california – Exploring With Gratitude

The Desert Called, and I Answered… Again (California & Nevada – Part 1 of 2)

After writing several posts about our previous visits to Indio, California, it is starting to become difficult to come up with creative titles for my blogs – how did I do ツ? Subpar blog names aside, our last trip to the desert was in November 2024, and there was definitely no shortage of places to see and things to do during our visit, despite having already spent a lot of time in this area.

We spent the first part of our trip in Indio, before heading to Las Vegas, which provided us with easier access to Death Valley National Park, as well as Grand Canyon West.

Before I get started, a quick note for my email subscribers – did you know that when a blog post is emailed to you, you can click on the title, and you will get redirected to read the post on my website? This will allow you to see the cover photo I have set for each blog!

Indio, California

As you probably already know by now, one of our favourite things to do is hike, and during our most recent visit to Indio, we came across some great new (new to us) hikes to explore:

Bump and Grind Trail: The Bump and Grind Trail is a very popular trail for hiking, trail running and apparently mountain biking (although, we did not see any mountain bikes during our visit) located right near the city in Palm Dessert. About halfway through the loop, there is a “detour” that takes you to the highest point on the trail. If the gates are open, we would definitely recommend completing this additional portion of the hike – it provides beautiful views of the city and desert landscape. We also noticed (after-the-fact) that some reviews on AllTrails suggest doing the hike clockwise; however, we missed this detail and did the hike counter-clockwise. This made the downhill portion near the end a bit challenging – the trail was narrow, and there was loose rock and gravel. Learn from our mistake – go clockwise!

*Views from the top of the Bump and Grind Trail*

Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail: This was my favourite hike that we did near Indio! The start of the trail head is around 45-minutes from Indio, and requires driving down a dusty, gravel road. Part way down this road, you will encounter an abandoned trailer – if you see this, you are going the right way! As the name suggests, there are several rickety, old ladders that you will need to climb to navigate your way through the canyon. The recommendations on AllTrails (we paid attention this time ツ) suggest going clockwise to ensure you are going up most of the ladders, rather than down. We would also suggest downloading a map of the trail, as it is very easy to miss the first ladder; and, make sure to download it well in advance, as there is no service on the trail itself – I believe we lost service at the start of the gravel road. What I loved most about this trail was the diversity that it offered – you start by going up several ladders through a narrow slot canyon, before emerging onto a ridge that provides panoramic views of the surrounding desert mountains. After the ridge, you will descend back into the canyon to complete the hike, except the way back is along a much wider path (surrounded by colourful canyon rock), compared to the narrow slot canyon at the start of the hike. There is definitely no shortage of beautiful sights at the Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail.

*Two of many ladders on the Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail*

*Views from the ridge along the Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail*

Pushwalla Palms Loop: The Pushwalla Palms Loop starts off as a flat trail, but you quickly approach a hill that takes you onto a ridge, overlooking multiple different cities within the Palm Desert vicinity. After walking along the ridge (as seen in this blog’s cover photo), you will descend into a grove of palm trees, aka the Pushwalla Palms. This is the only part of the trail where you will find shade, and there was even a small water stream running between the trees. There was also a lot (and I mean a lot) of droppings from desert big horn sheep amongst the Pushwalla Palms. Fortunately, we did not run into a herd of sheep during our hike – you may recall how spooked I was by the big horn sheep that were watching me in Jasper. After walking through the palm trees, you will go up a rock scramble to begin your return to the trailhead. There are two ways to get back – you can either go back along the same ridge you used to reach the Pushwalla Palms, or you can walk below the ridge. We accidentally opted for the latter (we missed the path back onto the ridge), but would definitely recommend taking the ridge back for better views of the surrounding landscape. The Pushwalla Palms Loop was very different from the first two hikes we did, and we very much enjoyed it!

*The end of the Pushwalla Palms grove – big horn sheep successfully avoided ツ*

Jane’s Hoffbrau Oasis Trail: The last hike we completed while staying in Indio was Jane’s Hoffbrau Oasis Trail. The main reason I wanted to do this trail is because the photos on AllTrails showed a heart “structure” made out of rocks that I wanted to see – it was super cute! Similar to the Pushwalla Palms Loop, Jane’s Hoffbrau Oasis Trail also leads you into a grove of palm trees. However, the grove of palm trees at Pushwalla Palms appeared much bigger and healthier than the ones at Jane’s Hoffbrau Oasis Trail. There are so many different trails in this area that you can essentially “build your own adventure” and see where it takes you! If you are looking for a slightly easier trail to do closer to the city centre, then this one is a great option.

*The heart structure and views from Jane’s Hoffbrau Oasis Trail*

Other than our hikes, we made a quick visit to Pioneertown, an old western-style town that was previously used as a movie set. It is located around an hour from Indio, and is very close to Joshua Tree National Park. There are several shops you can visit along the main strip in Pioneertown, you can grab a drink at the historic Red Dog Salon, and visit the Film Museum, which displays posters of all the movies and TV shows that were filmed in Pioneertown.

*The structures and shops along the main strip in Pioneertown*

Lastly, we made multiple visits to Chef Tanya’s Kitchen while exploring the desert. We enjoyed trying multiple different plant-based sandwiches (my favourite was the Chupacabra Chick’n), soup and ice cream – we cannot believe we did not know about this restaurant sooner!

The Road to Las Vegas

The drive from Indio to Las Vegas is supposed to take 4-hours; however, we made a few stops along the way, and it ended up taking us 8-hours. The problem with our timing was that we had tickets to the Vegas Golden Knights game that evening, and while we made it shortly after 7pm, we missed the warm-up and player introductions, which are Justin’s favourite parts. We would have made it on time had we not taken the wrong road through the Mojave Desert, and encountered terrible traffic on highway-15 due to a multi-vehicle accident.

Despite being late for the hockey game, we really enjoyed the stops we made on the way to Las Vegas:

Amboy Crater: The Amboy Crater is an extinct volcano located along the iconic Route 66 (more about Route 66 below). Apparently, the Amboy Crater last erupted over 10,000 years ago. You can actually hike into the Crater, but unfortunately we did not budget enough time for this (clearly) – we definitely hope to do this hike during a future visit, as the photos I have seen online look incredible! I will not bother sharing the photo I took, as it does not do this amazing sight justice.
Roy’s Motel and Cafe: Our next stop, just a couple of minutes further down Route 66, was Roy’s Motel and Cafe. In case you did not know, Route 66, often referred to as the “Main Street of America,” is one of the most well-travelled highways in the United States. It is 3,940km in length, and stretches from Santa Monica, California, all the way to Chicago, Illinois. While no longer in operation, Roy’s Motel and Cafe used to be a popular rest stop for travellers journeying through the desert up until the late 1970s. It just so happened that the day we were passing through (November 30, 2024), was the day Roy’s Motel and Cafe was having its Historic Mural and Monument Reveal event in honour of its 86th anniversary. There were food vendors on site, live music, and a lot of people! While we were not able to stay for the reveal ceremony (in an attempt to make it to the hockey game on time), we really enjoyed this stop! There are a lot of very cool photo opportunities here, as well – there is the neon Roy’s Motel and Cafe sign (which I can imagine looks very cool at night), and the Route 66 sign is painted onto the road in front. We may or may not have attempted to get some jumping photos on the highway with the two signs…

Mojave National Preserve: One of the faster routes to get to Las Vegas from Indio is actually to cut through the Mojave National Preserve and connect to highway-15. Since this was the recommended route, we decided to make a couple of stops within the protected desert land. Our first stop was at the massive Kelso Dunes. While I have seen sand dunes before (when we visited the Yukon), the Kelso Dunes are massive compared to the small desert in Carcross – the tallest sand dune in Kelso is more than 600 feet tall! For some reason, I find tall mounds of sand deposited amongst other rock formations fascinating, even in the desert ツ.

We also stopped at the Kelso Depot Visitor Center. Here, we learned that Kelso used to be a booming mine town following World War II, and we also saw the original Kelso Jail that was used between 1940 and 1985 for housing “drunks and unruly individuals.” There is a lot of history and interesting sights within the Mojave National Preserve – we barely scratched the surface with our quick visit. We also saw some wildlife near the Museum, specifically a roadrunner, and a coyote – is it possible that our favourite Warner Bros. cartoons were inspired by the Mojave Desert? Fortunately for the road runner, Wile E. Coyote was on his best behaviour ツ. My distraction and determination to take a photo of the coyote is ultimately what resulted in us taking the wrong road when leaving the Kelso Depot Visitor Center. Instead of taking the Kelso Cima Road, we ended up on Kelbaker Road, adding several kilometres to our journey, and this did not allow us to skip the accident on highway-15.

*The Kelso Depot Visitor Center – the Kelso Jail is on the left side in front of the palm trees*

*The coyote near the Kelso Depot Visitor Center*

Well, I originally planned to also write about our adventures through Death Valley National Park and our stops in Nevada – but since this blog is longer than anticipated already, I will report on the rest of our trip in a separate post ツ.

Always grateful,

Michelle

More Time in the Desert

If you have been reading my other blog posts, you will know that we have previously spent time in both Palm Springs and Scottsdale, hence why I am titling this blog post “More Time in the Desert” ツ. We have recently been on two separate trips to Indio, California – the first visit was in October 2023, and we just got back from our second visit earlier this week!

October 2023

I will start by saying that our first trip to Indio was a hot one – even in October, the weather was over 35°C every day! When it is this hot out, your only opportunities to spend time outside are early in the morning and later in the evening. But, we did not let this stop us from exploring outdoors!

For our first full day, we drove out to Palm Springs (which is around 30-minutes from Indio) to check out the Indian Canyons. The Indian Canyons are actually made up of multiple canyons – Palm Canyon, Andreas Canyon and Murray Canyon. Because it was already quite warm out, we opted to start in the Palm Canyon and complete a shorter (fairly easy) hike called Victor Loop, which provided some shade as the start of the trail is almost entirely covered by palm trees. However, the second half of the trail was completely open – the true definition of a desert landscape! This short hike provided fantastic views of Palm Springs and its iconic turbines, and we even saw some desert bighorn sheep.

*Views of the palm trees from the top of the Victor Loop*

*One of the desert bighorn sheep we saw along the Victor Loop*

Apparently the rule for hiking in the desert is: once you have finished half your water, turn around and go back! Makes sense to me!

After we finished the Victor Loop, we drove to Andreas Canyon to do the Andreas Canyon Trail. Fortunately, this trail is only 1.5km long, and similar to Victor Loop, it is surrounded by palm trees. The short distance and shade made this walk tolerable in the heat; however, it is important to be prepared – sunscreen, hats and water are critical!

The other hiking we did during this trip was in Mount San Jacinto State Park. In order to access these trails, we took the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. The Tramway is located about 40-minutes from Indio, and it is similar to a gondola but it spins as it goes up, providing you with 360° views of Palm Springs. Once we reached “Mountain Station” and stepped into Mount San Jacinto State Park, it was clear we had left the desert – the temperatures were about 10°C lower than what we were experiencing in the valley, and the Park had a luscious green landscape.

We started by hiking the Round Valley Trail. Because this hike is slightly longer (4km), you are required to stop by the Ranger Station to grab a permit to complete this hike. The Ranger assesses your ability to hike the Round Valley Trail, primarily by checking if you have enough water to drink (remember the rule I mentioned above?).

While there were not that many view points along the Round Valley Trail, it was a very peaceful walk through the wilderness, with beautiful fall colours!

*Fall colours along the Round Valley Trail*

The second trail we did was the Desert Valley Trail. While only 2km in length, this trail provided stunning views of the surrounding mountains and valley below. The Desert Valley Trail was definitely more scenic than the Round Valley Trail, but overall, we very much enjoyed our time in Mount San Jacinto State Park! As a side note – a big shout out to the tramway operator we had on our way down – he told jokes and had everyone singing along to Sweet Caroline.

In addition to the little bit of hiking we did in October, we also went back to Joshua Tree National Park. Our first visit to Joshua Tree National Park was in December 2022, which I wrote about in my Palm Springs & Joshua Tree National Park (Southern California – Part 1 of 3) post! But this time, we went to the Park at night for stargazing.

Joshua Tree National Park is considered an International Dark Sky Park, and let me tell you, it is very dark at night. It took us about an hour to drive from Indio to the spot where we intended to stargaze – the Ocotillo Patch within the Park. I will admit that we know very little about stargazing and were very unprepared. When we arrived at the Ocotillo Patch, there were other stargazers already there with their folding chairs, blankets and red lights – we did not have any of these supplies! We read that it takes about 30-minute for your eyes to adjust from bright lights, whereas red light does not impact your night vision in the same way. Either way, we were amazed with how many stars were in the sky, and we were even able to see the Milky Way. I am excited to try stargazing again in the future, but this time, with all the proper equipment!

*The night sky in Joshua Tree National Park – this photo does not do the sky justice!*

The final activity we were able to fit in during our visit in October was the Palm Springs Windmill Tour, which allows you to get up-close and personal with the wind turbines. We opted to do the self-driving tour option, where you drive through the different exhibits while listening to an audio track (through a phone app). There are 10 exhibits that discuss the history of the turbines, the different sizes, and you also drive past a solar farm. My favourite fact I learned is that there are various reasons why a turbine might not be spinning in the wind – a couple more obvious reasons like the turbine is down for maintenance or there is not enough wind, but apparently too much wind can also be a bad thing!

Other than that, the rest of our time in Indio was spent relaxing by the pool and hot tub. We were also sure to visit a couple of food spots in Palm Springs that we enjoyed during our last visit – Sammy G’s, for pizza and pasta, and Nature’s Health Cafe, for delicious smoothies!

January 2024

Earlier this week we got back from another trip to Indio. While not as warm as our October trip, the temperatures were between 15-20°C, which was the perfect temperature for hiking and hanging out in the hot tub. I appreciate the temperatures even more now given that it is -13°C (feels like -23°C) in Vancouver as I am writing this blog post!

Our friends, Jeanette and Mike, actually joined us for this trip, and Jeanette is quite familiar with Indio and the surrounding area. She scouted out a lot of our activities for this trip, starting with the East Indio Hills Badlands hike.

This was a very cool trail – it was around 9km in length and took us 2-hours to complete. This hike is the epitome of hiking through the desert with various rock landscapes and we even walked through multiple slot canyons. The highest point on the trail also provided beautiful views of Indio. While I would throughly recommend this hike, make sure to bring enough water and to consider doing it earlier in the day, as there is almost no shade on this trail (with the exception of the slot canyons)!

*Views from the east Indio Badlands trail*

The second hike we managed to fit in during our trip was actually about 1-hour south of Indio in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The trail is called Calcite Mine Trail, and as the name suggests, the Trail is littered with calcite minerals. Jeanette and Mike both collect rocks, making for an exciting rock-hunting adventure ツ. Even Justin and I myself managed to find a couple cool pieces of calcite to bring home!

We also managed to find a slot canyon on this trail – this was the highlight for me, personally!

*Slot Canyon along the Calcite Mine Trail*

I should note that the Calcite Mine Trail is actually fully accessible for a 4×4 vehicle, but unfortunately for us, we had to walk the trail since our vehicle did not have enough clearance. Similar to the East Indio Hills Badlands, it is best to do this hike in the morning, as shade is minimal, and to bring plenty of water.

Following the Calcite Mine Trail, we decided to drive for 1-hour to Slab City to see Salvation Mountain, as we had read several good reviews online about this attraction. However, other than reading a few reviews, we definitely did not know where we were going, and it turns out that Slab City is actually, to quote from Wikipedia, an “off-the-grid alternative lifestyle community.” In other words, this area is very rundown, and populated by homelessness and drug addicts. Slab City actually used to be a training camp for the military, and people have now built their homes on the “slabs” that remain from the military buildings. We got out of our vehicle to observe the Salvation Mountain artwork (which is a giant Christian mural made from bricks, tires and windows) and painted vehicles in the area, but we got startled by a person sitting in one of the vehicles – safe to say, we did not spend too much time in Slab City.

We decided to head back to Indio but wanted to make a stop at the Bombay Beach Ruins – another attraction on Google with great reviews. Little did we know, the community of Bombay Beach is actually considered a “living ghost town.” In order to get to the beach ruins, we had to drive by the community, which is made up of several streets of mobile homes, many of which have been clearly abandoned.

When we reached the beach, we noticed only one other vehicle, as well as a sign that said something along the lines of “The last vehicle to enter did not leave.” Needless to say, we were a bit spooked and decided to observe the ruins from our vehicle without getting out! Amongst the ruins was a lemonade stand, a giant fish, a decapitated person and a bus stop that read “ETA NEVER.” We decided this was another place we did not want to hang around at for too long ツ.

*The bus stop at the Bombay Beach Ruins*

After leaving the beach, we drove through the community to observe the homes. We later learned that there is a small population that continues to live in Bombay Beach, but as noted above, most of the homes are unoccupied. One of the homes even had a swing set with skeletons on it!

We definitely spent some time reading up about Bombay Beach after leaving, and apparently it used to be the “hip and happening place” in the 1950s. However, the Community is situated right next to the Salton Sea, which is becoming increasingly toxic, and ultimately resulted in many residents leaving the area. If you have some free time, I would definitely recommend reading up on both Slab City and Bombay Beach, California – it is all very interesting! But, I am not sure if I would recommend going for a visit ツ.

Lastly, because this was Mike’s first time in California, we took him on a tour through Joshua Tree National Park. Unfortunately, it was quite cold (6°C) when we went, and to make things worse, incredibly windy. It was so windy that Jeanette and I both ended up with wind burn on our faces! Either way, we made the most of our time there by doing a quick hike to the Arch and Heart rocks, pit-stopped for a quick visit to Skull Rock, and also stopped at the Hall of Horrors exhibit to see the Joshua Trees up close!

*Arch Rock in Joshua Tree National Park*

I think that is it! Hopefully if you are planning a trip to Palm Springs in the future, this post (along with my other post) will give you some ideas on activities to check out in the surrounding area!

Always grateful,

Michelle