Coyote Gap

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO

There is no shortage of places to hike in the desert; there's a shortage of time. I've wanted to hike up to the Bear Creek Palms in La Quinta but just haven't been able to put together enough time when I don't have other plans. I'd hoped that today would be the day but it won't work, either. Maybe next week but I wont' count on it.

I returned to the trail that I hiked with the wife during the full moon just last week.

I started at a different place and will be hiking much further, all the way up to the saddle that separates La Quinta and Palm Desert.

The fall usually doesn't have much in the way of foliage in the desert but if you look closely you can see life, like this Ocotillo starting to sprout.

I make my way all the way up to the saddle in a bit less than an hour. The trail is tough to follow in spots but goes most of the way to the top.

I get to the top and get a nice view of Palm Desert.

I could easily hike down there but if I had that much time I'd have gone to Bear Creek Palms. The view includes the Santa Rosa Mountains, San Jacinto and San Gorgonio.

From the gap, you can climb to the north to Indio Mountain.

Or to the south and Coyote Mountain. Both of these mountains offer even better views and lots of terrain to explore. The ridge heading beyond Indio Mountain heads all the way to Eisenhower Mountain.

But with time restrictions I'll just have to head back down the way I came. I found a couple of trail sections that I'd missed on the way up so when I come up to do the traverse to Eisenhower it'll be that much easier. Now I've just got to find the time.