26-Dec-1999 -- This confluence is located next to
the town of Calimesa, off Interstate 10, about halfway between San
Bernadino and Palm Springs. Despite being next to a (sub)urban area,
this confluence is quite hard to get to, as it's located halfway up a
steep, scrub-filled hillside.
I exited I-10 at Calimesa, and drove eastward along "County Line
Road" (which runs along the boundary between San Bernadino and Riverside
Counties - this is just north of the confluence).
County Line Road ends at a private, gated community with some
extremely anal-retentive rules. (See photo 3 below.) What a pack of
snooty butt plugs! This is about 0.8 miles from the confluence. I
parked here, and walked through the gate on the right, into what (I
hope!) was public open space. A very steep trail starts here and runs
straight up the hillside. I took this trail to the top, then scrambled
to the right through sagebrush to bypass the impressive-looking private
residence perched on top of the hill.
Once on top of the ridge, I hiked southwards (right) along the ridge
line to get closer to the confluence. Fortunately, another steep trail
drops back down from the ridge top, passing directly through the
confluence point (or at least, within 200 feet or so). However, this
trail, unlike the first one, doesn't run all the way back down to the
bottom of the hill. Instead, I had to hike down through an old dried-up
stream bed to reach civilization once again. Phew - this was a real
workout!