Not California Dates, Clear Air for Hiking, December’s Cold Moon

Ripening Palm Fruit, hanging in great clusters on California's native fan palms (Washingtonia filifera), can be seen this month. Native Americans of centuries past utilized the black, pea-sized fruit, which consists of a deliciously sweet but almost paperthin skin surrounding a hard seed. These are not "California dates" -- the fruit of cultivated palms introduced into California's deserts from northern Africa. Our native fan palms can be seen in their natural habitat in about two dozen canyons within Anza Borrego Desert State Park. They have also been planted widely elsewhere in California, including along the main streets of Palm Springs.

Hike to San Diego County’s High Places to take advantage of December’s characteristically clear air. From spots such as Cuyamaca Peak in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Wooded Hill in the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area, and Boucher Hill at Palomar Mountain State Park, vistas stretching a hundred miles across the Pacific Ocean are not uncommon at this time of year. Look for the dark profiles of Santa Catalina and San Clemente islands, lying northwest and west of San Diego, respectively. For great hiking tales, check out the Reader's new hiking column, “Roam.” This week Ryan Brothers’ hikes to Garnet Peak in Mount Laguna.

December’s Full Moon, named the “cold moon,” “oak moon,” “wolf moon,” and “moon of long nights” according to the traditions of certain past cultures, rises spectacularly over the eastern horizon at around 4:30 pm, just before the time of sunset, on the evening of Wednesday, December 7. The moon’s nightlong (14-hour) journey will take it nearly to the zenith of the sky by midnight, and then down to a setting position over the ocean by dawn on Thursday morning.