Over and out, Friday 2/21/25

 

Our month at Catalina Spa and RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs is over, and it's time to go home, some 560 miles away and a two-day drive with an overnight stop at Minter Field Air Museum (Harvest Host).  We have so enjoyed this time in the desert, happily avoiding those atmospheric rivers of rain pummeling our lonely home in the foothills of Nevada City ... and the cold, and the damp, and the gray.  Jimmy and I packed a lot into this month, going and doing, living life to the fullest we could.  Out and About -- hiking and biking and playing, and swimming -- oh, the pools!  I will miss swimming the most.  (I swam every day but one.)

The places we've gone, the fantastic sights we've seen, most of it new to us this year, and seeing San Jacinto in all its glory every morning when opening the front window curtains, ah, what a way to begin a day!

Being with friends made the time extra-special.  When we first arrived at Catalina, we were greeted by our friends, Betty and Wayne, from Newfoundland.  After they left, we met a pair of Oregonians named Nancy and Doug and formed a fast friendship.  Then our dear friends, Sue and Mo, arrived from Oregon, accompanied by their friends, Joanne and Phil in their RV, also from Oregon.  We were surrounded by Beavers and Ducks!  Wonderful seeing and being with y'all.

Last Monday, Jimmy and I finally met our goal to hike in the Whitewater Preserve, choosing the amazing Canyon Loop Trail, five miles for us, and a 600' elevation gain switchback to where you see us, above, part of it on the PCT.  We started way down below at the V/C, on the other side of the white riverbed (wash).  Quite the hike.  I have many more pics, but I'll keep it down today. 

On Tuesday, we hopped in Smartie and circumnavigated Joshua Tree NP, beginning at the southern entry in Cottonwood Spring and V/C, driving all the way through the park, out the northern end, and back to Desert Hot Springs.  This wasn't our initial intention, but that's the way the day rocked!  Above, Jimmy is being swallowed by Very Sharp Cholla in the cactus garden!  Thousands of cholla line both sides of the road, right up to the mountains.

After that, we parked Smartie and set out to find arch rock.  We saw every other kind of rock, but we couldn't find arch rock.  I added what I considered appropriate captions. 😃

Lucky us, of course, to find heart rock!  We put 141 miles on Smartie and were tired when we returned to Tergel.  This year we've certainly explored much of Joshua Tree NP and enjoyed every minute.

Wednesday was a change of pace and a visit to Living Desert and Zoo.  Though we lost sight of our four friends, we had a delightful time.  The zoo is planning a Glow at the Park function, hence the dragon.  You know I've been hankering to see a Desert Big Horn sheep, and -- yeehaw! -- I saw four here at the zoo!

Thursday afternoon the six of us (in three cars) made it to downtown Palm Springs.  We wanted to share dinner at Tommy Bahama's and then cruise the Thursday night street fair, featuring arts, crafts, food, and entertainment!  Something for everybody, and it's fun.  The restaurant is a block away from iconic Marilyn Monroe -- and it was my turn for a photo op.

Here are the six of us in a selfie, taken just before we pulled out.  Clockwise from me, you see Joanne, Jimmy, Phil, Mo, and Sue.  Impromptu and everyone is smiling!

Last, but not least by any yardstick, here I am on a rare day by myself in the pool on Thursday and loving it.  All the pools (there are four) feature odorless hot mineral springs water.  You can't believe how therapeutic it is to take a step into the nice warm water and simply let yourself melt into it, like a hand inside a warm mitten.  Jimmy favored the hot spa, feeling rejuvenated by every dip.

That's our month away from home.  Maybe to you, the desert is a barren, even desolate place.  To us, it's an opportunity and, if you've read our posts, you'll see what we mean.  Joyous opportunities abound in a landscape that is rich with surreal geologic features and critters and plants.  It's great.  We'll be back ....

... new under the sun?

 

As we close in on our fourth and last week here in Desert Hot Springs, we're trying to cram in as much as we can, weather permitting.  This past week has been a mix of too windy to do anything and a rain day, though the BIG rain fell Thursday after we'd returned from a fabulous musical evening in the clubhouse and were snug inside our Tergel.  Notwithstanding either wind or rain, Catalina Spa's pools are our sweet siren song, and we're in every day.

Smartie pitched a fit on our way back from Joshua Tree last Sunday, so Monday was a hunt for a new air filter, which was ordered and picked up the same day, much to Smartie's relief; she's no longer gasping for air.

Don't tell Smartie that Jimmy was eyeing this snazzy car!

On Wednesday we made our way to Whitewater Preserve and started hiking, but the sky was dark and threatening and raindrops started falling on our heads, so we gave it up.  This past Friday, we drove to Indian Canyons to check out their trails, but the fellow at the entry kiosk told us that the trails were muddy, slippery and the wind was blowing like crazy, so we turned back to a different (and new) trail, just to be Out and About for a while.

Here are a few pics from our outing on the Tukut Trail

 in Whitewater Preserve on Wednesday.  

We didn't get too far.

Check out that sky!

X marks the spot?

Ahh, as we were trying to get across the wash to see water (Whitewater River), we turned around, saw the sky, felt raindrops, and said, okay, that's enough!

I know the river was blasting through here after Thursday's rain!

We had a fine day, anyway!

* * * * * *

Friday morning we awoke to a glowing rainbow, as rain showers continued over the mountains, with blue skies overhead.  Wacky.  When the wind blows through the pass, Desert Hot Springs really gets hammered, and the wind was whipping wildly again on Friday.  The main highways between DHS and Palm Springs were closed due to blowing sand, (second time since we've been here) which meant we had to find alternate routes to our Indian Canyons destination.

Here are a few pics from South Lykken trail, not too far from Indian Canyons (which was ruled out, as I said).  Jimmy's looking in the direction we're heading.  This close to Mount San Jacinto, we were under clouds and hoped it wouldn't rain.  Too bad the desert is colorless this year, as in, absentee flowers and flowering shrubs.  It figures:  No rain for months and months = no flowers.

This hawk was watching us (or perhaps a mouse or vole?).

The rocks/cliffs along here'bouts are aslant, stacked and crazy.

And fascinating.

We got this far before the trail grew narrow, rocky and straight up a mountain, not what we wanted to do.  Instead we followed a trail to the right of Jimmy.

Rain showers toward Indian Canyons.

I didn't try it, but I bet you could echo in this rugged box canyon!

I'm standing next to a dead bush, right?  Wrong!  The Chuparosa is beginning to bloom!  A couple of years ago when we were in Tahquitz Canyon, these common desert shrubs were in full bloom.  Obviously the desert received water that year.  Speaking of water, how about that dark cloud behind me?

We climbed down and up over the (dry) wash and kept walking on into Oswit Canyon, and I spied this teensy what-looked-like a little fern nestled into a rock crevice.  It's Parry's Lip Fern -- new to me.  Rare plant species?

That's about it.  We could've continued on, but it was time for lunch.  We enjoyed the two-mile/ish hike, (plus elevation gain/loss) and didn't get wet.  You can see what irrigation does in the desert -- see the green?  Looking toward part of the city.

Grabbed a phone pic this (Saturday) morning of San Gorgonio with his fresh mantle of snow.  Wow!  Always something new under the sun.

One more trip, Sunday 2/9/25

While we're still in the desert, we wanted to do one more hike at another location in Joshua Tree Nat'l Park.  One we've never been to before.  Sunday seemed like a good day, clear and no wind.  It's a fairly long trek (42 miles) from Desert Hot Springs up to the City of 29 Palms, which is where the 49 Palms trail is.  You're probably wondering if I counted the palms and the answer is no, not in the city or at the oasis. 😊

Surprise!  A) the trailhead parking lot was almost full, and B) the trail was rated "hard." (see below) We chose this trail because the length was only 3 miles R/T (plus: Oasis!).  Judging from the number of cars, this trail appeared to be popular (also, Sunday).  What the hey, we figured there'd be room for a couple of 80-year-old farts, too.  So, we gathered our hiking poles and waters and with a high-ho, away-we-go, we took off.

The straight skinny about this trail.

They ain't just whistlin' Dixie, either!

We took our time, stopping to breathe and look and take pictures.  Jimmy said, "We have all day!"  True.  Little Smartie is parked at the red checkmark.

Apparently the oasis is only a mile-and-a-half from the trailhead, but it seemed much longer.  We had some steep sections that climbed up to the ridge, both coming and going, where others are (below the red x); the views were incredible.

The City of 29 Palms is seen way down there.  We wondered when Joshua Tree was accorded national park status. In 1936 Franklin Roosevelt set aside 825,000 acres of California desert as Joshua Tree Nat'l Monument, later reduced to 560,000 acres.  Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 that expanded the park to 794,000 acres and raised its level of protection to National Park status, and Bill Clinton signed it into law.  And we are grateful.  This park is a wonderful place, full of staggering scenery.

Our first view of the oasis!

(look closely, dead center)

I asked Jimmy to "go stand behind that gorgeous barrel cactus," for a photo op, and he obliged, but, of course, you can hardly see the cactus.  The true beauty of this picture is its all-encompassing vision.  It's my favorite.

Oh buddy, I was in barrel cactus heaven!  If they weren't so darned sharp, I think I would've hugged each one.  Hundreds of barrels grew on the rocky hillsides.  Along with cholla, hedgehog, pincushion, and a prickly pear, but the barrels drew center stage.

How a trail can be carved out of wilderness is a marvel.

Look how rugged!

Getting closer!

Here I am posing, not too many more steps to the oasis.  Yes, we encountered a lot of hikers, and we stepped aside any number of times to let people pass us.  We were enthralled by everything around us and saw no need to hurry.  And believe me, we saw people rush past, neither looking left nor right, and others talking-talking-talking, but I guess each has their own way.

Exciting to be so close!

Eureka!  Again we wondered ... how'd the native Fan Palms get their start here?  Birds?  Humans?  The story is miners planted the palms in the early 1900's to mark the location of a natural spring.  Now it's an oasis.  Desert bighorn sheep frequent the spring, coming down from the peaks to drink.  Coyotes and Quail and other critters, too.  Nope, I didn't see any big dudes.

Life-sustaining water!  And the gift of shade.  Tucked into the bottom of a canyon, this oasis is different than the ones we've seen previously.  Hilly and rocky, not flat and sandy.  Getting into the lower palms was impossible.  I was standing on a boulder high above the water to take the picture. 

Aiiiiieeeee, jump back!

That cholla will bite you!

I've read that much of the park lies in the desert overlap between the Colorado and Mojave deserts.  There isn't any line in the sand, though.  This prickly pear cactus is the only one we saw while hiking the 49 Palms trail.  After a good look'round, we moved on.

The view above us was just as heavenly as that surrounding us!  We were so fortunate to have a perfect day for our outing!

If rocks could talk.

(I want a divorce?)

Thus, we began the uphill slog toward the ridgeline and back to Smartie.  It only took 1:15 hours to finish the trail (longer going in).  We had to be careful where we placed our feet, but, overall, since we took our time, we weren't in distress.  I guess our trusty legs are kinda used to these hikes!

I turned around at the vista point to capture a last look at the oasis, far down that trail at the junction of the mountains.  You see it, that dark green patch.  What a wonder!

Winter in the desert, to Feb 7th

 

One of the reasons, and there are many, we like coming to Desert Hot Springs is leaving the cold, rainy, gray days of winter in NorCal.  We've missed endless days of rain at home, atmospheric rivers of rain, with chilly temperatures to boot, that make the ol' bones hurt!  Or is it da joints?  Sitting-inside-by-the-fireplace-all-day kind of days.  Here in the desert, we can be Out and About every day if we choose to.  And we have a variety of options.

Another reason is being able to see or visit or experience new places.  On windy Wednesday Jimmy and I drove to Rancho Mirage to spend a few hours at Sunnylands, a gorgeous 200-acre estate founded by the Annenbergs.  It was the Ambassadors' "winter home," begun from a sandy patch in the desert in 1963.  Sometimes referred to as the "Camp David of the West," many US presidents, famous entertainers, dignitaries and diplomats gathered here.  From their website, it was:  "A place of history, hospitality, and diplomacy in the California desert."

Before embarking on a tour of the grounds, we watched an informative 20-minute movie, "A Place called Sunnylands," and learned much about the Annenbergs and their lives.  Jimmy and I have actually lived through this history, but the refresher was good for us. The winter home is 25,000 sq ft, with 11 man-made lakes, tennis courts and a nine-hole golf course.  Touring the home is offered for a fee, but we said not today.

You could roam some of the grounds for free and for a few bucks, you could see more of the estate, which we did.  The landscaping is just marvelous.  More than 70 species of arid-adapted plants in the gardens.

You know I love these sharp spiny barrel balls!

The Living Pyramid.

Jimmy at one end of the reflecting pond.  This water feature cycles water through a subsurface basin, creating the sound of water and a cooling space on hot days. It also provides water access to wildlife that come through Sunnylands.

Jimmy parked on a replica bench given to the President of the People's Republic of China by President Barak Obama at Sunnylands in 2013.

The cactus garden is fabulous.

The grounds walking tour was 1.25 miles and an hour long.  Above is the rear of the house, surrounded by the greenest of green grass.

Each lake we saw had lots of water fowl, as well as art depicting birds.  Walter was a birder!  The grass harbored ants and I wore sandals, so, naturally, I got bit.  

Isn't this lovely?

Their rose garden contained many rose varieties, all named and all very pretty.  The two yellow flowers on the left are hosting bees!

We also took advantage of the onsite café, enjoying a yummy salad lunch on the patio.  We counted Sunnylands as a delightful way to spend an afternoon, and recommend a visit if you're in the area.

* * * * *

OMGosh, it was so windy in Desert Hot Springs on Thursday!  We decided to escape the wind and head up the mountain with our packs and a lite lunch.  We pulled in at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve to check out their hiking trails.  The wind was strong up here, too, but not as strong!  Thanks to the Morongo fault, ground water rises up year 'round, creating a marshy habitat and a great wildlife attractor. The Preserve is an internationally-recognized birding site.  We saw lots of birds eating from feeders, but nothing I hadn't seen before.

We strapped on our packs and headed out on 9-mile Big Morongo Canyon Trail, nestled into the Little San Bernardino Mountains.  At the start, the trail follows willow-lined Big Morongo Creek, before the creek vanishes. From the canyon floor, we gawked at steep-sided and sometimes towering canyon walls. I hoped to see Bighorn sheep, which occasionally perch on the rocks above, but nope.

Probably not the first people to take a photo at this spot!

Heading down on the Mesquite trail before reaching Canyon trail.

These willows are showing some spring color!

We could hear froggies, too!

We're always curious, but often there's no answer.

Very old, and, no, we don't know.

On the canyon trail.  Native plants are still in winter mode, and this is arid high desert, so it will never look like Sunnylands with drip irrigation!

But we did see a few flowers, bushes of Bladder Pod

Peritoma arborea - with a visiting bee 😊

The site of a landslide sometime in the past, this striated rock was the perfect seat for me to eat my lunch.  Jimmy chose a different rock nearby.

I imagine there are times when floodwaters roar through this canyon. 

We turned around after a couple of miles.  Little did I realize that our track was pretty much downhill, but when we commenced our return, I soon found out why the trail is considered moderate; for a while hiking to the car was tough!  Till we got out of the canyon and spotted this handsome dude.  I think it's the same Anna's Hummingbird that we feed at our house.  All-in-all, we put 4.5 miles on our feet.  Tomorrow we rest!

Man, look at the lenticular cloud gone tornado gaga!  Sorry about the power poles.  Sometimes you can't get past 'em.  We don't always see clouds in the desert, but when we do, they can be crazy!

So we're still living the life down here, appreciating our great good fortune to be where we are.  Happy to share it with y'all.