The small dirt “mountains” beyond the quarry are known locally as Thermal Canyon, or The Mud Hills. As a girl I spent many weekends camping there with my Girl Scout Troop, usually choosing to sleep out under the stars instead of inside the tents we pitched. I loved laying in my sleeping bag, looking up at the stars. With no city lights to mask them, the Milky Way was a wide and brilliant arc of stars so bright and numerous that there were spots that blurred into twinkling stardust. The only noises were crickets, frogs, or cicadas in the sparse trees - and sometimes the howl of distant coyotes. I loved it! The girls in our current Girl Scout troops are horrified to hear me tell of hauling our own water, digging our own latrines, and filling them in again when we left. It never occurred to me to consider it a problem.
Thermal Canyon was also perfect for Church Easter Pageants, family picnics, barbeques, day hikes, and (best of all) dirt slides! Well, today we know better than to disturb the ecology that way, and we know tracks made in the desert can last decades. Back then, there were no second thoughts about hiking to the top of the hardened dirt ridges, and sliding down the sides with a piece of cardboard as a sled. In the spring, entire side canyons or arroyos would often be covered with fields of white, yellow, or purple verbena wildflowers.
When you’ve found the cache, take the few extra steps up to the top - to my mind, one of the best scenic views in the valley. At your feet will be the Coachella Branch of the famous All American Canal. Raise your eyes, and, on most days, you can see the entire Coachella Valley spread out before you. Low on the mountains you can just see the watermark, evidence of the ancient Lake Cahuilla. The large patch of pale blue to your left is the Salton Sea. On very clear days, you can see all the way to Mexico. In the distance to your right, where two mountains appear to overlap, is the San Gorgonio Pass (though locals almost always call it the Banning Pass), with Mount San Gorgonio on the right and Mount San Jacinto on the left. At night you can almost always see the bright light at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway just below the peak of Mt San Jacinto.
Just for the record, I also made the traditional backpacking trip to climb “San Jack” from the Mountain Station of the Tramway as a teenage Girl Scout.
From the Cahuilla Indians, to the massive floods in the late 1800s and 1905, to the San Andreas Fault and evidence of earthquakes in the multi-colored hills you see around you, one could give a day-long history and geology class from this spot. Built in the 1930s, and over 80 miles long, the All American Canal brings water from the Colorado River, distributing it to many communities, and powering a number of hydroelectric power stations, before it reaches the Imperial Valley to the southeast. The runoff from this irrigation is the only measurable source of water feeding into the Salton Sea today.
Thermal has an annual rainfall of less than 3 inches a year (Palm Springs to the northeast gets a bit more). The irrigation water from the Canal is the lifeblood of the crops you see below you, and the agricultural industry of the valley (currently more than 630,000 acres). The entire Coachella Valley has its roots in agriculture. Without the canal, the fledgling agricultural industry of the 1930s and 40s would not have been a success, the struggling railroad industry would have died, and the tourist industry would never have taken hold in the valley. The incredibly rapid growth of housing and industry that has taken place over the last 50 years would not have occurred, and you would probably not be reading this description.
I’ve included a large assortment of swag, so please follow the rules, and keep it going for the next geocacher. There is ample room for a number of cars on the hard-packed dirt shoulders. You’ll need to watch for muggles driving large trucks in and out of the rock quarry during the week. On weekends and evenings the area is usually deserted. Do watch out for desert creepy crawlers - both large and small - especially in the spring and summer months.
STARTING SWAG:
Our new Barn Owls ID Chip
Toy Tractor
olding Butterfly Fan
Stuffed Angel Bear
Star Wars Collectible Pin
Butterfly Notepad
Toy Yo-Yo Bubbles
Tie-die hair clip
Bouncy Ball Jacks Game
Plastic Snake
Pink Butterfly Deco
Lg. Monster drink Decal
Large Black Plastic Spider
Butterfly Pencil