Palm Springs, CA - Just Another Hike

‘May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.’ Edward Abbey

Last night about 9:00, Gary said we should hike today. At 9:00? pm? Sure - I’m always up for a hike. thus today we’re hiking the Art Smith Trail. We’ve done this one before and it is probably one of my favorite Palm Springs hikes. It has the challenge, the views, the surprises, the elevation and the trail winds through some awesome rocks. It’s 8 miles out and back and, though we like a loop trail best, this is such a neat trail that we don’t mind the out and back. The first part is the slog to a saddle then a flat hike around a rocky cliff with views of the golf courses and homes below and the mountains across the valley.

Then another upward slog to another saddle before another flat hike to the next slog up. Note how the upward slogs are interspersed with some relatively flat hiking. Thanks to those who planned this trail.

Once we get to the top (relatively speaking, there is more up and down to go but it is more gentle) we are away from the views of the city and are hiking between some marvelous rock formations, weaving in and out so much that it is hard to see the trail ahead of us. Then we hit the first of the surprises, hidden fan palm groves. High up in the mountains, hidden from view of the city below are about 6 small palm copses. They grow in the slits of the canyons formed by the rains that must wash off these desert mountains. Looking at this picture, it is hard to imagine enough rain to sustain these palms but they flourish in these small canyons.

And, it’s our pleasure to see them as we hike. Surprise.

Lunch among these palms is a pleasure.

This trail is actually 8 miles out and 8 miles back. We got about 6 miles in and decided that, since we hadn’t hiked for a while, we’d better turn back. We try to remember that every mile in means another mile out. But, we decided to go just one more bend in the trail. And what a view: the Coachella Valley and the mountains of Joshua Tree National Park. Of course, there were lots of other ‘little hills’ to climb too. Maybe next time.

11.5 2592” pretty good for two old geezers