The first time I walked over Alcoholic Pass, I did it with a son who hadn't seen me in quite a while. I also was out of shape, and quickly became out of breath. A few feet up the trail, I suspect my son imagined I was about to have a heart attack.

The walk from Coyote Canyon to Clark Valley via Alcoholic Pass involves steep climb up the side of a mountain ridge. If you are out of shape, it's going to leave you out of breath.

The good news is that it's a short climb, and almost immediately the views are spectacular, especially when the sky is blue, perhaps with a few puffy white cumulus clouds in the sky, and the plants in the valley below show signs of being green. You can look to the south and see the citrus groves of the Borrego Valley. You can look to the north toward Lower Willows and see Anza's goal, the route to the coast and Northern California.

As my son and I made our way up the side of the ridge, I quickly appreciated the fact that this is an ancient Cahuilla Indian trail. When the Cahuilla built their trails, they stayed on the high ground, avoiding the washes and the gullies. This enables you to stop as you climb to turn around and survey the countryside while you catch your breath.

If the name Alcoholic Pass sounds to you like a name that was applied by hard-drinking cowboys or field hands, it's a good guess. No one knows for sure how Alcoholic Pass got its name, but one assumption is that back in the days when the Clark brothers had their ranch in Clark Valley, the hands would walk to town and use the route as a shortcut.

It was a shortcut for the Cahuilla, too, an easy route between Cahuilla settlements in Coyote Canyon and Clark Lake. A look at the landscape explains it. If you had to get from Coyote Canyon to Clark Valley, or vice versa, it's much shorter to go over the ridge via Alcoholic Pass than to go south and circle around it.

In summer, the Cahuilla moved from the desert to the mountains to escape the heat. It is quite possible that they used the Alcoholic Pass route. Once they got to Clark Valley, they might head for a point marked Corp on today's Clark Lake N.E. topographic maps. There are a few pictographs at Corp. Just beyond, a person could start climbing into the mountains.

The climb from Desert Gardens to the top and back makes a pleasant little walk in itself. There is a cairn up there with a notebook you can sign, and a place to leave a business card if you remember to bring one.

Clark Valley
When I have time, I also enjoy the walk down the wash into Clark Valley. This walk can be a little tricky, because the wash bends. Normally the way to walk in the desert, assuming you are going to return the same way, is to stop and turn around every so often and study the terrain behind you so you will know where to go on the way back, but because of the bend in the Clark Valley wash, the first terrain signs disappear behind you. It's a broad wash, with a lot of avenues, and finding the right one to take back can become confusing. I have found it useful to follow my footprints on the return trip.

Every time I walk in this part of the Clark Valley, I seem to find things to enjoy, such as birds, insects, animals, and the view of the long ridge that forms the east edge of the valley with Villager and Rabbit peaks at the top. Of course, on a recent trip, I also accidentally jammed my leg on some cactus thorns and got blood on my pants, but misadventures don't count in the desert.

On to Box Canyon