Another hike today. Gotta get our hikes in. That’s what Palm Springs for - well, it’s also for the raisins. We chose to hike one that we did last year for the first time. We liked it with its greenery. Most of Palm Springs hiking is in the desert surrounded mostly by browns and shades thereof. This hike actually has some green on it.
I found this strange prehistoric artifact on the rock wall before we started the hike.
We began hiking through the wash. Here we are looking down at it.
We hiked to what is called Yucca Saddle. Marvelous views each way. Looking towards Palm Springs we can see the city in the valley below the mountains surrounding it lined with wind turbines. Last time we took this hike, we took the trail all the way to the turbines, hoping to find a shortcut back. Nope, we then had to hike all the way back up this hill and back to the trailhead.
Looking the other direction, we can see the San Gorgonios peeking over the top of the hills surrounding us.
As we were looking down towards Palm Springs we noticed this herd of cattle moving up the trail towards us. Well, yeah, look at those cowboys herding them. No wonder they’re moving’ up the trail. Eventually, the hikers decided not to challenge the cattle, they turned back down the trail and the cattle stopped to munch. We were safe.
We asked the ranger about these cattle and found out that they used to be in a herd belonging to the local Native American ranch. Several years ago, there was a fire which burned not only the trees but also the fencing around the ranch and the cattle ‘escaped’ and now roam freely. Every year or so the tribe rounds up what cattle they can in this difficult terrain but there are still some roaming around.
Nice hike. Last time we took it we actually met lots of others on it. Must have been a Saturday. Today, we met just a few.
Let’s see: if I’m 70 in human years, I’m 490 in dog years. No wonder I want to take a nap.
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