Is a 2,851 acre protected nature and wildlife preserve,
located in the southern California desert and extending up into the adjacent San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains.
These photos were taken in late October.
Southern California is still in the worst drought in memory,
but the year round Whitewater River is still actively flowing in the desert, aided by earthquake faults trapping water run off from Southern California’s tallest mountain, the 11,500 foot Mt. Gorgonio.
This geological anomaly creates a natural oasis,
that sustains a host of wildlife including bear, bighorn sheep, and mountain lion,
as well as plants, palms and flowers, all in the midst of the baking hot desert.
Cheers to you from Whitewater Preserve~
For more information on the preserve see: https://wildlandsconservancy.org/preserves/whitewater
Love how you always find something beautiful to show us.
Love how you always kindly appreciate this my friend დ
I agree to that: Cindy is great in doing that!
Awww, thank you both so much! დ
It looks like a beautiful place Cindy. Long may that river run.
Amen Lavinia დ
That underground river is amazing, especially when it comes to the surface. In Death Valley, the water surfaces at Furnace Creek and is just mind-boggling. Then it vanishes again. It might be part of the aquifer that happens further south whereof you speak. (Write?)
Yes. I have seen and agree. Read this: https://whitewatercanyon.org/mission/ I asked the rangers at the preserve about this but they said the water comes from the mountains, which it does but that does explain the whole verdant valley in the middle of the desert. Earthquake faults do however, and it is fascinating.
Thanks for the link!
You are most welcome.
Amazing to see that river in the middle of that landscape… beautiful pictures, Cindy.
Thank you very much & happy you enjoyed დ
Wow interesting ❗️ Cindy: I √ ed out of the Hotel California 45 yrs ago. Live in the Tennessee Valley Authority now and we always got water 🚿 Thanks for sharing this post 🙂 ~Willy
I bet it is beautiful in Tennessee. I have never been. Enjoy დ
That’s a beautiful place, Cindy. A river in the desert. I hope you get rain but not floods.
Thank you Audrey. I appreciated you დ
Gorgeous photos. As you do! Love the water images.
Awww…..So nice and so appreciated. Thank you Michele დ
This is a sacred place, Cindy! Thank you!!
You know lately I have been finding native grinding stones everywhere. I took the twins for a hike and we found six big ones on a large flat rock under the oaks, and Jim and I found more in the preserve. Many of these are thousands of years old. It feels sacred to me when I find them დ
Nice images. However, Let’s hope for rain.
Yes. Please. And thank you დ
The beauty of nature is enclosed in these magnificent photographs.
Hi Cindy. I am pleased to enjoy your magnificent blog again.
Good weekend
Manuel
This is so nice of you Manuel. I am pleased you are here and happy you said hello. Hope all is well with you my friend დ
Everything’s fine. It was a great vacation. My greetings.
Happy to hear!
LOVELY to see some of your scenery – I would definitely feel at home here (with the drought too, sadly).
Yes. I understand. We even have lions! დ
Gracious – that is interesting!
Mountain lions. They are solitary. Avoid people. But because of the drought there are more recent SoCal encounters. They are quite dangerous if they decide to stalk a person.
Love your stunning adventure shots as always, my friend (๑ Ỡ ◡͐ Ỡ๑)ﾉ❤️❤️❤️
Love back to you (๑ Ỡ ◡͐ Ỡ๑)ﾉ❤️❤️❤️
(♡ ὅ ◡ ὅ )ʃ❤️❤️❤️
What an amazing place.
Yes. And I just found it. The desert is like that. It can take a lifetime to explore the mysteries, and still have many yet to be revealed დ
One reason I love deserts.
This looks mixed of everything. And most of all a beautiful landscape to uplift, walk and remember. Thank for this Cindy.
Narayan x
You are most welcome Narayan. Stay safe & well my friend დ
Thanks for your very informative post. I didn’t know about the beautiful oasis or that California is still experiencing drought conditions. It was very bad here (in the Okanagan) during the summer with extreme temperatures and major fires, but there has been plenty of rain for a couple of months now.
Yes. Northern California got some rain, but we are still in dire straits. The rain continues to pass us by. I am glad that your drought has ended დ
What a fascinating and beautiful place. It is so restorative to view through your photos. I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to spend time there in person. Thanks so much Cindy for this breath of nature to start my day! 💚
Awww…… What a lovely & thoughtful comment. Thank you Liz & be well my friend დ
You too Cindy 🌸💕
How amazing that that river still runs, Cindy. Well photographed as always
It is remarkable isn’t it. A burbling brook in the midst of the harsh desert დ
A rugged beauty! Thank you for providing the additional information about how the oasis was formed.
You are very welcome Liz & take good care my friend დ
Will do!
The landscape looks beautiful. Lovely captures, Cindy.
Merci beaucoup mon Ami დ
Nature is the most beautiful! Thank you Cindy for showing us the best!
You are a lovely friend, my friend დ
A beautiful setting and cheers to the anomaly. Thanks for capturing and sharing!
So good to be in touch with you again Frank & cheers to you დ
Cindy, your photos and words could easily be from a travel brochure. Even in the desert, there are autumn colors to behold. I imagine that water is ice cold! Beautiful blog. Enjoy the weekend and be well. oxox
You, know I never felt the water. Now you have made me curious. I must go back and see. Is it ice cold??? დ
Cindy, from past experience in the Colorado mountain streams in the height of summer, they were always ice cold. I hope you have felt ocean waters at some point. Thanks for the comment. Hopefully I will hear back about the water temperature. Who knows but it might be warm! Be well. oxox
I am curious about the temp of the water and will let you know. The earthquake faults in the area trap the water in a subterranean lake, so I am curious about the temperature. As far as the ocean, I was born and grew up by the sea and have spent much of my life in and on the ocean all over our gorgeous planet. დ
Who knows but that that the water temperature might even be warm. I shall stay tuned until you can find out. I would say my husband is the ocean loving one in the family. I love the mountains especially in Colorado where I grew up after age 10. You could say we have the best of both worlds. oxox
Sounds wonderful! დ
Keep me posted on the water temperature next time you are there. Be well. oxox
I will do so დ
Thanks, Cindy. oxox
What a beautiful preserve and oasis Cindy. There is a stark beauty in the desert, but I often feel uncomfortable. Maybe sensing the fragility and danger of living in the desert. I hope the region gets some rain and relief. 🙏
Yes. I know the unease you speak of. The desert can be a very dangerous place for the unwary and unprepared, similar to forests and high mountains დ
What a blessing to see water in the desert! I hope the winter brings much-needed rain to CA. <3
SoCal is still totally parched. The atmospheric river that rolled over NoCal unfortunately avoided us დ
I’m always learning something hear, along with the pleasure of viewing your work.
Awww….. Makes me happy. Deserts have unending mysteries to reveal. I just learned about this preserve too and I have been visiting the desert multiple times a year, all my life დ
Beautiful photos! If you didn’t tell it was a desert, I wouldn’t have known. Looks very lush!
That last comment was me hehe
Smiling. I have the best virtual friends in blogdom! დდ
You are so kind and so appreciated დ
Now you have shown me what I MUST add to my bucket list!
Have a great weekend,
Pit
There are so many hidden secrets in deserts. I love finding them. They never run out of mysteries დ
That’s a very beautiful area! The river looks so inviting, the drought is so terrible.
Yes, the drought is so destructive and so unending. დ
Meanwhile, the east coast is getting an incredible amount of rain. Maddening…
Yes. Very.
I hope the recent rains have provided more water!
No rain of any consequence in Southern California. That atmospheric river bathed Northern California, not us დ
Amazing to see a relatively healthy flow during the severe drought. Here in Western Mass. our brooks and streams often have little flow during a drought. Good luck with some rain coming your way.
The water is trapped by earthquake faults. There is so little written about it, but apparently there is a subterranean lake. Whatever the explanation, it is an incredible oasis in the midst of desert and drought დ
What an amazing place. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you for appreciating it & kiss your sweet kitties დ
Will do!
When there is water, it looks crystal clear!
Amazing, isn’t it! Fault lines trap the water, forming a subterranean lake that creates all this life and beauty in the center of the desert დ
I am so happy that there is a preserve!
Imagine if there was not?
There are many who wish there was not. They do not care if it was no more, as long as they made their $$$$
It is beyond disgusting isn’t it, all the people who only care about exploiting our precious planet. I guess they plan to live on Mars when they have sucked the last bit of breath out of our mutual home დ
Yes, Cindy, they are thinking beyond Mars though. Sadly, I do know a few who say… Use it up! It’s too late to do anything else! What are we saving it for? The sun will die one day, anyway. On & on! დდ
That is a very nihilistic philosophy isn’t it. Beauty is everywhere as you well know. You create it.
Thank you!
Yes, a nihilistic philosophy. Uch!
Agreed.
Beautiful!
Is San Bernadino the one from the song? ♫Last train…♫ ♥
That is ‘Last Train San Fernando’….. But those songs all sound the same! 😉
I got it wrong again, didn’t I? I’m very good at that. Sorry petal. X
I think you are right and they should change the name!! 😉 😉
Hehe, thsnkd for that” ♥
Most welcome my friend.
The majesty of nature! Thank you, Cindy.
You are most welcome & be well Jennie დ
🥰
You have a great gift to put beautiful places or animals in the best light, thank you very much for sharing, Cindy.
Awww,,,,, Such a thoughtful and kind comment Marie. Thank you very much & cheers to you დ
Hi Cindy, Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photographs with us!
You are a joy Charles. Thank you for being such a thoughtful friend. You are most appreciated. დდ
Reblogged this on charles french words reading and writing and commented:
Please enjoy these beautiful photographs from Cindy Knoke!
Not sure a desert would be a particularly kind place for humans to live, but it certainly has a natural beauty, doesn’t it? And Cindy, you’ve captured its essence well, from the flowing river to all those majestic mountains!
Thanks much Debbie. Deserts have a very quiet and stark sort of beauty დ
Lovely shots.
Merci beaucoup mon Ami დ
<3
Klasse Fotos! Wie immer, Das kannst du! Viele Grüße Wolfgang
Grüße zurück an dich Wolfgang. Schön von Ihnen zu hören und vielen Dank für Ihre sehr netten Kommentare. Bleib gesund und munter mein Freund დ
A beautiful and diverse landscape Cindy, an interesting post, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your very thoughtful comments დ
Your world is so far from mine and with each photograph, you make me realize how huge and beautiful and diverse this planet is. Thank you for sharing your piece of Earth, Cindy. xo
It’s wonderful isn’t it, our great big beautiful world! დ
Wow, rugged hills. Whitewater must be a popular name, we have a city and University with that name in Wisconsin!
It fits much more with Wisconsin then it does for the middle of the Southern California desert დ
Beautiful photos. It looks a lovely day to wander around and enjoy the varying terrain of the area.
Thank you and yes. It is a fascinating place to explore. Cheers to you & thanks for dropping by დ
It doesn’t look like classic desert for me, which is sandy, dry and hot. This one have beautiful landscape with the mountains, plants, animals, and even river full of water. There is no people around as I guess. Probably it lucky do not have them, otherwise it did not look so nice.
Yes you are correct. It is an oasis surrounded by stark, dry desert as you describe. There is an earthquake fault in this valley that traps water forming an underground lake. This is why it looks so different than the surrounding desert დ
Thank you. I got it.🙂
დდ
Thank you for sharing these gorgeous shots Cindy. 🙂
Thank you more for your kind appreciation my friend & cheers to you დ
Since we’ve not been able to travel out west for a while, your gorgeous blog post is a balm for my heart that misses that landscape ❤️ (But annoyingly, your posts STILL are not showing up in my email…what gives, WordPress???)
Not being able to travel as freely as before is definitely burdensome. So I am happy the images gave you pleasure. And yes, WP seems to like unfollowing my followers because they do it so constantly! დ
Hopefully the drought will disappear but these are amazing photos of this area. Have a great week Anita
It looks like a wonderful place to hike and enjoy nature!
So a peaceful reprieve from the hot, hostile desert დ
We are visiting family who live in Las Vegas. Another place, at least originally, that sustained life from aquifers which produced springs from the surrounding mountains. Of course, the building around here is bizarre to see from the plane with the desert landscape suddenly turning into warehouses, housing developments, and resorts. – Oscar
Yes. These desert developments seem unnatural don’t they. I love the actual desert itself. Enjoy your visit and thanks for stopping by დ
Look like all are in the midst of the baking hot desert. But you captured beautifully, Cindy!
Awww….. So appreciated Amy. Hope all is well with you დ
Reblogged this on Art, animals, and the earth and commented:
So beautiful – and so important too during the drought.
Magnificent
Honored. Thank you Tangie დ
Thank you for the crystal clear images, it felt as though I was there. Merry Christmas.
You are most welcome. I am happy you enjoyed. Merry Christmas დ
Very nice
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