President Obama was a busy boy when in office, however much
like Slick, all the really good stuff of National Monument stature had already
been taken. We visited the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National
Monument, about 280,000 square miles given National Monument status by
President Obama October 24, 2000.
Including two Federal Wilderness Areas, the Santa Rosa and
the San Jacinto, the Monument preserves this nationally significant biological,
recreational, cultural and geological values found here. The Monument is
managed primarily by the BLM and the US Forest Service, with significant input
from the Cahuilla People (indigenous) and the state of California. We actually
drove through much of this Monument on our way from Mexico to Palm Desert. The
scenery is stunning!
Our second Monument checked off took a bit more work. Again,
an Obama designation on February 11, 2016, this 154,000-acre Monument extends
from the Sonoran Desert to the San Gorgonio Wilderness at well over 10,000
feet. Before we could get to the “Snow” portion of the Monument, we had to contend
with the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Set in the city of Redlands and its
surrounding neighbors, it’s allegedly the longest continuous running stage race
in America. We had several stops due to road closures that exceeded a half hour
while the swarm of contestants pedaled by.
We headed for Forest Falls, well within the Monument. While
the scenery was gorgeous on the way, and the small mountain town of Forest
Falls was quaint, we weren’t able to actually make it to the falls. We got to
where we needed to hike up the falls, but the snow was too deep for shorts and
flip flops, so we had to just settle for having been there.
The Woman was ecstatic about exploring both of these
National Monuments. Given their locations in the mountains of Southern
California, it was no surprise that the Pacific Crest Trail venture through
both of them. We found the section of the PCT that ran near Idyllwild in the
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument and managed to click of
about 4-5 miles of it. The Woman was in her happy place on the PCT and thoroughly
enjoyed it.
As we headed for the “Sand” portion of the Monument, we saw
more of the devastation of the recent heavy rains the area had incurred. We
were headed to the Whitewater Preserve which was well within the borders of the
National Monument. However, we didn’t get in very far when we saw all kinds of
road closure signs. We ventured in as far as we could make it before being
stopped by active construction equipment. We actually had to navigate broken
asphalt, serous wash debris, and areas where the road was totally washed out
and there was running water.
We again found an area where the PCT traveled through the
Sand to Snow National Monument before it crosses I-10. We managed to click off
another 2-3 miles of the Trail – the Woman is not really sure how many miles of
the PCT we may have ventured, but It has to be at least 100.
Because the Monument was not designated until 2016, and
because only the BLM and Forest Service get involved in managing Monuments until
congress grants greater funding, there has not been enough time given the
dysfunctional federal government to actually create any infrastructure at all
here – not even signage of any kind. We knew we were within the Monument’s
boundaries because of the signage of the previously existing federal land that
was pulled together in this monument. We did, however, find some evidence of
being able to check it off the bucket list.
Talk to you soon.
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