Photo: Melanie & Petroglyph in Joshua Tree

March 7 – 11

Indio – Chiriaco Summit, CA

After leaving Borrego Springs, we went over to Mecca where the trail continued and were going to maybe stay over camping there and do a day hike next day. I was still feeling lousy and could only lie down and rest. Hadn’t eaten all day either and could only sip water.

Yeti managed to do a short hike where we parked, but when he saw I was still not feeling great, he suggested going into Indio a day early. We had a reservation at a Rodeway Inn starting Sunday, but they were full. We did find a room in a motel 6 and basically crashed there exhausted.

Next day, we moved over to the other motel, which was much nicer. I was feeling better though Yeti said he was not feeling great. So, we rested up in Indio. By Monday, we decided to try a day hike and did an interesting one nearby called the East Indio Hills Badlands Trail. Part way into the hike, Yeti started to have dizzy spells. We were going pretty slow and stopping a lot. Yeti added Elete to his water and drank that. At one point, I wasn’t sure he’d make it, but we soldiered on and he began to feel a bit better.

When we got back to the room he took his blood pressure and it was alarmingly low – 69/30. We got caffeine in him, more water and electrolytes, food – all trying to raise the BP. The highest it got was 86/47. He notified his cardiology team back home and next morning they suggested halfing the meds that were causing the low BP.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday we left Indio and headed toward Joshua Tree, Chiriaco Summit. We heard there was BLM land where you can camp free, which we found. We camped in a really nice spot – there were lots of others too. We talked to a nice guy named Vince who told us about a petroglyph he’d found and he showed us how to get there. Great evening.

Yeti’s BP more normal so we did the hike Vince suggested. It was a cross-country walk. Saw some barrel cactus in bloom as well as lots of wildflowers. Got to the spot and could see the boulder with the big circle with a hand print inside. Amazing. On our way back, we stopped at this short nature trail and ID’s plants. We are just a few miles from JTNP.

Tomorrow Yeti hopes to hike the 9.5 miles to Cottonwood campground. We were a bit disappointed to find his BP a bit low again, but fingers crossed for tomorrow. We will see what the morrow brings. Not too hot today, 77 degrees. May be hotter tomorrow.