We left mid day on Feb. 1, just missing the flooding of the town of Sumas WA by hours. We're all good friends who met each other years ago through the Chilliwack Outdoor Club.
There were a few mishaps underway: Simon blew his trailer tire, our window was shattered when a passing vehicle lost the metal bracket that holds the spare tire to their mount and Johnny woke with a flat tire on his trailer the next day. Duct tape saved the day for us. It lasted for the whole 3.5 weeks that we were travelling.
We arrived Feb. 4 at Oasis Palm RV Resort in Thermal where we stayed for 9 days, doing 6 hikes and 3 days of sightseeing. There were plenty of seagulls by our campsite. They feasted on the dates in the palm trees. We were 9.5 miles northwest of the Salton Sea and 32 miles southeast of Palm Springs.
Feb. 5 - Art Hill hike: 10.4 km / 470m gain / 3:15 hours MT (moving time).
Such a stark contrast between the golf course and the dry wilderness. The Sonora Desert gets only 1" of rain annually. Dave W lives in Palm Springs 3 months of the year and is a former member of our club. We met up with him and he guided us on several hikes. We had to get used to the warm temps - around 15C.
1) Barrel Cactus 2)Chuparosa 4) An oasis of Date Palms 5) Desert Agave 6) Goldfields
Feb. 6 - Painted Canyon hike: 9.5 km / 254m gain / 2:45 hour MT
What made this hike challenging and fun, were the ropes & ladders. Hind sight, we should've done the loop clockwise.
6 pic slider: pic 3) that ladder must've gotten caught up in a flash flood
A piece of gigantic rock broken off & fallen.
Out of the box canyon looking down into another one.
Group shot: Case, Dave, Johnny, Simon & Irene & me
Octillo bushes and the Salton Sea in the distance.
Upon descending into the next box canyon, we came to the first rope. Oh dear!!! We took one cautious look over the edge and couldn't even see the wall. It went 20' straight down! Irene promptly stated, "Nope, we're not doing that." But then Case came, took a look and threw his hiking poles over the edge. There was a moment of stunned silence and then everyone at once asked, "What did you do that for???" At the end of the hike we're glad he did. Yes, we got some scrapes and bruises but it was a lot of fun and a great challenge.
The first rope was the worst, not providing footholds on the bottom 8'.
pic 2) Even skinny Dave had trouble getting through these small cracks. pic 4) Suck it in, Simon!
In the evenings we played games at Johnny & Coullette's place or watched movies at Dave's place or played games in the communal room in the campsite.
Feb. 7 - Lesson to be learned: even in Palm Springs you need your micro-spikes. Four of us took the Palm Springs Arial Tram up to 8516'. From there we started out on the Round Valley Loop trail, aiming to do half the loop to the cabin. But Irene & Simon decided to turn back because of the ice on the trail. Case & I went a bit farther, staying in the snow beside the trail. Soon a hiker approached, wearing only sneakers. He said we were only 3/4 way there. So we also turned back. The next day at the zoo, we ran into him again. He was wearing a sling on his arm. Apparently shortly after we passed him, he fell on the ice and needed first aid.
Massive pine trees. Yes, trees. They were a welcome sight. We were starting to miss them. They grew only at these heights (with the exception of the palm trees of course).
It felt like we were back in Canada.
1) We went a bit off trail to climb to this rock. 3) This massive rock reminded me of a tulip. 4) The back of the high point of the rock was very colourful and had hugh round pockets in it.
2 & 3) Pinecones on steroids (I have a size 10 foot).
By the ranger station, heading back to the tram.
Irene & I did the 1.5 mile Lookout Loop by the tram. This trail had the nicest views.
In total we hiked 10 km / 380m gain.
Sunset and the shadow of the mountain on a full moon night.
Feb. 8 - The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens
This park is split in half, the right side featuring the animals and plants of Africa and the left that of North America. The Living Desert is the driest subdivision of the Sonoran Desert. The Colorado River makes up its eastern border.
1) Metamorphosis 6) Meerkats are a member of the Mongoose family
Giraffes and Greater Kudu which have the longest horns of the antelope family.
2) Humans have 7 vertebrae in their neck. So do giraffes.
Bighorn sheep. Johnny & Coullette saw some of these on our first hike on Art Hill.
Feb. 9: Whitewater Preserve - 17.2 km / 455m gain / 4.5 hours MT
The preserve is surrounded by the mountains of the Sand & Snow National Monument. This trail had a gradual grade and the most water we'd yet seen on a hike in the Palm Springs area.
Part of it was on the PCT. A sign read: North Canada: 2444.9 miles.
Here we went off of the main trail and looped round to the left. We ran into 3 Jackrabbits!
Group shot: me, Dave, Case, Dave & Terry
4) Red Dome Rock. 5) A green pool by the visitor centre. 6) A Eucalyptus tree.
Feb. 10 - Salton Sea Sightseeing
In 1905 the flooding Colorado River was accidentally diverted into the Salton Sink, thus creating the current Salton Sea. It is California's largest lake, at 35 miles long, 15 miles wide and 235' below sea level. It has no outlet to the ocean. Water is lost by evaporation and percolation into the ground. This sea is 50% saltier than the ocean.
In the 1950s the Salton Sea had became a popular resort area. Yacht clubs, marinas and golf courses attracted celebrities but by the 1970s recurring floods had marred the dream of a desert Eden.
Some people still live in the remnants of the resorts, some of whom have created art out of junk.
We had lunch in Inland at the Duck Spot Restaurant (Trip Advisor). Not only was it the best restaurant in town but it was also the only restaurant in town.
As we drove to the southern end of the sea, we checked out this colourful exhibit at the entrance to Slab City.
Feb. 11: The Grottos - 14.44 km / 611m gain / 3:40 hrs MT
Thanks to talking to some locals, we found this trailhead. The sign that the "140 Great Hikes In & Near Palm Springs" talks about is no longer there. So you have to look out for 3 large rocks and a tree and an iron post. We had to climb up to this point in order to descend into the canyon. We could see the Salton Sea from there.
There were 2 grottos or caves. The first one was bigger and more interesting.
"Feeling intimidated, Johnny?"
A guy joke.
The Hidden Oasis was just a 10 minute walk from the entrance to the First Grotto. Case & Dave had gone just a bit farther through the canyon and looped back this way while we went back the way we came in and met them here. The wait was only about 10 minutes.
The Painted Rocks are right across from the second grotto. Getting into this cave was the hardest part. It ended by a 12' high wall which Dave climbed. We went back out the way we came in.
A memorial plaque for the co-author of this book; Hank Koenig. The hiker's Bible for Palm Springs.
Feb. 12: Palm Canyon to Indian Potrero - 15.5 km / 500m gain / 4 hrs MT
This hike had the most palm trees we'd yet seen.
A thin ribbon of water wound through the strip of palms, that grew only in the wet valleys.
The Cholla Cactus are back-lit beauties but their thorns are nasty.
Had lunch at the stone pools where we ran into 4 other members of our club. They were actually just a few sites away from us in the campsite. There were 11 of them.
Group shot: me, Simon & Irene, Terry, Case, + the 2 Daves
The meadows.
About halfway up the Palm Canyon Trail we came to a junction where we stayed right onto the Indian Potrero Trail where the Stone Pools were. Now we took the Palm Spring Trail back on the loop, hiking down a wash here.
In 1980 most of these palm trees were burnt in a fire. But they grew back.
pic 6) A replica of the hut built by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians who inhabited this valley over 2000 years ago. In the summer months they migrated to higher altitudes, namely the Chino Canyon where the arial tram is now located.
Feb. 13: Anza Borrego - Desert Art
SkyArt by Ricardo Breceda. This is a sculpture of Juan de Anza who led two expeditions to Monterey in California from 1774-76. He was appointed by the king of New Spain (now Mexico) to find an overland route which led right through Borrego Springs. After his successful expeditions he was appointed governor of the state of New Mexico.
At the visitor centre.
A store in the village of Anza Borrego. There were several quaint shops on this block in the heart of town.
All the metal sculptures were lift size except for this Eagle. It was about 20' high. These sculptures were just outside of the town and were too far spaced to walk, so we drove.
Prehistoric art.
Ogopogo?
Thus ended the part of this holiday with our friends. The original plan was to spend a week in Palm Springs and then carry on to Arizona to explore the Superstitious Mts + Tucsan area. But they decided to stay there so me and Case took our 4WD van and went to scout out these parks for next year's snowbird trip...
Awesome job Jocelyn, enjoyed all of your blog