Palm Springs

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Saturday, May 05, 2012,



We left El Capitan above Santa Barbara and crossed above LA. The route took us through the Simi Valley and across a lot of desert. Our final destination was Yucca Valley. We are going to stay a couple of days in a motel to get the camp dust off our clothes. We went into Palm Springs and ate dinner after a long shower. I have to admit that it felt good to sleep on a good mattress but I missed opening the door to the trailer and walking out in the natural world.

Today I got up early and went on a bike ride through the desert. I had to turn back after just a few miles because the sand bogged me down. Debi and I returned to Palm Springs mid morning and went to Indian Canyon to do some hiking. This is a magical place in the desert. There is a palm tree oasis in the middle of a rocky deserts setting. Once you get away from the canyon bottom where springs arise from the canyon walls, the environment turns to dry desert. It is absolutely stunning. Barrel cactus, brittle bush and many flowering shrubs crop out of the rocky landscape. The sky is the deepest of blue that I have only seen in Death Valley. Debi came across a Chuckawalla, an eight inch lizard that is related to the iguana. We walked only about 3 miles but it seemed longer in the 90+ heat and direct sun of the desert. We had a picnic under the palms. Just down the road we visited Moorten Botanical Gardens. There were cactus and succulent from around the world. This is a funky little place that is run by an old man who has spent his life collecting and growing cactus. After our travels, we treated ourselves to frozen yogurt in downtown Palm Springs. Tomorrow back to camping at Joshua Tree and then Sedona Arizona.

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