Pushawalla Palms Ridge Loop Trail

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY EIGHT

A week ago I went out and hiked a new trail (for me) on the ridge east of Pushawalla Canyon. I forgot my camera and something went wrong with the pictures on my phone so I decided to come back and get some pictures. I really like this trail and think it would be a nice one for anyone to enjoy if you want to walk off some of your holiday weight gain.

Since this is a Preserve area there are no motor vehicles allowed, you know, like bicycles and dogs.

To get to the trail, you have to walk through all the oases in the canyon.

At the last oasis, you can go either straight through this muddy section or take the trail to the left. Just for fun, I went straight.

Once you have gone through the last oasis, keep your eye on the right for this little opening in the canyon wall. It's not really a trail but it's how I got up.

It's across the canyon from this big gap in the west wall, the one with a rusted out old car.

When you top out at the gap, start heading east. You'll hit a trail, cross a little wash and start heading up hill. At least, hopefully you will.

The trail is pretty good but there are sections where erosion has caused significant damage. It's pretty rocky until you hit the top.

But once you hit the top the trail is smooth and beautiful. I initially thought this might be an Indian Trail but the trail meanders along the ridge top while an Indian trail would go from point A to point B.

It meanders along so you can take in the views of the canyons below and the mountains beyond. There are wonderful views all around.

I wonder if the rider of this bike got too caught up in the views and crashed his bike.

It certainly wouldn't have been because he couldn't see at night with this superb lighting.

Keep following the trail until you come to a split and go to the left. I went right and that fork just does a circle and comes back. Go left.

OK, you can go to the right if you want to take one more look at the view before you head down into the canyons again.

The canyon you drop into is rockier than any of the others so far. Be very careful while descending because most of those rocks are loose.

Once you've gone down the canyon, take a right into the next canyon and that will return you to Pushawalla Canyon. From there, it's a short walk back to your vehicle. That is if you have a 4X4 and can drive to the trailhead. If not, your walk will be longer. All in all this loop is just a touch over 3 miles and I highly recommend it. I saw only one set of footprints on the trail itself--mine from a week ago.

Indio Hills Exploration

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO

One of these days when I get a few hours and the temperatures cool off a bit I'd like to do a traverse of the Indio Hills from Thousand Palms Canyon Road over to Dillon Road. I'm sure there are some Indian Trails in the area and it's something I've never done so, why not?

This afternoon I went over near MacComber Palms to see if I could get up on a ridge and check out a possible route. Going to the Indio Hills can be depressing. There is so much garbage. There are sections that look like a war zone with everything in sight having been shot up or burned. Shotgun shells and bullet casing litter the ground and broken glass is everywhere. It hardly seems like a place someone would want to go hiking but once you get off the flat land that is accessible by car things get better quickly.

There is nothing people out here won't shoot and it makes me reluctant to leave my Jeep alone for long.

There's a bit of a trail heading up the ridge so I think maybe I'll be able to find something up here besides rocks and dirt.

Nothing but rocks and dirt yet but getting up higher I get a nice view of the palm trees that are common in the Indio Hills due to the water which bubbles up to the surface due to the San Andreas Fault.

I had hoped that this ridge would connect with some other ridges and get me to the main rib of the Indio Hills but it drops into a wash instead.

There is what looks like a decent trail heading up to the top of this hill so maybe I'll find something interesting at the top.

Just what I suspected: rocks and dirt.

And the sun setting over Mount San Jacinto.

I head down a different ridge hoping to find something interesting but all I find is a ridge that's a little steeper than the one I came up.

It's also been used as a shooting gallery with broken glass all around. I am extra, extra careful coming down this because as much as I don't want to fall on rocks, I REALLY don't want to fall on broken glass.

I think the Indio Hills have treasures to discover with exploration, I just didn't find any today. I'll be back, though. I just want to find a better place to park.