Murray Canyon Trail is one of the beautiful hikes in Indian Canyons in Palm Springs where waterfalls and cool palm tree canopies abound; photo by Karen Schickedanz.
SaddleBrooke Hiking Club guide Frank Hartley watches over member Susan Fredrickson as she climbs down a ladder on the Painted Canyon hike in the Mecca Hills near Palm Springs; photo by Roy Carter.
At the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, a group of SaddleBrooke hikers enjoyed a trek through Round Valley located in a beautiful alpine forest in the Mt. San Jacinto Wilderness. On the way up the tram there were spectacular views of the valley floor 8,500 feet below; photo by Melissa White.
Sitting on top of Murray Hill in Cathedral City near Palm Springs are Larry Linderman, Karen Cusano, Melissa Simpson and Jackie Hall. Officially, it’s a hill, but the last few hundred feet have you feeling it’s a peak as you summit the 2,100 feet to the top.
Karen Schickedanz
Certainly there were some on the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club’s April trip to Palm Springs who were aware of the great hiking opportunities in the area, but for many others it was a delightful surprise.
“It was my plan in this annual hiking trip to show people the beauty and diversity of hiking in Palm Springs,” said Dave Sorenson, the club’s senior chief guide and one of the organizers of this year’s large group trip. He, as well as club member and co-organizer Larry Linderman, had once lived in Palm Springs and knew the area well.
“Most people started out on the trip by hiking Indian Canyons, a place of waterfalls and palm trees. Then the next day, we were hiking in boulder-strewn Joshua Tree National Park, with every plant and flower seemingly in bloom. And on the third and last day, we hiked in Mt. San Jacinto State Park from the top of the tram. There was a little snow still at 8,500 feet elevation and the old-growth forest was magnificent.”
Other Palm Springs area hikes, led by Larry and other guides from the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club and the local Coachella Valley Hiking Club, covered the Pacific Crest Trail, daunting Murray Hill and the Ladders hike to a slot canyon.
The Palm Springs trip, which attracted 64 club members, was the most recent annual club trip. Previous years included memorable adventures in the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and Sedona, Zion National Park and Arches and Canyonlands National Parks near Moab, Utah.