Rough Country: California's El Paso Mountains...

There's no doubt about it.  Despite the myriad of trails and its relative closeness (30 miles, or so) to the city of Ridgecrest, the El Paso Mountain Range is rugged country.  It is very unforgiving toward those who enter it unprepared.

Even during the cooler months, you should have at lease one other vehicle accompany you, make sure that your  own vehicle is in good mechanical condition, bring plenty of food, and bring plenty of water.

Even for day trips, I carry 6 gallons of water in a military surplus water jug.  That might seem like a lot of water, but I'd rather have too much than too little.

Summertime temperatures can soar well over one hundred degrees in the El Paso's.  You can almost feel the heat emanating from the rocks in the photograph below.

This was taken during one of my summer trips into the El Paso Mountains.  The temperature was roughly one hundred, ten degrees Fahrenheit that day.  Photo by Scott Schwartz