Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Desert Days,Week Three

Three weeks into our month in Desert Hot Springs and we've kept pretty busy. We've gotten together a second time with Zsuzsa and Tom, future fulltimers, and had a fabulous home cooked Hungarian meal. We've also met up with Sharon and Cliff, Canadian snow birds we've had the pleasure of seeing each year since we started fulltiming and met them on the road.

And, of course, we've been hiking. One day we took the short drive over to Mission Creek Preserve. We hiked the 7 mile out and back to the Pacific Crest Trail junction. The first 1.5 miles is on a dirt road, then you hit the actual trail, a good, sometimes sandy, single track up a canyon. The big surprise on this hike was Mission Creek actually had water in it!

Surprise! There's water in Mission Creek!
This was a brief section along the trail...the rest was dry, dry, dry!

We've also done a couple of hikes right from the RV. Flag Mountain was a five mile round trip with substantial elevation gain, you'll want to do this exposed hike on a cooler day. Nina provides directions here. There are some steep, loose rock sections on this hike.
See those two little, tiny people heading up the Flag Mountain Trail?

Great views from Flag Mountain!

We also returned to Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve and did the seven mile loop: Herman's Hike. This hike should be done on a cooler day due to exposure and elevation gain. We enjoyed long desert views, a trek across dry, barren ridge tops, a lovely palm oasis, and the surprise of a creek flowing across the desert.

Heading up hill on the Herman's Hike Loop at 1,000 Palms Preserve.

After miles of dry desert, Willis Palms Oasis comes into view on the hillside just below us.

Willis Palms is an oasis on a hillside!
It last burnt in 2010, but palm trees are able to bounce back from fire due to their composition.

Hard shelled mushroom in the desert.

Surprise creek flowing out of 1,000 Palms Preserve.



Last Sunday we celebrated Equality along with thousands of other folks at the Greater Palm Springs Pride Festival. The parade happened to fall on the second Sunday of the month so we also enjoyed free entry to the Palm Springs Art Museum. And, topped the day off with a free concert by the Psychedelic Furs, taking us back to the early 1980's and the early days of New Wave Punk Rock.


2nd Sundays are free at the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Psychedelic Furs rocked!

We visited The Living Desert in Palm Desert on Veterans Day, where Hans got in for half price in thanks for his military service many years ago. This is a very well done zoo and gardens, half dedicated to Africa, and half to North America. Many of the animal enclosures were large and natural looking, giving the animals a decent home even though they are in captivity. The gardens were beautiful representations of various deserts near and far.

It's a long way down for a drink!

Don't you just want to reach out and pet him?  ;-)

This badger was all feisty, running around like our cat does when she has a wild explosion of energy!

I loved this tree from Madagascar.

There are even a few miles of desert hiking trails at The Living Desert.

We love gila monsters!

Another week of hot pool soaking and desert hiking ahead of us before we move on South.. We're enjoying the cooler temps, a few clouds, and some winds brought in by the deep freeze hitting a big chunk of the country...made a nice sunset last night:







16 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures from your very cool hikes. I'm, amazed at the your finding so much water. Absolutely love your shadow picture. It is just fantastic!

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    1. We've been surprised at the amount of water too...believe me though, the desert is very dry outside of those parts. Too many years of dry back to back.

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  2. What a fun week! And yes, lots more info for us! The Palm Oasis on the hill is quite pretty. And I love the giraffe drinking water. And look forward to a free 2nd Sunday visit to the art museum. My how time flies...it doesn't seem like 3 weeks have gone by.

    I agree...love the shadow picture!

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    1. 1000 Palms Preserve has maps at the ranger station, quite a few miles of trails to explore.

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  3. I love seeing the small creeks still running - sustaining a lot of wildlife I imagine. My last concert was the Psychedelic Furs at the Warfield in San Francisco - how great to see them outdoors! I'm glad you made it to the Living Desert. It is one of my favorite places to visit in the Coachella Valley. Saw a badger in the wild one time - beautiful coats, really scary big teeth and claws! Enjoy your next week in the desert!!

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    1. The Furs were awesome! Sounded just like they did way back when...

      I would so love to see a badger in the wild. Guess I just have to keep getting out in the wild to make that chance happen! :-)

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  4. Great sunset photo, but that tree from Madagascar is amazing.... how unique :-)

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    1. The gardens at this place were just fantastic, made my little gardeners heart happy!

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  5. You certainly have been finding a wide variety of fun things to do! We'll be heading south before too long with some time at Sam's in our future, so thanks for all of the great ideas for things to do in the area. I've never seen a hard shelled mushroom! I didn't even know that mushrooms could grow in the desert. Like everyone else, I think your shadow photo is very cool.

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    1. You are welcome! I do think there is a lot of driving involved to see a variety of things around here.

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  6. Looks like you are finding lots to do in your new home. Isn't it amazing how much you can find in each new place you stay. Good that you were able to find some hikes near the RV park. I was quite surprised by the water here and there when we stayed in Indio. I guess I expected everything to be dry.

    I love the tree from Madagascar! It looks man made.

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    1. Yes, we like to have some days without any driving when we stay a month so it is nice to be able to hike right from the RV park. This desert is not as pretty as some we've stayed in though!

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  7. Love love LOVE that shadow picture! And the Cheetah...probably my favorite animal. Enjoy some good hot soaking for me! I need it with this gang. ;-)

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    1. Thanks!

      You are becoming a hiking animal these days...GOOD FOR YOU! :-)

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  8. Hey, lots of ideas for us when we get there one winter. We will definitely have to try this place and follow your footsteps.
    It is unseasonable very cold for us here in Galveston TX, a freeze warning in fact.

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  9. Looks like you two are staying nice and warm! Looking forward to getting into the 60's here in Austin in a couple of days! Hopefully it will stay there then or we may have to to further south!

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