Nov 11th: Palm Desert - Arrival Day

I finally made it to Palm Desert with the Rahns. I had planned to go last year but COVID postponed the trip until this year. The Rahns have a time share at the Marriott Desert Palm Resort and invited me to join them for a couple days. 

View of the approach to Palm Canyon

The first day we went for a hike to Palm Canyon, part of the Palm Springs Indian Canyons. It was truly amazing. The drive in to the beginning of the trailhead was beautiful. I took a picture looking back after we parked. Palm Canyon is basically in a groove through the mountains.

Karen and Craig at Trailhead

The trail starts on the side of a mountain and leads down to a creek bed. The creek provides the water for a wonderful stand of very tall palm trees.

This is a view from the top of the trail. You can see Palm Canyon extending into the distance for 15 miles. We were actually quite high at this point which the next picture will show. Look carefully in the center bottom to see people standing at the bottom. 

Look carefully in the center bottom to see people standing at the bottom. The height of the palm trees was beyond anything I could have imagined.

I found it interesting that the palm trees were not trimmed except at the very bottom. It gives them a very different appearance. The trees were so close together and tall that it felt like we were walking through a cathedral. It was very cool and gorgeous.

I asked Craig and Karen to walk ahead a ways so I could get a picture with a good perspective of what it was like hiking through the area. The trees in this area survived a fire as you can see by the blackened trunks.

Craig & Karen into the hot sun

We hiked to the end of the creek bed that supported the palms and were once again in desert landscapes. Very hot and dry but beautiful.

There were numerous interesting rock formations and I took many pictures. Here are just a couple.

Shortly after passing this very tall outcropping of rocks, we decided it was time to turn around and head back.

Steve lifting a bent palm tree

On the way back Karen had a fun idea. She said I should pose like I was holding up a bent over palm tree. In reality I could hardly move it!

We headed back home with me looking forward to a walk through the Marriott Resort Main lobby area and dinner at a good seafood restaurant.