marty
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My wife Lauren and I recently returned from a most excellent vacation in the Southern California desert. We stayed at the La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, about 20 miles southeast of Palm Springs. Below are our daily highlights. We also took some photos (click View Photos): Photos
(WARNING: photos 1-5 and 42-46 are not hiking related)
Feb 23 – Flew into Los Angeles. Got lost in the city and survived. Arrived in La Quinta mid afternoon. Bought groceries. Had dinner. Crashed early.
Feb 24 – Rain and high winds were in forecast, so I went for a long run and then we headed to Palm Springs and a local casino for sightseeing. We only saw a couple of sprinkles, while LA got a significant rainfall and the mountains got hammered with deep snow. Temps got well into the 70’s until the winds picked up mid afternoon. Picked a grapefruit off a tree in the front yard and found it to be delicious. This became a daily occurrence.
Feb 25 – We headed out bright and early to Joshua Tree National Park. Came in via the Western Entrance in Joshua Tree, CA. Saw lots of desert landscape en route to Keys View. This spot is a large cliff over the San Andreas Fault with extensive views. It was 43 degrees and the winds almost knocked us over. Thought we were on Mount Washington! We then headed to Lost Horse Mine and took the 6-7 mile loop up to the mine and the 5,300 foot summit above. Winds were light on this peak, the weather was in the 60’s and the hiking was very easy due to the switchbacks and sandy terrain. Like most desert hikes, there were extensive views throughout the hike, including the snowcapped peaks of Mt. San Jacinto (elev 10,802) and Mt. San Gorgonio (11,499), the latter which is the highest in southern CA. There were views of many types of cacti and the Joshua Trees flourished here. We also checked out the Jumble Rocks, Skull Rock and Arch Rock at White Tank Campground. Arch Rocks was very cool, but we decided to take a shortcut back and did some spectacular, but unintended boulder scrambling, which Lauren did not necessarily enjoy.
Feb 26 – We went to the Indian Canyons just 2.5 miles south of Palm Springs. This place was the highlight of our trip. It is owned and run by the Aqua Caliente tribe, who lived in this area for centuries. We went to Palm Canyon, which has a huge fan palm oasis (largest in the world?) and a multitude of trails. We did a short but beautiful loop through the Palm Canyon and then up and down the Victor Trail. This area was far greener than Joshua Tree, as it must catch some of the moisture that gets stuck in the San Jacinto mountains. There were wildflowers and flowering cacti everywhere. After the hike, I asked the tribal ranger which trails would go up high. He looked at me like I had two heads and asked if I was looking for some exercise. I said yeah, so he recommended the West Fork loop and Maynard Mine Trails. Am hoping to do them at some future time.
Feb 27 – I headed out solo to Joshua Tree again, this time taking the southern entrance at Cottonwood Springs. Once again it was cold (41 degrees) and windy in the early AM, but warmed up nicely. Did the Lost Palms Oasis and Mastodon Peak loop, plus a couple of side trips (total about 11 miles). Aside from a couple of short scrambles to the oasis and to the true summit of Mastodon, it was some of the easiest and fastest hiking I have ever done. I did not take any photos as I forgot the camera (doh!)
, but on the other hand it was not as spectacular as the Palm Canyon from the previous day. Lots of nice wildflowers, though and the scramble up Mastodon was fun. I finished the hike mid morning and headed back to meet my wife at the pool, where we took in the nice 82 degree sunshine and walked to Old Town La Quinta for dinner and bar hopping!
Feb 28 – We unanimously agreed to head back to the Indian Canyons. Today’s hikes were to the Murray and Andreas Canyons. The Murray Canyon loop via the Murray Canyon Trail and Coffman Trails was excellent. There were abundant wildflowers here and the Murray Creek was flowing very hard with snowmelt from the San Jacinto Mountains above. We headed toward the 7 Sisters waterfalls but were turned back by high water and a swift current. We then hiked the Andreas Canyon loop, which was touristy, but still quite nice. Also bought a hiking book there and found four 8-12 mile hikes about 5 minutes from the place where we stay, all which head up the Santa Rosa Mountains. Will hopefully get to do them in the future.
Feb 29 – We walked around the golf course in the early AM. I then did a 4 mile trail/sidewalk run on the Bear Canyon Urban Trail in La Quinta. That trail starts out going a bit uphill toward the nearby Santa Rosa Mountains and you are quickly rewarded with views of the entire desert valley. It is then an easy run along the mountain foothills back to the place we were staying. We then took the tram up Mt. San Jacinto to its 8,516 foot Tramway building and did some hiking around. They had 2 feet of snow and it was 50 degrees with light winds. Again, it was touristy, but nice.
March 1 – We drove in incredibly dense fog from La Quinta to Los Angeles and flew home.
This was probably our favorite winter vacation ever and we are hoping to do it again, possibly next year. The weather was sunny every day, with valley daytime highs in the upper 70’s to low 80’s with nighttime temps in the upper 40’s. If anyone wants more information about this really cool area, please feel free to PM me.
Best regards,
Marty
(WARNING: photos 1-5 and 42-46 are not hiking related)
Feb 23 – Flew into Los Angeles. Got lost in the city and survived. Arrived in La Quinta mid afternoon. Bought groceries. Had dinner. Crashed early.
Feb 24 – Rain and high winds were in forecast, so I went for a long run and then we headed to Palm Springs and a local casino for sightseeing. We only saw a couple of sprinkles, while LA got a significant rainfall and the mountains got hammered with deep snow. Temps got well into the 70’s until the winds picked up mid afternoon. Picked a grapefruit off a tree in the front yard and found it to be delicious. This became a daily occurrence.
Feb 25 – We headed out bright and early to Joshua Tree National Park. Came in via the Western Entrance in Joshua Tree, CA. Saw lots of desert landscape en route to Keys View. This spot is a large cliff over the San Andreas Fault with extensive views. It was 43 degrees and the winds almost knocked us over. Thought we were on Mount Washington! We then headed to Lost Horse Mine and took the 6-7 mile loop up to the mine and the 5,300 foot summit above. Winds were light on this peak, the weather was in the 60’s and the hiking was very easy due to the switchbacks and sandy terrain. Like most desert hikes, there were extensive views throughout the hike, including the snowcapped peaks of Mt. San Jacinto (elev 10,802) and Mt. San Gorgonio (11,499), the latter which is the highest in southern CA. There were views of many types of cacti and the Joshua Trees flourished here. We also checked out the Jumble Rocks, Skull Rock and Arch Rock at White Tank Campground. Arch Rocks was very cool, but we decided to take a shortcut back and did some spectacular, but unintended boulder scrambling, which Lauren did not necessarily enjoy.
Feb 26 – We went to the Indian Canyons just 2.5 miles south of Palm Springs. This place was the highlight of our trip. It is owned and run by the Aqua Caliente tribe, who lived in this area for centuries. We went to Palm Canyon, which has a huge fan palm oasis (largest in the world?) and a multitude of trails. We did a short but beautiful loop through the Palm Canyon and then up and down the Victor Trail. This area was far greener than Joshua Tree, as it must catch some of the moisture that gets stuck in the San Jacinto mountains. There were wildflowers and flowering cacti everywhere. After the hike, I asked the tribal ranger which trails would go up high. He looked at me like I had two heads and asked if I was looking for some exercise. I said yeah, so he recommended the West Fork loop and Maynard Mine Trails. Am hoping to do them at some future time.
Feb 27 – I headed out solo to Joshua Tree again, this time taking the southern entrance at Cottonwood Springs. Once again it was cold (41 degrees) and windy in the early AM, but warmed up nicely. Did the Lost Palms Oasis and Mastodon Peak loop, plus a couple of side trips (total about 11 miles). Aside from a couple of short scrambles to the oasis and to the true summit of Mastodon, it was some of the easiest and fastest hiking I have ever done. I did not take any photos as I forgot the camera (doh!)
, but on the other hand it was not as spectacular as the Palm Canyon from the previous day. Lots of nice wildflowers, though and the scramble up Mastodon was fun. I finished the hike mid morning and headed back to meet my wife at the pool, where we took in the nice 82 degree sunshine and walked to Old Town La Quinta for dinner and bar hopping!Feb 28 – We unanimously agreed to head back to the Indian Canyons. Today’s hikes were to the Murray and Andreas Canyons. The Murray Canyon loop via the Murray Canyon Trail and Coffman Trails was excellent. There were abundant wildflowers here and the Murray Creek was flowing very hard with snowmelt from the San Jacinto Mountains above. We headed toward the 7 Sisters waterfalls but were turned back by high water and a swift current. We then hiked the Andreas Canyon loop, which was touristy, but still quite nice. Also bought a hiking book there and found four 8-12 mile hikes about 5 minutes from the place where we stay, all which head up the Santa Rosa Mountains. Will hopefully get to do them in the future.
Feb 29 – We walked around the golf course in the early AM. I then did a 4 mile trail/sidewalk run on the Bear Canyon Urban Trail in La Quinta. That trail starts out going a bit uphill toward the nearby Santa Rosa Mountains and you are quickly rewarded with views of the entire desert valley. It is then an easy run along the mountain foothills back to the place we were staying. We then took the tram up Mt. San Jacinto to its 8,516 foot Tramway building and did some hiking around. They had 2 feet of snow and it was 50 degrees with light winds. Again, it was touristy, but nice.
March 1 – We drove in incredibly dense fog from La Quinta to Los Angeles and flew home.
This was probably our favorite winter vacation ever and we are hoping to do it again, possibly next year. The weather was sunny every day, with valley daytime highs in the upper 70’s to low 80’s with nighttime temps in the upper 40’s. If anyone wants more information about this really cool area, please feel free to PM me.
Best regards,
Marty
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