We booked a trip out to Palm Springs (never been) last week for April 7 to 11 to get away to some warmth and do some hiking/climbing, sunning, drinking...you know. Now I come to find out that anything I want to do would still need full winter gear (We are not packing winter gear). I could bring light crampons or in-steps if needed and we'll have trekking poles but that's as far as we're going with winter gear. I really want to do C to C but that's not going to happen this early. I know there are tons of options in the area and I've been looking into many of them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We don't mind a little suffering. Long day with an early start up to class 3 is fine. I've looked into Tahquitz or a chunck of the PCT near Apache. We could also go North. Staying in Palm Spings so would like to keep the TH within a reasonable distance.

THANKS!

What about Joshua Tree National Monument? It is known for rock climbing, but I thought the park was pretty amazing just to hike around and watch the abundant wildlife. I don't recall how far it is from Palm Springs, but I think it is still in day tripping range. Certainly worth a visit if you haven't been.

JTree has a number of trails up mountains and to mines. From Palm Springs it's not more than 45 minutes to the West Entrance.

Painted Canyon/Ladder Canyon just outside Mecca. There's a 5-mile loop trail through pretty cool slot canyons, but you can sure go off route and do a whole day out there. Pretty dang cool for only 80 from San Diego!

ExcitableBoy wrote:What about Joshua Tree National Monument?

Note: It has been known as Joshua Tree National Park for 17 years.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-103s ... s21enr.pdf

Go to the www.mtsanjacinto.info website and post for suggestions there; you'll get bombarded with suggestions from th P.S locals. There's no lack of lower elevation hiking in the San Jacinto and nearby Santa Rosa Mtns this time of year.

As suggested Joshua Tree NP is easy to get to from Palm Springs. Drive around the loop road, drive up to Keys View (great view of the Coachella Valley looking south), ands take the short 2 mile RT trail to Inspiration point from Keys View. Come back down the road from Keys stop for a 4 mile RT hike at the Lost Horse Mtn mine, or try Ryan Mtn down near the loop road (also about 4 miles RT).

Near the junction of the road up to JTNP ( Hwy 62? off of I-10) is the Whitewater PReserve, which was/is a former trout farm on the SE slopes of the San Bernardino Mtns. Great hiking from there up along the Whitewater River to some very scenic chapparell country. Trun off is off the I-10 Freeway as you're heading toward Los Angeles.

General thought: You might have timed you're trip just right since the abundant rains this winter should probably produce a great wildflower season this spring!

MoabPeakBagger wrote:

ExcitableBoy wrote:What about Joshua Tree National Monument?

Note: It has been known as Joshua Tree National Park for 17 years.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-103s ... s21enr.pdf

I guess that tells you how long ago I last visited

Deb wrote:Painted Canyon/Ladder Canyon just outside Mecca. There's a 5-mile loop trail through pretty cool slot canyons, but you can sure go off route and do a whole day out there. Pretty dang cool for only 80 from San Diego!

Was there supposed to be a wink after the "go off route" comment? As in I may never come out

I've seen you own a lot of pages in the area. I was hoping you'd reply.

Anza Borrego State Park has some of the nicest desert hiking and now is the best season to visit (still not too hot and there should be plenty of wildflowers). Lots of options from short walks to some fun suffering. I found the east ridge of Rabbit Peak a really nice hike/scramble.

Tonka wrote:

Deb wrote:Painted Canyon/Ladder Canyon just outside Mecca. There's a 5-mile loop trail through pretty cool slot canyons, but you can sure go off route and do a whole day out there. Pretty dang cool for only 80 from San Diego!

Was there supposed to be a wink after the "go off route" comment? As in I may never come out

I've seen you own a lot of pages in the area. I was hoping you'd reply.

HA! That's always a possibility in the wilderness. I was referring to the fact that there are MANY canyons just off the normally traveled course. Naturally, you'll need to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to find your way back out. I've never used a GPS but that would probably be pretty helpful too.
Anza-Borrego is a great place for low altitude hiking/scrambling. I personally love Indianhead but have done many others......never mind that person that needed to be rescued off Santa Ysabel.........geez.
You're going to find snow/ice along the Desert Divide (Ken Point to San Jacinto) for the next month or so; lovely area but if you're not ready for winter, it can be miserable. Maybe it's a good time to do Rabbit and Villager.....
Joshua Tree is NOT my bag, so I have no useful information on that zoo.

Deb wrote:Joshua Tree is NOT my bag, so I have no useful information on that zoo.

I am offended by that characterization! Outside of Hidden Valley & Ryan campgrounds, which are zoos, and the handful of crags right along the park road from TrashCan Rock and going to Real Hidden Valley, which are also zoos, Joshua Tree is practically deserted. There are 13 mountain ranges there, almost all of which you will have to yourself, at any time of year. Hidden backcountry springs harbor herds of bighorn, huge wilderness valleys (a rarity in the desert, as most valleys have roads in them) explode with wildflowers and desert tortoises, a couple of palm oases provide solitary shade (only one ever sees any use) and some of the most rugged bizzare topography on the planet (Coxcombs and Eagles) awaits exploration.... I've probably spent over 100 days hiking the backcountry of Joshua Tree, and have encountered practically nobody else in all that time.

All ya gotta do is get away from the road, and the crowds disappear.

Yeah, ditto on JT. It's a bigger park than people realize, with "other parts" that aren't sprinkled with the big rocky blocks that are the heart of the park.

A neat way into the park is from the southeast via Cottonwood Canyon. Take I-10 to the Joshua Tree/Mecca exit and go north into the park. You can loop northwest and eventually exit thru the north via the towns of Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley.

I hiked Eagle Mountain in the Eagle Range in extreme S.E. corner of the park, but it may be getting too warm for this time of year. But yes, there are lots of areas in the park for exploration away from the crowds.

The park has a marvelous variety of geology and geography.

MoabPeakBagger wrote:

Deb wrote:Joshua Tree is NOT my bag, so I have no useful information on that zoo.

I am offended by that characterization! Outside of Hidden Valley & Ryan campgrounds, which are zoos, and the handful of crags right along the park road from TrashCan Rock and going to Real Hidden Valley, which are also zoos, Joshua Tree is practically deserted. There are 13 mountain ranges there, almost all of which you will have to yourself, at any time of year. Hidden backcountry springs harbor herds of bighorn, huge wilderness valleys (a rarity in the desert, as most valleys have roads in them) explode with wildflowers and desert tortoises, a couple of palm oases provide solitary shade (only one ever sees any use) and some of the most rugged bizzare topography on the planet (Coxcombs and Eagles) awaits exploration.... I've probably spent over 100 days hiking the backcountry of Joshua Tree, and have encountered practically nobody else in all that time.

All ya gotta do is get away from the road, and the crowds disappear.

Wonderful that you enjoy that place so much. I admit, I am an alpine snob.....have no use for the desert unless I am "forced" to partake in activities in sand due to weather or injury.