Now that the holidays are over, I have time (and energy) to post some pix from my other* hikes in/around the Coachella Valley.
Enjoy!! (As always, click pics to embiggen.)
----------
*Other, that is, than the two hikes up in Joshua Tree for which see previous post.
----------
 |
| Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve: Welcome Center |
 |
| "Hey guys, wait up! I'm trying to take some pictures here!" Desert hiking is different. |
 |
| Palm Oasis plus distant San Andreas fault lines. |
 |
| Only California native palm species. Ancient. |
 |
| I thought those long frond things were called skirts or aprons. But no! They're called petticoats. |
 |
| Palm Oasis |
 |
| Wind farm on the Coachella Valley floor (400' elev) looking up to Mount San Jacinto (8500' elev) |
 |
| View south across Palm Springs toward Mexico from Mount San Jacinto State park. |
 |
| Hiking Mount San Jacinto. To get up here, you take a tram that rises from approx. 3000' elevation to the top! |
 |
| Alpine Meadow |
 |
| Yet another palm oasis. This one in Indian Canyons on the ancestral home of the Agua Caliente Band of the Cahuilla Indians. |
 |
| Oasis. |
 |
| Note how the petticoats have been burned off the trunks. Wild fires swept through here a few years back, but these trees withstood it. |
 |
| It's a good guess there's water underground around there. Denuded, unburnt stand of palms. |
 |
| Western hiking, yo! |
 |
| Jim H. of the desert |