Is excessive heat warning a new thing? I don’t remember the phrase being used in the last century. One thing is for sure, it’s now a worldwide issue. No one is immune.

I moved to San Diego in 1974. Back then you could always count on a hot Santa Ana wind blowing in at the beginning of September just in time for “two-a-days” football practice. I remember they gave us these huge salt pills to take before we suited up and went out in the dry heat. I highly doubt they do that now. It was a rare day when we experienced humidity or a monsoonal thunderstorm. It seems to be the norm now.

In San Diego County it’s typically the deserts, mountains, and inland valleys that get the excessive heat warning. In our neck of the woods, at the end of June we had a few excessive heat days. And right behind our house, a 50-year-old woman died on Black Mountain, the heat got to her and she became dehydrated, disoriented, got lost, and died.

There are so many heat related deaths in Maricopa County (Phoenix area) they can’t keep track. As of July 17^th this year they’ve had 23 confirmed heat related deaths. And there are 322 other deaths under investigation to determine if they are also heat related.

It’s even worse in India and Pakistan. Hundreds are dying from the heat. At night the temps haven’t been dropping below 100°F so the body doesn’t get a chance to recuperate.

It was so hot in Southern Mexico in May that monkeys were falling dead out of trees.

As of this writing, there are 60 large active wildfires in the Western United States.

It’s almost as if the globe is warming. 🤔

We were going to take our annual trip up to our local mountains the week after the 4^th, but we canceled due to excessive heat. The following week the highs were only going to be in the mid 80s, so we decided to go for it. Truth be told the humidity made it miserable, especially in the afternoons. We toughed it out for three days then fled back home to Rancho Bernardo.

Things of note:

• The camp hosts said we missed a huge hour long downpour and flashflood on Sunday. The hail was so bad it damaged trailers. When we arrived on Monday the storm debris was obvious. On Tuesday they scraped Sunset Highway, the main road, leaving little berms of soil, leaves, and branches on the shoulders.
• We saw a bald eagle! I know in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska they are a dime a dozen, but in San Diego County it’s not an everyday sighting.
• We also saw a Western Skink. You can’t miss this reptile with its bright blue tail.
• There were butterflies galore and Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes.

Laguna Campground site 78: great for solar production, bad for shade from the heat. Dry camping, so no electric to run the air conditioning.

Southern Pacific Rattlesnake. We were out biking in the morning before it got too hot. I came ripping around the corner and had no choice but to bunny hop it. Talk about a shot of adrenaline! I then got off my bike and ran back to tell Amelia to stop.

We spent a few minutes observing it. What a beautiful creature.

Big Laguna Lake

Our friends, Jean and Luke, came out and we went on a sweaty mid morning hike.

Early morning humidity clouds

Indian Milkweed

Our last ride before departing.

When we got back to camp, I was getting ready to load my bike into the bed of the Tundra and I noticed another Southern Pacific Rattlesnake just chilling under the truck. Check out the great video below that I got of it.