The Desert Journeys

It’s been a minute or two so I’ll bring you all up to speed. Around the middle of March there was this heatwave that hit different parts of North America and of course the Coachella Valley got hit hard. Formerly pleasant March desert conditions became intolerable forcing me to beat a hasty retreat up to LA around 3/15 I believe. It is currently 5/12/26 and I haven’t been back to Coachella Valley since that March heatwave because conditions remained hot as hades down there though there was an odd run of a few cooler days here and there.

So yeah I’m kinda bummed. 3/15 is one of the earliest times I had to bail from the desert due to increasing temperatures but thems the brakes. I’m glad I got to spend time in the Coachella Valley Desert at all. So that means my winter 2025 to 2026 stay was from November ‘25 to March 15, 2026. It was hot in the desert up until mid November ‘25. For those who are curious, here is what the heat is doing in the Coachella Valley area while I type this on 5/12/26 at 1:22am.

Just like that my desert adventure reached a sudden early end. How was I supposed to know socal was gonna get nailed by a heatwave? But yeah, we are in the midst of a significant heatwave here in southern California at the moment and you know what that means. If things are hot in Los Angeles then you can imagine the stifling hellscape that the Coachella Valley becomes when things get hot. I was down in Coachella Valley doing my usual annual desert winter adventure when the heatwave arrived around 3/11. Each passing day became hotter than the last until it became unbearable to continue camping in my van and too darn hot to go running around the desert wilderness like I do. And so, much to my disappointment and unpleasant surprise I had to make an early departure from Coachella Valley this year. From the look of it, things are gonna remain hot as hades down there for the time being. I officially made my Coachella Valley exit at 3/15/26 at 4:45pm. And no, I’m not spending the summer down in Coachella Valley this year unfortunately, it’s way too hot and not economically viable to do so this time around. I provided screenshots of what the temperature is doing down in Coachella Valley right now on 3/17/26 at 2:06am.

Clark Lake, Anza Borrego, CA

2/3/26 - 1:51pm - 3:34pm

°72

Kelso Dunes, Mojave National Preserve, CA

2/1/26 - 2:43pm - 7:45pm

°75

Note: Perhaps it’s gone now but you might see that tumblr flagged this post. My thought is that the robot tumblr content gods mistook the curvy sand covered landscape to be what…nude human bodyscapes? Whatever. Yeah.

Update: So it is now 3/5/26 and tumblr still deems this particular set of photos as menaces to society. My sand dune pics are too provocative even for the desert fetish crowd eh? Idk. Lame.

56 °

1/30/26 - Ocotillo Wells, CA

°79

Indio Badlands - Indio, CA

1/21/26 - 1:42pm - 5:10pm

1/16/26 - Indio Badlands, Indio, CA

3:42pm to 5:13pm

1/15/26 - 3:51pm to 5:37pm

Indio Badlands - Indio, CA

1/24

Algodones Sand Dunes.

12/8/25 - 4:31pm - 76°F