Hiking in Palm Desert, CA

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Yesterday, we hiked six different trails in Palm Desert.  We started at the Gabby Hayes Trailhead, then to the Hopalong Cassidy, Herb Jefferies, Magnesia Spring (not a trail but a location), Bump and Grind and finished our hike off of Mike Schuler Trail. It was a five mile hike with elevations at 1,300 feet.

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On the side of the trail I saw a large lizard bathing in the sun (see above photo). Not far from there I also saw a roadrunner with something in it's mouth (see photo below). So I stopped to take pictures and film it by zooming in on the roadrunner to get a close up. When I uploaded it to my computer, I was shocked at what I had captured. The pictures showed a lizard hanging out of the side of the roadrunners beak. I decided not to post it here because it was too graphic and gross. It made me feel sorry for the poor little lizard. Especially when I just saw one. I guess that's nature, but it still makes me feel sad.

Roadrunner

Hiking Art Smith to the Hopalong Cassidy Trail

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Last Thursday we hiked the Art Smith Trail part of the way. This week we decided to hike it again only this time cross over to the Hopalong Cassidy Trail. In some areas the trails were narrow and clung to the mountain side. There were many switchbacks and roller-coaster trails.

When we came to Cat Creek, the trail dropped steeply 337 feet to the canyon floor and then a dramatic rise of 560 feet on the opposite side. We had not anticipated the hike being as long as it was. The 8.6 miles took us beyond our normal 3 hour hikes. When we reached the Palm Desert Cross, we were relieved to see the trail drop down to where we had parked our second car.

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Total Distance: 8.61 Miles
Elevation: 2,451 Feet
Duration: 4.5 Hours
Difficulty: Strenuous


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The above video is a simulation of our hike. Captured on an iPhone using Sprint GPS and displayed in a Google Earth Tour.

After this hike, I had blisters on all my toes from using them as brakes going downhill. It would be a good idea to use hiking poles on this hike, that's for sure!

Stock Music: The Mountain We Conquer