La Quinta Cove

The City of La Quinta, Riverside Fire Department, CVWD, Burrtec, and the Department of Corrections is launching a project to clean up a very old dump at the very top of the Cove.  If you’re not a hiker, you probably have not seen it, but it covers several acres of desert.  Working with the Cove Neighborhood Association BLM, and an archaeologist, it is hoped that this area will be as beautiful as the other vast (pristine) desert we all love.  (Please excuse the windy sound  interference.)

Building and Safety Manager, Greg Butler:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLOfDMq2Srs

Public Works Department Steve Kochell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQrC8fuUgrA

Great turnout on Saturday for the Second Annual Tails on Trails sponsored by the City of La Quinta, the Cove Neighborhood Association, BLM, CV Trails alliance, PetSmart, Aqua Paws, animal Samaritans and Village Park animal Hospital, among others. 

This event is for community enjoyment, socialization of canines and humans, and education on safety and pet owner responsibility.

Getting started on the activities:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE84I3MqFeI

Introducing the canines:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyiQOplCbZM

Brisk weather didn’t deter nature lovers from trekking across the storm channel to listen to “Stories from the Mountains” told through geology.  Katie Barrows, local naturalist, discussed how our mountains were formed, the effects of water on the evolution of our Cove, and the probable survival of the Cove during THE BIG earthquake.  Here, Katie tells about the aquifer and those disappearing sand dunes.

Katie Barrows led the group of kids and parents on the Saturday Nature Walk in search of the links of the desert food chain.  Here’s a bit of the introduction, before they started on their trek: 

Michelle Hedgecock, the leader of last Saturday’s nature walk has made the last exercise available for us to share.  Each participant contributed a written line of thought and together, they made a poem-like composition that reflected on the mornings experiences. 

Michelle writes:Thank you each for sharing your morning with me and for sharing your creative experience so openly as a group, I found your creative expressions and spirit so inspiring!

I wanted to be sure to share these two wonderful poems created by participants on Saturday’s “Creativity Hike;” nature truly inspires:

UNTITLED

A fresh breeze brushing the winter desert.
A palette of natural color.
Calming colors –
desert seems still, but signs of motion everywhere
footprints, erosion, growth.

I saw life from all the holes in the ground.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of animals are burrowed there.
I enjoyed different perspectives of the palo verde tree –
up close it is large and grand,
from a distance, small and solitary.

UNTITLED

I wonder about the many forms of life has passed where we are –
Going into Nature today is going into the best art gallery in the world.
Nature is so glorious, I can’t describe it well.
Lizard watching me watching him. Peace.
Sun moving, revealing new crevices, homes to local residents.
And then rubble piles that look like ancient ruins that completes the cycle.

Not a creative bone in our bodies?  Not for long….  last SaturdayMichelle Hedgecock led a group of hikers through a series of creative exercises designed to give us a new focus to our walk. 

Exploring the desert’s color palatte:       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9zXxk6yrXc

Winding up the walk….view of the storm channel:       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeHWabMnSQ0

Sunday morning walkers along the Bear Creek Trail were amazed to see a beautiful bighorn sheep prancing through the storm channel on the west side of the Cove.  Proceeding from north to south, it clamored up the west embankment around 9:00 a.m. in front of the Ensenada rest stop, and continued  along the edge of the  channel until it was out of sight.  Another important reason to keep your dogs on a leash.  Sorry, the video taken in haste was not quick enough or close enough to share this unusual experience.

The 2010-2011 Nature Walk series begins this Saturday with the topic, “Living with Nature – Attracting Wildlife to your Garden”.  These walks will take place the third Saturday of each month through May, beginning at 8:00 a.m. at the shade shelter along the Fred Wolff Nature Preserve at Montezuma and Ensenada (also good parking on the Madero cul du sac).  This series is a cooperative effort of the City of La Quinta and the Stewards of the Fred Wolff Bear Creek Nature Preserve.

Children/family walks will begin in December on the SECOND Saturday at 9:00 a.m.  Watch for those topics.

ALSO, mark your calendars for a community service morning on October 9, when volunteers will “sweep” through the Preserve and the top of the Cove area in the annual cleanup effort.  More on that later….

Our advocacy group is working with the City to restore the natural vegetation in the Preserve that has been destroyed by off-road vehicles, dumping, and meandering foot traffic.  The new footpath along the east side is an effort to keep pedestrian traffic from further damaging the fragile desert flora and fauna by tracking all through the Preserve.  We request that citizens refrain from creating their own pathways, including paths lined with rocks or delineated in any other way.  If you have suggestions for additional pathways, please contact Steve Howlett at 777-7090.  We can work together to enjoy our beautiful Preserve to its fullest, yet restore and maintain as much nature in the Preserve as we can.   THANKS!

P.S.  Of course, dog feces also infect and detract from the beauty of the Preserve.  Please remind your fellow-walkers to keep their dogs on a leash and clean up after them.  DOUBLE THANKS!