June 25, 2005: Palm Springs Trip Day 8
	June 23, 2005: Palm Springs Trip Day 6
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Driving to Idyllwild, California

Greg is taking the Brad and Will to the airport this morning, and Fred and I are heading off for a trip that will take us up on top of the San Jacinto Mountains for some hiking in the mountain town of Idyllwild, California.

As we left Greg's house, Fred took a picture of Greg's front gate as well as a picture of Santa Elena Street looking towards the San Jacinto Mountains. Later today, we plan on being up in those mountains, way beyond the ridge line that shows up in these pictures.

An Aerial View Along I-10: What are These?

As you can see on the map, we headed north to meet up with I-10 west towards Los Angeles. At Banning, we would take a road up into the mountains. Shortly after we merged with I-10, we found ourselves amidst a large number of wind turbines scattered on the hillsides, ridge lines and in the valley as well. There are hundreds of these turbines here, because the winds coming through this valley between the desert and the coast are usually strong. We understand that these turbines contribute a sizeable amount of electricity to the local grid. The turbines have a certain technological beauty, and Fred took a number of pictures of them. Below are thumbnails for a few of the best of these; to view the full-size picture, just click on the thumbnail:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

At Banning, we turned south on California 243 leading up into the San Jacinto Mountains. Immediately south of town, the road climbed steeply into the hills, switching back and forth. As the road neared the top of the first ridge, there was an overlook where we stopped (spot #1 on the map). I made a movie of the overlook, and you can watch it with the player at left. From here, you could see all of Banning, California and all the way across the valley. Here is a picture of me at the Banning overlook with more of the San Jacinto mountains in the distance.

The mountains on the other side of the valley pass look as if they might be a separate range, but they aren't. They are a continuation of the San Jacinto Mountains which, at this moment, are behind us. Banning and the highway actually lie in a high mountain pass through the San Jacinto range. These mountains are pretty impressive as you can see. The valley is also the dividing line between the San Jacinto National Forest, on the mountains behind us and above Palm Springs, and the San Bernardino National Forest on the mountains across the way. Big Bear Lake, a favorite recreation area, is in the mountains you see here; we'll be making a trip there tomorrow.

We got steadily higher as we drove south on the highway. Shortly after coming over the crest of this ridge of mountains we reached a point (#2 on the map) where we had an excellent view of Riverside, California, far off in the distance. Here is a picture of Fred at the Riverside viewpoint. At this same overlook, Fred found some interesting mountain flowers to be worth a picture.

Just a ways further on there was another stop along the highway (number 3 on the map), which turned out to be a memorial to the firefighters who lost their lives some years ago battling one of the worst fires this area has seen. The plaque also commemorates all the other men and women who yearly find themselves working to contain the wildfires that are common in Riverside County; fortunately, these fires to not often reach the National Forest. The view from this point is certainly a beautiful one.

We got back in the car and continued driving for about ten miles until we reached the picturesque mountain town of Idyllwild, California, nestled high up in the San Jacinto Mountains.

The Devil's Slide Hike in Idyllwild, California

When we reached Idyllwild, we had to stop and ask directions to the trailhead for one of the hiks we wanted to do here- the Devil's Slide hike. As it turned out, the trailhead was all the way back up into the valley towards the northeast at a spot called Humber Park. We followed the directions we'd gotten, and found the park with little problem.

The Devil's Slide hike takes you from Humber Park up a series of switchbacks and then onto a good trail that leads along the western face of the ridgeline. From the trail, there are excellent views to the west and southwest. There are a number of prominent features, chief among them Suicide Rock.

The trail ends at a high mountain trail junction where you can transfer to any one of a number of trails that lead through the San Jacinto Mountains. One of these trails leads to the area at the top of the Palm Springs Tramway where we were the other day. Other trails lead all the way back to Palm Springs itself, as well as north to Banning.

As I've said before, the Palm Springs area seems to be a hiker's paradise; there are certainly enough trails to keep you busy for quite some time.

I've marked the approximate route the trail takes on the aerial view below.

The Hike Up

We started out on the trail from the parking area a little after lunchtime and, after negotiating the switchbacks, found ourselves on a really good trail leading up along the ridgeline. As we ascended higher, we got excellent views looking towards the west and south. Here, for example, is a panoramic view of Suicide Rock and the San Jacinto Mountains looking south. Fred also took a closeup of Suicide Rock; we inquired later to find that the rock is so named not because some excessive number of people have chosen it as their final adventure, but rather because if you are not careful climbing around on it, you can, as has happened a couple of times in the past, fall to your death.

A bit further along the hike, here is Fred on the Devil's Slide trail and, from about the same place, a picture of me on the trail. The trail itself was well-maintained, but we did find out that hikers are supposed to stop at the ranger station and get a hiking permit, even if they aren't backpacking. We passed a ranger coming down the trail, and stopped him to ask some questions (including the one about Suicide Rock), and he noticed that we didn't have a little permit slip clipped to ourselves somewhere. He explained that the permits are for our own safety more than anything else, but just told us that if we did another hike in the area, we should stop at the nearest ranger station and check in.

We passed lots of interesting flora and even a small waterfall that we would have missed but for Fred's attention to detail. Finally, towards the top of the trail, I made a little movie of Fred on the trail that you can watch with the player below:

At the Overlook

The Devil's Slide trail ends at a big trail junction at the crest of the major mountain ridgeline, but more about the junction later. For now, I wanted to get to a point where we could get some good views from this crest, and one of the signs at the junction pointed us towards just such a point. It was only a short walk through the relatively flat area here on the crest to come to a bare rock promontory from which the views south and west were unobstructed.

As I expected, the views from the rock outcropping were amazing. Below are the thumbnails for a selection of these views; view the full-sized images by clicking on those thumbnails:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

Fred wasn't too wild about climbing out to the very edge of the rocks, but I did get him to climb up a ways closer to me, although you can tell in this picture of Fred on his way up that he is just a bit uncomfortable with how close he is to the dropoff. But nothing went wrong, and he got some good pictures.

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

You might be curious as to what the rock promontory was like, so here are three thumbnails that will lead you to full-size images of me on the promontory rocks.

While he was climbing around on the rocks here at the overlook, Fred found some interesting flora he hadn't seen before on this trip. When you click on the thumbnails below, you can see the full-size images Fred took:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

At the Junction

After we left the rock overlook, we walked back down the short trail back to the junction. There, we wandered around for a while, just looking at the destination signs for all the trails that came together here. Fred caught this picture of me at the trail junction. I had never seen such a major intersection of mountain trails before, and it was interesting just to look at all the signs and see where the various trails came from or led to. In the movie that I made of the junction (watch with the player at left), I think you can get a good idea of what it was like.

The Hike Down

Well, we'd seen what we came up for, so we headed back down the good trail to the parking area. Along the way, of course, we took a few pictures- notably this one of myself on the trail and this one of Fred on the trail.

I also took one last movie following Fred down the trail, and you can watch that movie with the player at right.

Idyllwild and the Return to Palm Springs

We got back in the car and drove back down into the center of Idyllwild. Idyllwild is a charming mountain town- very touristy but with that typical "old California" feel. We stopped at a little store and got some ice cream and then walked around a bit. Up on the second level of a small shopping arcade, I got a picture of Fred in Idyllwild.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day here, and the temperature was ideal and a welcome change from the Desert Cities. Here is another picture of Idyllwild, California.

Once we'd relaxed for a while, we continued south from Idyllwild through the mountains until we intersected with the road back to Palm Springs and the Desert Cities. We crossed the high mountain valley and then climbed the ridge line to a point where we could look out over the entire Coachella Valley (point #2 on the map).

When we reached the overlook at the top of the long, curving descent into the Coachella Valley, we stopped to admire the view. From here, we could see the entire route ahead down into the valley and the outskirts of the Desert Cities seen here in actual view and in closeup. You can use the aerial view at the right to establish the direction in which these pictures were taken, and also to key the pictures below of the scenery from here and the road down into the valley.

Before you look at the pictures we took here, you might want to take a look at the movie of the Coachella Valley Overlook that I took, using the player below to do so; it will provide a context for the various pictures we took.

You can also take a look of this picture of Fred at the Overlook.

One of the most interesting pictures Fred took from here was this one of a golf course way down in the valley. He also got a picture of me at the overlook.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

We took quite a few pictures from the Coachella Valley Overlook, and I want to put a selection of them here. Since they are basically views of the same thing from different vantage points, I want to make it easy and quick for you to have a look at them, so I'll use a slideshow.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

Well, we left the overlook and headed down the winding road towards the valley. Fred took a couple of pictures as we drove, and you can look at those pictures here and here.

We got back into the Desert Cities, and then headed up Palm Canyon Highway towards Greg's house. Once we entered Palm Springs proper we were almost home. Along the way, Fred took some more pictures of the Bob Hope House, and you can view those pictures here, here and here. He also took some interesting, artistic shots of palm trees with mountain and sky backgrounds, and you can look at them here, here and here.

Then, we were back at Greg's house for a relaxing evening and dinner at home.

	June 25, 2005: Palm Springs Trip Day 8
	June 23, 2005: Palm Springs Trip Day 6
	Return to Main Index for Palm Springs Pictures