A Day of Palm Trees and Dates

We are midway through our stay in Palm Springs, and having a wonderful time. So far we've had two chilly days and two warm days, seen two Film Fest viewings, run along the base of the glorious San Jacintos, soaked lots and lots in the RV park's hot tub while getting to know some of the people snow birding here for the winter from parts up north, and hung out at a sports bar watching Notre Dame humiliate themselves against Alabama. Sigh. Poor Mike. He waited so long for this day! 

So today we took a break from urban life, and headed out to Joshua Tree National Park for a bit of quiet hiking and communing with nature. The plan was to hike the Lost Palms Oasis Trail, a 7 mile out and back hike, then shoot over the hill via picturesque Box Canyon Road for some hiking recovery therapy - date shakes from Oasis Date Gardens in Thermal.

We headed for the ranger station first to check on the weather and trail conditions before heading out. When the ranger found out we were doing the Lost Palms Oasis Trail he warned us to be prepared for a four to six hour hike. I was shocked and said, "Really? Because my hiking book shows it as a 3.5 hour hike, and we're normally a good bit faster than the book." The ranger said he'd just done the trail in four hours, and had fallen going down the last little descent because he was going too fast, so 3.5 hours seemed rather unrealistic to him.

As we got back into the car to drive to the trail head I told Mike I was a bit worried that I hadn't packed enough food for six hours on the trail, so we agreed that if we started to feel concerned the hike was taking too long we'd turn around and head back early.

Mike at the start of the Lost Palms Oasis trail.

Well, guess what? We covered the first 3.5 miles of the hike in 1:12, and completed the entire 7 miles in 2:25. So, of course I asked Mike to please stop at the ranger station on the way back so I could share this news with the ranger. Yes, I know this bit was about my ego, but I will admit that I enjoyed his sufficiently impressed reaction immensely. And two thumbs up to my hiking book, which hasn't failed me yet.

Some photos from the trail:

Glowing red barrel cactus

Ocotilla. In the spring these will be covered in bright red flowers.

Cute little hedgehog cactus

We headed up and over Box Canyon Rd next, and it was a beautiful drive through stratiated rock canyons. It dropped us onto Highway 111 at the northern tip of the Salton Sea. A few minutes drive north on the 111, and we were at Oasis Date Gardens. A few minutes after that we were sitting outside, enjoying our delicious date shakes, while gazing at the beautiful date palm trees that were all around.

Date shakes and almond stuffed dates with coconut

Date palms

We ended the day pretty much as we have all week - in the hot tub with glasses of wine. Tomorrow is projected to be in the high 70's, so it looks like we'll be heading out for our workouts early, then spending the rest of the morning and afternoon around the pool. Temps in the 50's are supposed to be here by Friday, so we need to load up on the warm weather while we can. That's my excuse anyway.