O2/20/24: Hiking the Coachella Valley

We arose early to be up for the opening of our hotel breakfast at 6:30 , and then to be at the ticket office at 7:30 and start a long hike at 8. “The best laid plans…” goes the famous quote. As we got dressed, the sun shown up against the mountain range that faces us, but only for 5 minutes when the clouds must have moved in. This was predicted to be a rainy and cloudy day, but I doubted it would compare with the constant rain in northwest Spain.

We had our gear ready for rain, walking through rivers , cold etc, and headed out to the Aguas Calientes Tribal entry station about 10 miles from home. I pulled up to the ticket station, and the woman surprised me by saying that there were no tickets at that location for the Murry Canyon , hike and I would have to drive all the way across town and wait 2 hours for another station to open at the base of the tramway ( ??!!) I wish I had had the presence of mind to show her the Tribal website that listed this location as the correct site, or have asked what the $12 entry fee gave me access too. We were within a mile of the trail we hoped to hike. But no, we across the city and reached the Visitor station. It would not open until 9:30 or 10. Fortunately there was a tour guide standing there waiting for people to arrive and he helped me to know some alternative hikes that would be enjoyable. He, also, could not figure out why they would not sell me the trail entry pass, since that was the usual location.

We soon arrived at the Tahquitz Canyon trail, another tribal run hike with a welcome center. We paid the $15 per person and were soon on the well groomed and not too crowded trail heading to a giant water fall dropping out of the mountains We crossed the river two or three times heading up to the falls, with giant boulders, cliffs, and interesting flora, newly greened up from the unusual recent rainfall. There was a slight drizzle to mist as we walked and it was most pleasant. The surrounding rocks and flora seemed more intense under these conditions and the creek gurgled vigorously. It was about 1.5 miles to the falls, and then returned on the opposite side of the creek.

Satisfied with this alternative hike, we decided it was time for a little coffee break, and found a very cool ( and expensive) cafe, Koffi. The tow of us had a latte and little sandwich for $30. The place was packed and very artfully decorated.

After coffee we headed to the nearby arboretum that specialized in desert plants.

We stopped back at the hotel for a rest period and to decide how to organize the afternoon. I enjoyed running into the Hispanic staff in the laundry room and around the hotel. One guy had just arrived to work this morning by bike and we had that as a connection. These are the invisible people of Palm Springs. I enjoy being able to cross over from the privileged white world to the invisible world.

We chose a strenuous hike for the afternoon: the Araby Trail We knew that the 6 miles long in and out hike would be more that we could handle, but it was close and it was public. We were thankful that we had the last parking space as we arrived around 3 pm. We hiked for one hour up and one hour back down. The trail starts by finding a very narrow path between the ritziest homes in Pam Spring perched on a cliff, and the low class trailer park. Nowhere is the harsh class system of this town on starker display.

The sad little path sandwiched between the rich and the poor houses with numerous warnings about tresspassing.

We needed to find both a place for light dinner that was close to a electric charging station, as it takes more than a 1/2 hour to charge the car from 50% to 85% charge. After trial and error and combining all of our apps we discovered a charging station next to a cute family run Mexican restaurant, Olga’s Tacos. We set the car to charge and walked into the restaurant. On the walls was painted a mural of the greats from classic Mexican cinema, art and TV. we ordere fish tacos, caldo de pollo ( chicken soup or stew) and horchata ( rice drink). Mexican singers were displayed on a large screen TV, including the greatest of all time, Vicente Fernandez.

I asked the 23 years old cashier, Abigail, about the history of the restaurant. It started in their family’s garage, failed more than once, and now is a successful and quite beautiful place. I asked her about the achangel Michael displayed prominently displayed above the front desk, but she coudn’t remember the reason.

Our bellies were full, the car’s electric belly was full, and we headed back to our hotel, less than 2 miles away. Tomorrow we head up to the Joshua Tree NP.