How long does it take?            7am—7pm.   (Or by 11pm with dinner and a movie.)

How far is it?                            4 miles total.

How steep is it?                        300 feet up, 300 feet down.

How much $$?                         Each student pays $3.50 daily admission .

Best part?                                 Boulder hopping , going under the falls in the cave.

Worst part?                             You get muddy, dirty, and cold.

GEO’s Palm Canyon Desert Hike is very popular for a number of reasons. The warm palm-lined canyons are a welcome change in the heart of January. There’s a lot of partnering and teamwork necessary to hike over the large slippery boulders. People soak themselves in the creek and waterfalls. And afterwards, hikers change out of their wet clothes and eat dinner in downtown Palm Springs. The Palm Springs Film Festival is taking place the weekend that we go and many stay to see an unusual movie. One thing is for sure…..this hike is not for timid people who prefer to stay clean and dry.

Although we leave the school no later than 7:30am, we still don’t get on the trail until 10am. Palm Canyon is only 10 minutes from downtown Palm Springs. Even when it’s overcast and rainy in West Covina, the sun is usually shining and temperatures are much warmer in the low desert. It takes two hours to drive to Palm Springs, then an additional half hour to pay admission and make sure everybody parks in the right area. The hike takes place on an Indian reservation and the Agua Caliente Tribe charges each person $5, or $3.50 for students. If we have over 20 people, they usually give us a discount, so all the cars need to line up at the toll booth.

Once there, some parents may choose to drop off their passengers and return at 4:00pm after a few hours shopping in Palm Springs or attending the film festival. Other drivers park amongst the native palm groves at the Murray Canyon trailhead. There are two parts to this hike---Murray Canyon and Palm Canyon.

Murray Canyon is the least visited of the Indian Canyons. It has a fair-sized stream year round and, when you finally come to it after hiking across the open desert, it’s like discovering an oasis. The trail skirts around the palm trees, over the creek, and through jumbles of rocks. There’s no use rushing on this hike. We only go one mile up and one mile back. Much of the Murray Canyon experience is sitting high atop a rocky outcropping looking down at the creek and the surrounding desert. Hikers are encouraged to wet their heads in the creek and take their time basking about on the boulders. We’re usually back to the cars and the nearby picnic tables by noon. We have lunch and by 1pm, we carpool up to Palm Canyon.

Palm Canyon is famous the world over as Palm Springs’ scenic wonder and is the most popular of the Indian Canyons. There is a gift shop and snack bar, pit toilets and drinking water, and a congested parking lot on a narrow strip of land known as the Hermit’s Bench. The trail down from Hermit’s Bench into Palm Canyon, unlike Murray Canyon, is paved in asphalt and lined with railings. There are far more palm trees, and the creek is much wider, but it is often only half full in winter. There are many other tourists there. Our hike follows the main trail until a side canyon branches off to the right. Here, we leave the tourists behind. Our trail disappears into a jumble of slippery boulders and, for the next 2 hours, hikers struggle trying to climb about a half mile up this side canyon to get to the "waterfall cave" and back again. (Of course, during storms or times of high water or flash floods, etc., the cave is inaccessible----darn!)

The "waterfall cave" is dark, wet, and cold. This is usually everyone’s favorite part of the day. To get there, hikers pair up, assist one another over the most challenging obstacles, often wading waist deep to meet their goal. An enormous boulder the size of a house conceals the cave from view and once people climb on top, "tours" of the cave begin by those who have already taken the plunge. Newcomers are initiated by the old timers, and, needless to say, by the time hikers emerge from the cave, they are soaked from head to toe. This presents a problem, because if the rocks were slippery before, imagine how dangerous they become with wet shoes. Everyone is urged to take it real slow on the way down. By this time, there is no more direct sunlight in the canyon and some people get chilled, so it’s usually a good idea to change into dry clothes right away.

We’re usually back to the cars around 4pm. Then, everyone must answer this question. Are you a.) going home right away. b.) staying for dinner or c.) staying for dinner and a movie. Hopefully, the GEO officers will already have determined the film we will be seeing, the show time, and the number of people who wish to attend, because tickets can be purchased in advance for the Palm Springs Film Festival. Nevertheless, there are other movies at the multiplex and some people may opt to see something separate from the festival. Depending on the show time, dinner downtown may precede or follow the movie. The point is….we’re usually not ready to leave Palm Springs until 8pm or 9pm. People who choose to stay need money for the restaurant and movie and will get home about 11pm. People who leave right after the hike will get home about 7pm.

Wet hikers quickly transform into nicely dressed participants of the Film Festival, ready to stroll the colorful streets of downtown Palm Springs. What was once a wet and wild experience takes on an aura of sophistication.

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