Time to head west again. To the high desert of southern California. Another winter visit to the warm sun and blue skies of Yucca Valley and longtime bud and former Mainah Tim.

Got an evening flight out of Portland tonight and should be touching down on the other side of the continent right about the time (1:30 am PST) that you're still snuggled under the quilt with a few more hours of sleep ahead of you.

The climbing gear is packed. So are the hiking and camping goods. Ski clothes are stowed (I'll rent equipment out there). Golf shoes and a dozen balls too (my buddy's got a spare set of clubs).

And the traveling library, of course: The Best American Travel Writing 2006, edited by Tim Cahill; Wandering Home by Bill McKibben; Temple Stream by Bill Roorbach; and Writing About Your Life by William Zinsser. That should suffice for eight-plus hours each way on the plane(s) as well as the odd moment or two of downtime.

The R&R plan for the quick six-day jaunt goes roughly like this:

A round of golf at Roadrunner Dunes in Twenty Nine Palms. Several forays into Joshua Tree National Park for hiking the wide open trails and ridges, and climbing on the sunny granite faces at Echo Rock behind Hidden Valley. A road trip north through the Mojave Desert and up the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for some fine alpine skiing at Mammoth Mountain (they've got a ton of snow apparently), topped off with a good soak in the local hot springs.

In-between all this will no doubt be moments of pure peace and quiet at Tim's cabin homestead atop a desert hill, cup of coffee or cold beer in hand, overlooking miles of glorious nothingness.

Be good. And I'll see you in a week (provided there's no loose rivets on the plane and the wings don't fall off or something).

In the meantime I sure hope you all will get on the horn to the snow gods. Tell 'em we need SNOW here!!!

Photo by Carey Kish
Evening among the Joshua trees in the high desert, Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Photo by CMK
Cholla cactus garden beneath the Pinto Mountains, Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Photo by CMK
My climbing, hiking, skiing, golfing, mad-cap buddy Tim holding a California-size pine cone.

Photo courtesy Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, California.
Sprawling Mammoth Mountain, a dormant volcano in the heart of the Sierras.

Photo courtesy Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, California.
Looking forward to some sun and snow at Mammoth.