Under the Freeway

 

So our paranoia and concern was off the charts with coronavirus. Not only were businesses shut down, some people did not even want to leave the house. We combated this situation with the the fortunate fact that we were living right across the freeway from the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The problem was getting under the freeway. I had lived here this long and not realized that it was possible. Walking up the hill on the paved bike path, I could cut off down the slope to a large culvert that ran under the freeway at Grapevine Wash. From here it opened up a world of possibilities. I decided to do my own thing and stay away from the trails. It turned out to be a great idea. 

The wash was a bit muddy still, but fun to explore. I followed it back quite a ways with only a few obstacles to get around until the terrain started to open up more. It did not end up being too bad of a situation for me and I was able to climb up pretty high. There was a peak that I had been looking at scrambling up from our house and it proved to be a fairly straightforward scramble. 

I considered that a success, so I kept going until I ended up on the other side. From here, I was able to pick my way down another drainage having to negotiate a few obstacles. I was really enjoying this hike as it was really just of my own choosing. Eventually I came upon this really incredible slick rock formation with an immense amount of perforations in the slick rock just perfect for raptor nesting.

 I looked around and sure enough, there were two large raptors which I took to be peregrines circling around a large nest. I stood there and watched them for some time admiring the wildness and majestic nature of their beauty just right across the interstate from suburban sprawl. From here, I had to check out if I could make it back under the freeway without having to go back to where I came from. Sure enough when I picked my way down to the natural drainage, I came across another culvert. This one was a little narrower and you could tell that the enthusiasm for people crossing this one was not quite as high as you had to go through a little island in the freeway to make it.

 Luckily though, it worked, and I now had a loop hike that I could do from my house that allowed me to get out into nature really easily without having to even drive the car anywhere. I was going to definitely have to exhaust all possibilities in the immediate future as we were confined to our homes and families to ride out the corona wave.