggressive landowner, and that it really is an unmaintained county road.
I went on to Sunset Avenue in Banning and found a few as the sun was going down. This was a nice little excursion, worth finding more, but I ran out of daylight.
With that, it was time to head to Palm Springs and check in to the motel, eat, and get ready for a big hiking day tomorrow.
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