Palm Springs Tram

"May the peace of the wilderness be with you!"

 

 This was just my second trip on the Palm Springs Tram. If you're in the area, I very highly recommend setting aside half a day (more if you want to do much hiking) to ride the tram. Or skip the hike and have a sunset dinner at the restaurant at the top of the tram. Here's some basic information from Wikipedia:

 

The Palm Springs Aerial Tram opened in September of 1963 and is the largest rotating aerial tramway in the world! (The tram "cars" actually do rotate as they move up or down the mountain.) In 12.5 minutes, you travel from the Sonoran Desert (elevation 2,643') and exit the tram in an alpine forest (elevation 8,516') for a total gain of 5,873'. 

 

The tram follows an incredibly steep jagged-rock canyon, and it's mind boggling to think about building tram supports on the side of a sheer cliff! On average, temperatures at the top of the tram will be 30-40 degrees cooler. On the day of our tram ride, it was low triple digits in Palm Springs and low 70's at the top of the tram. Perfect for a hike and a great way to escape the sizzling temperatures in the low desert!

Photo: Wikipedia

I'm not a big fan of heights, but I felt safe on the tram. Your results may vary!

Photo: Unknown

Of course, much of the year there will be snow on the ground at the top of the tram. I'm told they rent tubes and sleds for snowplay.

 

This hike had a purpose. Mitch invited me to join him on one of his "training" hikes. He has a tram pass and once every week or so he does a long challenging hike at high elevation (starting at the top of the tram). This is great training for the backpacking trips he does every summer in the Sierras. His next week-long Sierra backpacking trip is coming up in a couple weeks, and I'll be joining him. My problem is I have never hiked or backpacked in the Sierras (although it's been on my bucket list for years) or at high elevations, and I have no idea how my tired old arthritic body (let along my cardiovascular system) is going to repond to a multi-day backpacking trip carrying a heavy pack at elevations above 10,000'. I figure this tram hike will give me a taste. For this hike I'll be carrying a much lighter pack at a lower elevation, and if I have trouble doing this one, then I have no business attempting the Sierra hike.

 

Early on our hike, we pass by this mountain stream. Nope, we're definitely not in the desert any more!
 

After hiking for a while, we come to a spot that has beautiful views looking NE.

 

Whitewater Wash above and to the right of my head.

 

Multi-colored lichen on some of the boulders.

 

Mitch up close and personal with some lichen!

 

Alien visitor? According to Copilot, this is called snow plant - Sarcodes sanguinea. It's navite to forested areas of the western US, especially in the Sierra Nevada. What makes it fascinating is that it's not green and doesn't photosynthesize like most plants. Instead, it's a parasitic plant that taps into fungi in the soil, which are connected to tree roots.

 

We hiked over to Hidden Lake, which it totally dependent upon snowmelt to fill it up. This being a dry year, the lake was just a mudpuddle.

 

Compare this photo to the one below (taken at about the same location).

 

Hidden Lake in a good year (photo courtesy of Mitch Miller).

 

Some of the views look like what you would see from an airplane window!

 

No need to measure snow depth during this visit!

 

Back at the ranger station.

 

A well deserved break for some delicious cookies my sister made!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

 

P.S.: The hike went well. I did notice a bit of a headache at times, which I'm sure was due to the elevation. Overall I'm reasonably sure I can succeed at my upcoming Sierra hike which starts around 10,000'. Wish me luck!

Butcher's Cave

 Does the name "Butcher's Cave" send tingles down your spine? Make the tiny hairs on the back of your neck stand up? Well, if the rumors are true, perhaps it should!

 

Rumor has it that way back in the 1920's someone (probably a miner) stumbled upon the very remote Butcher's Cave and found more than 50 bighorn sheep skulls within the cave. The cave was thought to have been used for butchering bighorn sheep by Native Americans. This find was brought to the attention of the Park Service at some point in time (likely after 1936 when the area was designated a National Monument). Legend has it that Park Service employees removed all but one badly eroded bighorn sheep horn, which they overlooked. Perhaps the Park Service was worried about the potential for vandalism. Or perhaps Butcher's Cave has spiritual significance for Native Americans, and the Park Service didn't want to attract people to the site with all those bighorn sheep skulls. The reasons behind removing all the skulls (if it's even true to begin with) will likely never be known. 

 

Rumors about Butcher's Cave get even crazier, with accusations that it was used as some kind of sacrificial site. Personally, I think all (or at least most) of these rumors are hogwash, and just add to the large number of desert mysteries, myths, legends and secrets. With this backstory in mind, Mitch and I set off to see if we could find the mysterious Butcher's Cave.

 

Bottle opener rock??

Butcher's Cave is difficult to get to, and because of the maze of washes, difficult to find. But the cave itself is not just legend... It really does exist! During the hike in, I took very few photos so I could concentrate on navigation.

Pinion pine exploiting a crack in the boulder.

 

 

Lichen in a variety of colors!

 

There it is!! Butcher's Cave! I was starting to wonder. I remember commenting to Mitch that we should have seen it by now. For some mysterious reason, it tends to remain hidden until you are right on top of it. Or perhaps until it decides it wants you to find it??
 

Outside, looking in. It's a relatively wide, shallow cave.

 

Inside, looking out.

 

I recommend watching the video to the end, where I demonstrate my outstanding coordination (sound up, please)! At the end, there is an alcove within an alcove that appears to have not one but two very old disintegrated horns. If you didn't know what you were looking at, you would likely assume they were old eroded branches or tree roots. If the myth is true, imagine how scary and strange it would have been to find 50-plus bighorn sheep skulls stacked in a pile at the end of this cave!😨

 

 

A better view of one of the old horns. Likely many, many years old.

 

Looking out of the cave at Mitch taking a picture of me.

 

On the hike back, we stop for a rest. It turned out to be a very warm day, and we're both tired!

 

When we finally make it back to the car, we find a shady spot to sit, relax, and re-hydrate. As we're getting ready to leave, we notice a big full moon is on the rise. What luck! We spend another hour photographing the sunset, golden light, and moonrise.

 

 

Joshua trees in golden afternoon light.

 
The next morning I'm up before sunrise, and the sky is going crazy!

 

Butcher's Cave has been on my list for a very long time, and it's nice to finally see it. The myths and legends surrounding it only make it that much more interesting!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

 

If you celebrate, have a safe and happy 4th of July!!

April Flowers

 Yes, I know. But better late than never! These photos were taken on neighborhood hikes (not desert hikes), but you might notice there are a lot of cactus.

If you're really astute, you might notice all the cactus in this post are the same species (I call them prickly pear cactus). 

 

Yellow-colored prickly pear flowers seem to be the most common (personal observation). I've also noticed that the blooms seem to be staggered. You might think if you come back in a week or two, the entire plant (above) will be in bloom. Not so: Prickly pear are careful not to use up all their blooms at once. That might be a good strategy if you want to maximize pollination.

 

The spiny "pads" are useful for other things. I know they can be eaten, although I've never understood how one goes about safely removing all the very sharp and painful thorns. Discouraging people from walking on a closed trail is a new one on me!
 

 

Less common but just as beautiful are the orange flowering prickly pear.

 

 

Rarest of all are pinkish-red blooms. I've never seen an entire plant covered with red blooms. Only like the photo above, where there is a mix of red and yellow blooms on the same plant.
 

There are certainly many plants besides prickly pear that are flowering. I think the tree on the right is Elderberry, and it's also flowering.

The red-orange flowers are from sticky monkey-flower. These flowers range from orange to bright red, and can sometimes dominate an entire meadow or hillside. 

The tubular yellow flowers are tree tobacco, with sticky monkey-flower in the background.

 

I came across a large group of California Digger Bees. They construct nests beneath the soil and are active when plants are blooming. They are very mellow and not at all aggressive. They almost never sting, and have even been nicknamed "tickle bees". They are important pollinators of native wildflowers and contribute to the health and diversity of local ecosystems. If you come across Digger Bees while out hiking, please don't step on their burrows!

 

Western fence lizard... on a fence railing, of course!

 

When I come across the Basque shepherd sculpture, I know I'm nearing the end of my hike. I posted this photo on Facebook, and a friend asked "Where's the dog?". So on my next hike, I had to stop and take a picture with the dog.

Good boy!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Everybody Loves the Sunshine!

Ocean Beach, CA

Mid-March (Spring break)

 

Cue up a great old classic by Roy Ayers (Warning: It will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day!)

Lilly silhouette

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

RIP Brian Wilson Surfin' U.S.A.