Today, at least for me, there is just one thing going on. Since we arrived, I have been looking longingly at the San Jacinto Mountains, wishing that I could hike up into them. Finding out that the mountains adjacent to Palm Springs were just crisscrossed with well-marked trails, and finding out that the lands were not fenced and that hiking was encouraged made me want to get started all the more.

But the purpose of the trip out here was to find Greg a house, and since he'd been kind enough to bring me along, that was always my first priority- helping with that task where I could. But today, we'd completed the "looking" part of the task, and now Greg had some decisions to make. Did one of the houses suit him? Was he really as serious about moving here as he might of thought, now that we've been here a few days? Those questions and more were questions that only he and Ralph could work on, so I thought I would leave them alone for most of the day to do that.

We had breakfast at Ralph's house in the morning, and over coffee I let Ralph and Blade tell me a bit about where I might go hiking. We determined that a good first start would be the Museum Trail. This well-marked and well-traveled trail is one of the most convenient, the trailhead being right in downtown Palm Springs. Also, I was very unlikely to get lost, they said, as you are almost never out of sight of the city itself as you ascend the trail. If you lose your way, all you have to do, they said, is keep the city in front of you and carefully pick your way down the mountainside. No matter where you come out, there are no fences. Plus, this was the ideal hiking season; the temperatures were moderate and so you did not have to worry about taking lots of water, particularly for a two- or three-hour hike.

So that is what we all decided I should do. As it turned out, the only mistake I made was in not taking my cellphone. I was still a newbie with cellphones; I had only had mine a couple of years. But I often had trouble getting reception even inside my own house, and so I thought that surely reception would be impossible hiking in the mountains. What I didn't realize was that the entire issue is line-of-sight. As long as you have a reasonable line-of-sight to a cell tower, and so long as you are within five miles or so of it, service is available. And since you are never out of sight of the city on the Museum Trail, there is always service, all the way to the top of the San Jacinto Range. (I was to put this assumption to the test a year later when Fred and I came back out here and took the tramway to the top of San Jacinto Peak, at which point I was able to call my sister with no problem at all.) So, although it was not a life-endangering oversight, I should have taken my phone, as it turned out.

Just after lunch, Blade needed to go into his office, and so he drove a little bit out of his way to take me downtown and right off Palm Canyon to the Museum of the Desert. The trailhead for the Museum Trail is actually at the northwest corner of the parking lot adjacent to the Museum itself. We arranged to meet back at the parking lot at seven in the evening. I checked my camera and batteries and headed off.

Before we get started with the pictures, I should say a little bit about the Museum Trail, and some of the other trails in the San Jacinto Mountains. The Museum Trail itself leads from the Museum of the Desert about a mile up the mountainside to a major trail junction. At that point, it meets up with some of the other trails that run along the San Jacinto Mountains. One of these trails goes to San Jacinto Peak, the terminus for the Palm Springs Tramway. Another goes over the range to the town of Idylwild. Still other trails head southeast down the range to the Salton Sea.

There are many, many miles of trails in almost all directions, including one that continues on from the trail junction generally westward and upwards to the top of the ridge (well, it's more than just a ridge- its the crest of the small mountain range). I did not have trail maps of the more extensive trails, nor did I have the time to hike them, nor was I equipped to do so. So I picked the trail that led westward towards the crest. I really wanted to see how far I could get in the time I had, remembering that I had to cut my available time (about six hours) in half to allow enough time to get back down the trail to meet either Ralph or Blade at the Museum at 7PM.

I would love to have been able to mark my exact route on the aerial view here. I did try, but the resolution of the views is not quite good enough for me to follow the exact trail that I took; nor was my memory of which forks and turns I took good enough for me to do that, even had the resolution been good enough. All I can tell you is that the trail was pretty well marked (although I did lose it temporarily once or twice) and it was a hell of a lot of fun hiking along.

Of course, it's the views from the trail that make it so spectacular. As the guys had told me, I was almost always in sight of Palm Springs- and I mean always. And the pictures I am going to include here reflect that. And I did take a lot of pictures. I won't try to describe each one; after all, I can't say much more than "This picture was taken a little further along the trail and a little higher, but it still is a picture of some part of Palm Springs from the Museum Trail." And that would get really tiring. So what I will simply do is present you groups of five or six pictures. Each group will, of course, be from further and further up the trail. There will be a lot of pictures here, all of which you can view by clicking on the thumbnails in each group- but I am sure you know how to do that by now.

So, have fun looking at these pictures of Palm Springs, the Coachella Valley and the mountains on the other side. The only sad thing is that you won't have nearly as much fun looking at them as I had taking them.

We begin then, at the trailhead. I will be heading up the Museum Trail to the trail junction, and from there will be taking the skyline trail on up as far as I can get in three hours or so.

From the trailhead, the trail ascends very steeply for a couple hundred feet or so until it crosses a private road. This road leads from behind the O'Donnell Golf Course to a private home, apparently, since there is a small sign asking hikers not to walk up or down the road itself, but just to cross it to the continuation of the trail on the other side.

Then the trail ascends steeply for another few hundred feet. Just after I crossed the road and got up a little higher for a good view, I took my first movie. Then, I continued up to the top of the first ridgeline where some really good views opened up. Here, I could see quite a bit of downtown Palm Springs, and I could also get my first look at a view that would stay with me for quite a long ways, the view southeast along the San Jacinto range.

I also took another movie at this point, and you can watch that movie here.

The next group of pictures were taken after another twenty minutes of hiking. As I said, all I can say is that I can see more and see farther. First, you can take a look at the movie I made from this spot by using the player at left. Then you can take a look at the pictures by clicking on the thumbnails below:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

What with the exertion of hiking and climbing, it is actually getting fairly warm, and I'll have to roll up my sleeves pretty soon. Somethat further along the trail, I reached another vantage point with some good views. Note particularly the wind farm way off in the distance in the first picture:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

A little ways further along, I did roll up my sleeves, only to find that my watch had stopped. I like the watch, but since I had the battery replaced, any time moisture gets inside it it will stop until the moisture dries up and then it starts again. I had completely forgotten to take it off and put it in my pocket where the perspiration from my arm wouldn't get into it (which is what I usually do when I think this might happen). So now (or so I thought), I'll be at the mercy of asking other hikers (if and when I see them) what time it is, so that I know when to turn around and head home. At any rate, I started off again and took a movie of my progress. You can watch that movie here.

Another twenty minutes (or so) of hiking has brought me to another small ridgeline, where I have stopped to take a picture of downtown Palm Springs. I also took a movie of the vista and one which will show you the route I have taken to get to this spot. I will have to explain one of the comments I made during the narration of the movie I took here, since I forgot to mention this earlier. First, watch the movie with the player at left. You may have noted that I referred to "Greg's House" during the narration. Well, this morning Greg seemed to arrive at a choice of houses. Remember that I said his "budget" was about $900K or so? Well, the house he seems to have settled on is the one with the dramatic backyard pool, waterfalls, firepits, etc.- the one that is listed for $1.5 million. Only slightly over budget. I do have to admit that the house suits Greg and, had I known that he would consider spending that much, I would have offered that opinion. But I don't like to push Greg into anything; sometimes he allows people to do that and ends up with a choice that he really doesn't want. I was surprised that Greg would consider spending so much, but then the house is SO dramatic that I guess I should have expected it.

Yet another thirty minutes has elapsed and, as you might suspect, I am higher still. I have met one person on the trail and based on what time he gave me I have another hour or so before I need to think about turning around and heading back. I took two movies at this vantage point, and you can watch those movies with the players below:

I took some pictures, too, and the thumbnails for these pictures are below:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

Thirty more minutes have gone by, and the views just keep getting more and more spectacular. In addition to the inset picture at the left, take a look at these views:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

And as if those views weren't enough, get a better perspective by watching the movie I filmed.

Well, I have continued hiking up the trail, and (according to the timestamp on the pictures I was taking) it is now about a quarter after four in the afternoon. I must think about turning around soon to make it back to the Museum by seven. But that is hard to do, having come so far. I wish I had started earlier, so I would not be under so much of a time crunch. At any rate, here is my movie of Palm Springs taken from this very high point on the trail, and below are the thumbnails for the pictures I took from here:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

Well, I have come up the trail about as far as I dare, given my time constraints. The last person I saw, maybe 45 minutes ago, told me it was three-thirty, so now it must be about four-fifteen or four-thirty. Given that going down will be a bit quicker than coming up, I should probably allow over two hours to get down (since it has taken me about three hours to climb up). So I guess what I will do is take some movies from here and then call it an afternoon.

The first movie I took pans around from the west up to the top of the ridge and then down to the east and around to Palm Springs, and you can watch that movie with the player at left.

As I was taking my second movie (panning across Palm Springs) I suddenly realized that even though my watch had stopped, and even though I had not brought my cellphone, I STILL had a clock with me- the one in the camera! I'd been looking at it every time I turned on the display but it just had not sunk in. I was so surprised at the realization that my narrative for my second movie is all screwed up timewise. I think I allowed for the time zone changes twice. In any event, it is about four-thirty, as I suspected. You can watch that second movie with the player at right.

Even so, I went on for another ten minutes (there was always one more ridge to climb) and realized that I simply had to bite the bullet and turn back. You can watch the final movie that I took from the highest spot I attained with the player at left.

I did turn around and head back down. That was a good thing because it was actually getting chilly in the shade. As I supposed, the trip down took about two-thirds of the time as the trip up, and I found myself taking a twilight picture of the Museum of the Desert at, according to my camera, exactly 7PM. That must have been right because about fifteen minutes later, Blade showed up to give me a ride back to the house.

I was very appreciative to all concerned when I got back for allowing me the time to make the ascent this afternoon. I also learned that Greg had indeed decided on the $1.5 million house on Santa Elena. To honor the event, Greg had gone to the store and picked up what he needed for a home-cooked meal. I made the drinks (again) and we passed a very pleasant evening.

	November 15, 2004: Palm Springs Trip Day 4
	November 13, 2004: Palm Springs Trip Day 2
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