THE Trip, Indian Canyons, Palm Springs, California, The Amazing Finale'

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Back at the parking area of the Palm Canyon we remembered that John, the wonderful docent of the Palm Springs Visitor's Center, had mentioned a short, very very short, hike to a waterfall.  Less than 400 feet from the Trading Post, and, we are off - -

Here is our first view, about the middle of the photo, is the fall, tucked in behind the massive rocks.

Getting closer:

Following the path even further, closer and closer, right through that opening, surrounded by massive rocks:

(And, yes, mmm, we did climb up there.
Man went all the way through, I climbed up
on the rocks.  Was easy getting up,
getting down was a bit more interesting! Eh?)

My photo from "on the rocks", this is as good as it got for this hiker.  And, again, I note, the photo does not do justice to the real thing.  First of all, you cannot capture the feel of the cool very light mist put off by the fall,  second, you cannot hear it, third, as much as I love my Sony, there are times it just cannot capture the beauty, nor the awe of Mother Nature.

And, that is the amazing finale' for this fabulous day of hiking in the Indian Canyons.

For those who remember my strong reaction to the Palm Springs Tram, I offer this little "bridge" we had to traverse to get to this water fall.  After the tram, I did not even quiver, or snivel, I just marched right across, OK, slow deliberate steps, but over I went (and, of course, back again!)

We did not officially measure the 'bridge',
guessing the part you could actually walk
on was about 12 inches wide.
And, thankfully, not too far UP!  LOL

And, that ends our wonderful day trip to the Indian Canyons.  If you go, remember, take water, take your hat and sunscreen, take extra batteries (or the second battery pack) and take all the awe you can muster.  I can guarantee, you will come up short on the awe factor!




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THE Trip, Indian Canyons, Palm Springs, California, The Amazing Palm Canyon

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

After a long and oh, so enjoyable, hike through the Andreas Canyon, Man and I drove over to the Palm Canyon to hike it.  More palms, different views, different terrain.

They say that the highlight of the Indian Canyons is Palm Canyon, which stretches 15 miles across the north slopes of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

NO, we did not hike 15 miles. Sadly we only saw a part of this canyon, we were tired, the day had already been long and we needed to get back to the fur kids.  That, plus a small matter of I had just about used up all the battery life on battery pack # 1 for the Sony, and, mmmm, RATS, the spare battery pack (# 2) was back in Tana.  What we did see was marvelous, and I eeked out battery life to the max, got every shot I wanted, except one.

When you first arrive in the parking area, and look out, this is the vista that greets you.

From the top of the path that leads down to the canyon floor, note the smooth sand and the surface is pretty flat here under the palms.

So, down we went to the canyon floor, the hike down was rather steep, thank goodness, once again, for our walking sticks.  (Note, when we left the canyon we took another path out, it was not as steep, and our bodies thanked us!  LOL)

So, we wandered around absorbing the beauty, moving slowly, enjoying the easy terrain.  Now, you know, we had to stop here and have a power bar and a rest.  Yep, it was a fab as it looks.

Looking out, as we sat.  Yes, it was cool and comfy and amazing (ya, there is that word again)!

The trail is not as smooth or flat here, one could walk around about 75% of this outcrop, viewing from different angles, again, capturing my imagination.  Snap goes the Sony!

This was the end of our journey into the Palm Canyon, the photo I missed was of Man crawling into this cave for a look.

From this point on the trail got rough, and we will assume steep.  We turned and headed back the way we came.  There were not many on the trails at this time, the canyon, the water reflecting sounds back at us, birds and some other creatures that sounded like Michigan peepers.  Could not see a thing, but the sounds were beautifully musical. (Note, according to this web site, there are frogs in them there ponds, so, maybe it was frogs/peepers I heard singing their little hearts out.)

And, this is why I carry the camera most of the time.  Man insisted that he be allowed to take a photo of me, I HATE my photo being taken, see that horrible snarly look??  Geesh dude, could ya tell me a joke next time??  I WAS having a blast, I WAS happy, even tho it looks like I am mean enough to snap a palm tree in half!  LOL  OK, so the batteries were all but depleted and he had to snap fast and hope he got the shot.  But, really.  ICK.  I'll take the camera back thank you!

Got my layers (note sweatshirt tied around waist), got my
walking stick, hat, bottle of water (in that blue thing near my left hand),
 back pack with more water and snacks.

We were tired, but exhilarated.  And, we had one more very short hike to take, coming up next - -



* I believe that one of the Indian guides we chatted with during the day in the Indian Canyons told us that this canyon lies along a fault line.  Like in earthquake fault lines, etc.  So far I have been unable to find anything on this on the web.

** And, yes, I took a LOT of flora and fauna photos this day of hiking in the Indian Canyons, those photos will appear over at Reflection's Flora and Fauna, coming soon.

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THE Trip, Indian Canyons, Palm Springs, California, The Drive In

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

I'll be bringing you more of our hike at the Indian Canyons in another post, coming as soon as I can, I promise.

But, first, three photos of hazards faced while just driving in.  (Presented with a little bit of fun and craziness.  Man never can figure out why I take some of the photos I do, well, this is why!  At least by the time we were leaving the canyon he was 'into' the thought process and even suggested I try to get a photo of Big Butt leaving, see photo # 3).

First, we got a huge surprise when we came upon this:

We are supposed to drive Big Butt through THIS??  You are kidding right??  Nope, they are NOT kidding.

So, Man kept going, and just as we were wiggling through, I shot this out the window, shooting backwards, to show how close it really was, he really thought I had lost it by now!  LOL

See Big Butt's rear wheel fenders??  It felt closer than it really was, as you can tell from this photo taken on our departure from the canyons:

Yep, Carol is partially crazy, but, admit it, it is kinda fun, eh??

And, now, back to our regularly scheduled blog posts.



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THE Trip, Indian Canyons, Palm Springs, California, AWESOME!

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

(Note to my readers, this post is graphics heavy. I had a horrible time deciding which photos to share with you, this was one awesome memory making photographic day.)

On the advice of one terrific docent at the Palm Springs Visitor's Center,  John, Man and I made a day trip to Indian Canyons, just south of Palm Springs, California to visit the Andreas Canyon and the Palm Canyon.  We hiked in both, we figure close to 3 miles between the two canyons.  (We did not hike the Murray Canyon, which we were informed was more difficult than Andreas.)

The Andreas Canyon is home to the world's second largest native California fan palm oasis.

We hiked the Andreas Canyon first, this magnificent outcropping of rock has been sheltering Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians for hundreds of years.  There was a representative of the tribe at the beginning of the trail, the guide at the beginning of the Andreas Canyon trail told me the name of this rock grouping, which, sadly, I cannot remember.  He explained that this is a sacred area to their tribe.  As awesome as this was, I can easily see why.

The contrast, rock, plant, more awesome!

If palms grow in the desert, there must be water, and lots of it, and there is here.  Walking along the palms, with the magnificent walls of stone and rock and listening to the water gurgle down the hill and the birds chirping away in the back ground.   What's NOT to like??

Below:  Here is a photo to challenge your equilibrium, I took this one simply shooting straight up.

More awe:

The walk in the Andreas Canyon is a 1 mile loop.  You walk one side very close to the water, cross the water on a wooden bridge and then walk the other side, which is much further from the water.  In fact, you cannot hear the water on the second half of the walk.  The first half is partially shaded by the palms, the second half is out in the full sun. Two totally different experiences.  Below, you can see the palms all growing around the water, but you are above them, giving a different perspective than walking amongst them.

Well, that's it for this canyon, cept for this photo of Man hiking in it, photo taken on the first half of the hike.  See his walking stick?  We each purchased one in Tombstone Arizona.  They are extremely light weight and we have been pleasantly surprised at how valuable they are while hiking in this terrain.  The balance they provide adds a bit of confidence to these two users.

Photos from the Palm Canyon hike will follow in the next post.  I'll bet I'll have as much trouble choosing which ones to include as I have for this post.

Till the next post, keep on hiking, with or without a walking stick.

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THE Trip, Palm Springs Tram Ride, Palm Springs, California, At the Top, And Back Down Again

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

More photos from our Tram Ride at Palm Springs.

At the top of the Palm Springs Tram is the Mount San Jacinto State Park.

We had thought we might hike here, however, on arrival we discovered you must walk down a long steep sidewalk before you ever get to the hiking trails.  We ended up wandering down most of the sidewalk, but did not hike, choosing instead to take photos and people watch.  The walk back UP that sidewalk was enough exercise for the day, like I said, STEEP!

Massive rocks and pines line the steep walkway down
to the hiking trails, and as you will see, other snowy activities.

Someone we know, see, those rocks really are pretty good sized.

Yep, snow.  It was 55 degrees, mild, great temp for playing in the snow.
Other patrons of the park were snow shoeing, cross country skiing, sledding
and of course, tossing snow at each other.

The moon rising over the top of Mount San Jacinto.

The sun is starting to set.

Clouds always add interest, and that color!

Heading back down the tram/mountain at night.  The mountain is black,
you can just see the tram cables on the far top left of the photo,
the lights are of Palm Springs looking east.

And, so ends the story/saga/photos of THE Tram ride.  I am sure it is an experience I will remember for as long as I live.




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THE Trip, Palm Springs Tram Ride, Palm Springs, California, Up, Up And Away

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

I took about 250 photos during our day trip on the Palm Springs Tram, here are some:

Sign indicating things to come!

OK, this doesn't look too ominous.

THE Tickets, below, read the fine print.
Open the image to larger view for easier reading.
Click return button on your browser to return to Reflections.

Up we go - - 
Looking down at the Palm Springs and valley area.

Sheer rock, yep, a bit close, and photos just cannot capture this.
(Not at 21 mph and through semi-dirty windows of tram, anyway.)

Getting closer to the top, starting to see snow.

A close up view of the towers and hardware.
Way way way down there is Palm Springs,
very hard to see, eh??  Cause we are up HIGH!

My next post will cover the visit at the top of Mount San Jacinto, some special sunset photos and the night time trip back to the Valley Station. So come on back soon for the final installment of THE Trip, Palm Springs Tram Ride.



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