A whole different environment ~ our mountains

Let's face it.  Every time I go visit my horses, I leave the desert environment of the Coachella Valley and drive up to an elevation of 4,000 feet.  I board them up in our local San Jacinto mountains.  It's just TOO HOT here in the summers for them.  Some boarding places have misters, but many down here in the desert do not.  I boarded my gelding, Sunni, down here for one summer and every afternoon the ranch owner would go out with her hose and hose down all the horses!  They all turned their big butts toward the hose, but they sure enjoyed the water!  Plus, I actually LOVE those mountains!  They are my escape, my "alternative reality", I guess.  I love exploring them and seeing the different moods of the mountains.  I've learned the hard way that mountain weather is completely DIFFERENT from desert weather.  Here in the desert, our storms usually come up from Mexico.  Up in the mountains, yes, they come from the south, but storms also come in from the west.  There are no other mountain ranges from the coast to these mountains, so the clouds move right in.  And, they move in QUICKLY, as I discovered yesterday afternoon.  I spotted a fog bank off in the distance and, an hour later, I was right in the middle of it!  And, it was still moving in as I left!  Here are some photos.