marty
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Our third and final hike was the best! Lauren and I decided to tackle the Maynard Mine Trail in the Indian Canyons at the southern end of Palm Springs. This is supposed to be one of the most strenuous hikes in the Indian Canyons. It was a quick 6.5 mile/2300 ft. elevation workout, but not too bad, due to switchbacks.
The Indian Canyons sit on the east/southeast side of Mt. San Jacinto. It is clear that they get a bit more precipitation that in La Quinta (see Part 1 Trip Report). Things are very green there, as evidenced by this photo:
The flowers were also starting to come out, but once again, were not yet peaking:
Once we had ascended about 1,000 feet, we got some amazing views. Here is Lauren with the high San Jacinto peaks in the background:
And here's me:
We eventually got to the Maynard Mine area and came upon this memorial to Jim Maynard, who built the tungsten mine. The tungsten was used in WWII:
A steep climb down from the memorial brought us to the mine itself. We almost missed it, but did find it thanks to Lauren's perseverance:
On the way out, we noticed an oasis along the upper Murray Canyon that had both California Fan Palm and some other tree (aspen?):
Here's a shot of Lauren descending the trail, with Palm Springs in the background below:
And here is a shot of upper Andreas Canyon, with a waterfalls in the middle of the photo (may be hard to see):
Last, but certainly least, we came upon a discovery later that day. "Frankenpine", the cell phone tower disguised as a tall pine tree, has a California cousin. Behold, Frankenpalm!
This was another amazing trip and a great brief diversion from the snow and cold. I highly recommend this area. The weather was once again absolutely perfect (upper 60's through mid 70's) and it is gorgeous. If anyone wants any beta on this area or any of these hikes, please PM me any time!
Regards,
Marty (and Lauren)
The Indian Canyons sit on the east/southeast side of Mt. San Jacinto. It is clear that they get a bit more precipitation that in La Quinta (see Part 1 Trip Report). Things are very green there, as evidenced by this photo:
The flowers were also starting to come out, but once again, were not yet peaking:
Once we had ascended about 1,000 feet, we got some amazing views. Here is Lauren with the high San Jacinto peaks in the background:
And here's me:
We eventually got to the Maynard Mine area and came upon this memorial to Jim Maynard, who built the tungsten mine. The tungsten was used in WWII:
A steep climb down from the memorial brought us to the mine itself. We almost missed it, but did find it thanks to Lauren's perseverance:
On the way out, we noticed an oasis along the upper Murray Canyon that had both California Fan Palm and some other tree (aspen?):
Here's a shot of Lauren descending the trail, with Palm Springs in the background below:
And here is a shot of upper Andreas Canyon, with a waterfalls in the middle of the photo (may be hard to see):
Last, but certainly least, we came upon a discovery later that day. "Frankenpine", the cell phone tower disguised as a tall pine tree, has a California cousin. Behold, Frankenpalm!
This was another amazing trip and a great brief diversion from the snow and cold. I highly recommend this area. The weather was once again absolutely perfect (upper 60's through mid 70's) and it is gorgeous. If anyone wants any beta on this area or any of these hikes, please PM me any time!
Regards,
Marty (and Lauren)
This certainly reminds me of New Mexico vegetation, We'll have to compare notes on our experiences, and the height of spieces fraken, genus communicai cellii 
