Art Smith Trail to Cat Canyon Oasis

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY

After yesterday's "take it easy" hike: I decided to do something a little more challenging today. As usual, I didn't have as much time as I would've liked and ended up hiking back in the dark but I'm used to it by now. The wife isn't, though, and she called me twice to make sure I was still alive. I don't think I have ever been more so.

It seems that I'm not the only one out to burn off a few Christmas calories. While the Art Smith is certainly the best trail in Palm Desert, this is, by far, the most cars I've ever seen in the trailhead parking lot. I don't even want to imagine how many people are at the Bump and Grind trailhead parking area today.

I have a little over nine miles to go and less than two hours of daylight left so I put my head down and get moving up the trail. One bad thing about keeping your eye on the trail is that you miss a lot of the scenery. I hiked right past a whole herd of Bighorn Sheep and didn't even see them. I talked to a lady on the trail and she asked if I saw the sheep and, when I told her no, she said they were back a few hundred yards. Some things are worth turning around for.

I tried to get as close as possible but they were wary and retreated when I moved their direction. They didn't go far but they knew I was there. (Click on this or any picture for a closer view).

This guy is the obvious leader of this herd of at least nine.

Here's a closer look.

You'll have to click on this picture to enlarge it but eight Bighorn are here. It's like Where's Waldo trying to find them all. It's amazing how well they blend it. I could have possibly gotten closer to them but with other people on the trail I did not want to take a chance of a scaring them away. Whenever I come upon a scene like this I realize that my next big investment has to be a really good camera.

I wanted to just stay and watch the sheep all day but I had places to go so off I went. The trail passes several palm oases before coming to the Cat Canyon Palms.

It also gains a good amount of elevation.

I wonder what the wife is making for dinner tonight. For some reason, I have a hankering for asparagus.

The trail levels off as you get near Haystack Mountain and then actually starts going down. I hate it when trails start losing elevation that you've already gained.

This benchmark is right next to the trail. Not too interesting, just coordinates.

But it's not long after that when Cat Canyon Palms comes into view.

I won't have much time to look around but I'm sure this was an area that the Indians used.

It's a very healthy oasis and there is surface water available. I'm not going to stomp around in here today but some time I'd like to investigate this whole area more. I think there's another, even larger, oasis up a bit further but this one is all I'll have time for today.

There is a little trail leaving the oasis and I'll take a shortcut whenever I can get one.

With the sun having already set I won't have much light left before the headlamp comes out of the pack and it'll just me, the moon, the stars and the trail.

But before that happens I get to enjoy the wonder of an area that few visitors to the desert, or even locals, will ever see.

Cat Canyon Ridge

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX

The days are getting shorter, the sun is going down earlier and soon after the time change I will have start either hiking in the morning or in the dark. The dark is tempting because I don't like waking up early but I think the pictures might be somewhat lacking if I only go at night. I fear these next two months are going to kill me. Sleep deprivation will do that.

I head up Cat Canyon in Palm Desert fully intending to hike straight up the canyon but sometimes I get distracted.

I get to a split in the canyon and wonder if I should go explore to the right up this unnamed canyon.

Or if I should go to the left and head up Cat Canyon.

For some unknown reason I decide to choose none of the above and go straight up the ridge between this. I wonder if there might be some kind of trail heading up between these two canyons. As far as I can tell the answer is NO.

I look down into Cat Canyon but decide that this is definitely not the way to go down.

I look across to the Hopalong Cassidy Trail and think how nice and easy it would be to have a trail over here instead of endless loose rocks. I don't know if it would be as interesting but it would be easier.

I really want to explore a bit but, more than that, I want to get down off this rocky slope before dark. There are few things scarier than traveling down this type of terrain in the dark.

I get down in time and walk out of the sandy wash just before it turns pitch black. I guess there's one positive thing about going out in the morning: I won't need to carry a headlamp.

Hopalong Cassidy Trail from Cat Canyon

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TWO

This afternoon when I got out of my Jeep to go and hike I was struck by something odd. It wasn't scorching hot. Most afternoons when I start hiking the temperature has been in the 100s but today it was in the 90s and quite possibly the low 90s. It feels nice and gives me hope, hope that the weather is finally changing and the desert will become a hiker's heaven rather than perdition. It's as if I am moving from purgatory into paradise.

Cat Canyon in Palm Desert is the starting point for three possible hikes. There is the canyon itself, filled with palm oases and varnished boulders. Heading south is the Schey Trail created by the hand of Harold Schey.

Then heading north is the Hopalong Cassidy Trail which starts in the south at the Art Smith Trail and on the north side behind Target on Painter's Path.

The trail quickly gains elevation and in minutes I am hundreds of feet above Cat Canyon.

At the top of the trail is a wonderfully quiet wilderness. With no views of anything except mountains you feel as if you are forever away from civilization and, in a way, you are.

Quickly, the view changes and while you are able to see homes, roads and civilization they seem insignificant and temporal. Perhaps because they are.

At the highest point along the trail you can look out at the Little San Bernardino Mountains in the distance. A friend of mine used to always refer to these as the Fake Mountains because their beauty seems utterly unreal as if they were the painted backdrop of an old Western, a Hopalong Cassidy Hollywood movie.

As quickly as it gained elevation, the trail now loses it, heading toward the Stone Eagle Golf Club and the Palm Desert Cross beyond.

There are a few sections of erosion along the trail where rain has washed it out. It's a shame this trail does not draw the attention of those who religiously hike the Bump and Grind. I feel blessed that I alone am able enjoy this trail today but I feel sad for those to whom hiking is merely a matter of physical fitness, an outdoor treadmill. If just a few more people hiked the trail it would see better maintenance although perhaps solitude is a worthy tradeoff for rough trail conditions.

The trail itself continues on toward its northern terminus at Painter's Path but I decide to walk through the neighborhood of the Cahuilla Hills to get back to the start.

It's either that or back up the steep trail and back the way I came and while its tempting I don't want to get back home after dark every night. The wife can only stand so much worry.

I have now hiked every day for nearly nine months without a major mishap or injury, mostly alone. It has been a great experience and I can only hope it continues to inspire me. In the next three months there are lots of places I'd love to visit and many I look forward to revisiting but mostly I've enjoyed discovering areas right near my home that are special little pockets of wildness. You don't have to travel far to find places of wonder, you just have to get out there and look for them.

Schey Trail from Cat Canyon

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY

My list of hikes that I've not done in the local area keeps getting shorter. I can only think of a few that I've yet to do and I'll have to wait until it's just a bit cooler to attack those because they're all hard. OK, there may be a couple in the Indian Canyons that I could do but since I'm cheap I don't want to pay the $8.00 for a couple of hours of hiking. I'll just wait until I can spend the better part of the day there to get my money's worth. Plus, the drive kills me sometimes. I'm not getting tired of hiking but I do get tired of driving to get to places to hike.

Today I did a hike in a place I haven't been to since spring: Cat Canyon. It was only a fifteen minute drive from work.

At the place in the wash where I park to hike up Cat Canyon there's always been a fence. Now the fence is gone. That's a good thing. We need more easy access to hiking, not less.

This sign was also taken down but not removed. Maybe I'll affix it to one of the fence posts.

There are a LOT of footprints in the canyon, more than I've ever seen before. I don't know if people are coming here because they can no longer go to Dead Indian and Carrizo Canyons or if there are just more hikers looking for new places. This is both a good and bad thing.

The trail itself has seen some work since I was last here.

But it could still use a little more. There's been some erosion and washouts due to rain.

I hike to the top of the saddle past where the Schey Trail takes off to the left and the Hopalong Trail continues on past the Bighorn Club. Looking back I can see where the Hopalong Trail continues toward its starting point behind the Palm Desert Target. Doing this entire trail before the year is out is on my list.

Looking south I can see Martinez Mountain in the distance. Though I've stood on its summit many times I'd also like to do this before the year is out. I'll announce it ahead of time in case anyone wants to come along. It's about sixteen miles round trip.

From the top of the saddle I decide to climb this little peak to enjoy the view.

I'm happy I did. The view is dramatic and the weather is superb. One of the great rewards of hiking is that after the physical exertion required to reach a rocky hilltop you are met with views so sublime that all you can do is sit down and enjoy them. There is no better way to relax than this.

Desert Trailblazer

DAY EIGHTY THREE

Trails do not just appear by magic, they have to be made. Some trails are made by animals traveling from one watering hole to another. Others were created by nomadic aboriginal people moving across the land. Still others are engineered by government agencies who use surveyors, construction teams and dynamite, if needed.

Here in the desert, however, we have a few trails that are the work of one man: Harold Schey. Mr. Schey was a retired gentleman with a shovel and a pick who built some trails in Palm Desert and Palm Springs. I only met him a couple of times but he seemed like a no-nonsense sort of man. His trails are certainly built that way.

One of his trails is inaccessible due to the scar on the mountains known as the Bighorn Golf Club. The other goes down from the top of Murray Peak toward Eagle Canyon in Palm Springs. The trail I hiked on today is in Palm Desert near Cat Canyon.

To get there, take Hwy 74 south from Hwy 111 and turn right on Cahuilla Way. Then go right on Cat Canyon, left on Cholla, right on Paisano. You'll see a gravel road on the left going up the wash, turn here. It is probably best to have a 4WD the further you go up the wash but that's up to you. Follow the wash to the fence at the end. There are plenty of No Trespassing signs but hikers are OK. Just stay away from the homes on the left. You don't want to get shot.

The Schey Trail will be on the left up just a little bit.

The trail quickly merges with the Hopalong Cassidy Trail and passes numerous flowers. This is a good area to go right now because the trail is on the north side of the slope and gets less direct sun.

The Schey Trail takes off to the right from the main trail and gains elevation quickly.

The trail is not maintained so in some places it is a bit rough. Bump and Grind regulars would not like it although they'd get twice the workout in half the time.

It runs into the Art Smith Trail allowing for a nice loop by going down the Art Smith Trail and then connecting with the Hopalong Cassidy Trail.

Desert beauty is everywhere along these trails.

So are several palm oases.

Palms require water so you know there is an underground spring here.

The Art Smith goes directly through this oasis.

You make a left on the Hopalong Cassidy Trail and follow it back to our intersection with the Schey and then on to Cat Canyon.

There's one section where the original Schey Trail parallels the new Hopalong Cassidy. Even though Mr. Schey's trail is now somewhat eroded you can still respect the love he put into building his trails and his place as a true desert trailblazer.