Lots of snow up top, and lots of rain down below
We’ve just had a good winter storm pound the region, off and on, for four or five days. I can’t say I get too enthused about hiking in inclement weather—I am a real fair weather outdoorsman. And my knee decided to give me a little hell also, so I thought what better time than now to take a break from whatever is straining it.
So today the skies were screaming blue and supposed to hit 70 degrees—a great time to return to the trail and once again, put the knee to the test. No sooner did I exit the truck for my Nature Trail hike, when hark, what did I hear but Madera Creek murmuring down the ravine. And it wasn’t a mere trickle—it was a solid flow of water.
Four streams cut loose.
My first summer here, it was the end of at least two years, maybe three, of no moisture and the water was way down in the earth and the trees were beginning to die. Then we finally got lucky and the skies split for two months straight of torrential daily seasonal rain. Every day rain pounded the desert and the mountain peaks. We had two years of superlative rainfall, relentlessly, off and on for seasons at a time. I am thinking the reason two good recent rainstorms were enough to bring lots of water to the surface was because those two years of intense, hard rain tapped the water that is back up very close to the surface—like it probably is suppose to be.
Flow, little stream, flow…
In 1.8 miles of hiking before turning around, I came across 3 more tributaries flowing where three years ago, it took months to bring water to the surface. How nice it is to see moisture again. And the higher ridges have decent snow, so maybe this will be another good year of water.
rubberboa 