Not only have I been neglecting my blog for the past several weeks, it appears that I have a few Draft Blog Posts that I never finished. I apparently started this blog post back on October 3, 2011. Yes, 2011! That is not a typo. But I just had to share…
Now that the weather is starting to cool off here in the desert, its time once again to venture outdoors and explore the many hidden treasures located right here in the Morongo Basin.
In September, the hiking group I belong to went for a hike in the Pioneertown Mountains Preserve, which has only recently re-opened to the public. This Preserve was devastated by a fire that was started by a lightning strike on the morning of July 9, 2006. A date I can’t soon forget since it was also my daughter’s 13th birthday. Well the fire was finally extinguished approximately 10 days later after burning 85,000 acres of land, destroying 50 homes, 171 outbuildings, 191 cars & pick up trucks, and claimed the life of Gerald Guntrie.
It’s taken the dedicated Wildlands Conservancy staff four years and many hours of work to nurture the land where Joshua trees, pinyon pines and junipers once grew.