House Hunting

DAY TWO HUNDRED

The heat in the desert can be deadly in the summer. That was proved today when the bodies of two hikers were found in Palm Springs. It is believed that they died from the heat although the story is still evolving. My information is available at the Desert Sun newspaper website: mydesert.com.

The Cahuilla Hills is an area west of Palm Desert near Highway 74. It is an interesting place in that there are mansions next to tumbledown shacks and every conceivable type of house in between. It is also near some of the areas of the Santa Rosa Mountains where some of our hiking trails go. My goal today was to try to figure out how to access the Hopalong Trail in the middle near the Cahuilla Hills without having to trespass on someone's property. I didn't have much luck.

I decided to try hiking around a hill where this old shack is located.

There's some old junk laying around. This generator was probably used to power an air conditioner. You'd need one to live up here.

There's an old trail that leads up the hill.

To some rock circles.

I follow the hill around and come to this canyon. This doesn't look very promising. It's very rough and rocky and doesn't look like it goes anywhere, at least not to the trail I'm looking for.

There's another tumbledown shack out in the area. I think it is part of some property someone's trying to sell. I can see the realtor's listing.

Historical flat in exclusive area. Handyman's dream with beautiful mountain views.

Laundry room separate from main living quarters.

Multi level properties nearby are also available.

On the way back I spot where the trail goes but I can't figure out where to access it. With the extreme temperatures I don't want to do the entire hike but it would be nice to do this section.

There are some lots in the area where the trail goes. Turning one of them into a trailhead sure would be nice. We don't need more houses in these hills but we sure do need more places to hike from.