I spent Labor Day Monday hiking around a hot and windy Caliente Canyon and lounging poolside under the willow and cottonwood trees to escape the midday swelter. Although many long sections of the creek were bone dry, there was still just enough water trickling over the sandstone ledge and into the swimming hole to keep it from going stagnant. And although it was only waist to chest deep, there was still room to swim around a bit underwater and cool down. I wasted no time jumping in as soon as I got there.
Nice trip, but man it must have been cooking. We spent part of that weekend picking around Pendola. Nice to see some water in the Oasis; will probably never be back to its pre-Zaca glory but better than nothing! Did you head up to the camp? They replaced the benches that got torched earlier this year — nice!
Let me rephrase that last part: Earlier this year, they (rangers/VWRs) replaced the benches that had been torched (by the Zaca). thx! 🙂
Yeah there was still water, but, alas, like you said, it sure isn’t the same after the fire. Although I had intended to stop by the camp, I never made it. It was hot and I was just plumb beat. I was getting overheated just lying around in the shade reading. I turned to look up the creek as I started back home, but couldn’t muster the motivation to add any more distance to the day’s walk even though the camp is just a short ways away.