La Quinta, California: After morning exercise, DT thought it would be a good idea for us all to go on a short hike to an oasis bubbling out of the ground above the San Andreas Fault. We filled our water bottles and drove out to the Thousand Palms Oasis on the Coachella Valley Preserve.
The parking lot was closed, and the many cars parked along the roadside gave us concern the trail would be crowded. We ventured in to find few people, so figured the line of cars carried hikers that were on more serious trails than the 2-mile round-trip to the oasis. Dave and I visited this oasis in 2008 with my parents. We found it much changed today: about half as much water in the lake. (Insert sad face here.) As visitors enter the park, there is a small oasis filled with huge shady palms. The visitor center is closed, the bathrooms are under repaired (and closed). One volunteer steers folks in the right direction.
Below find a few photos of the area next to the parking area:
So, we headed out on the one mile trek to the oasis. It begins on wooden raised paths, then turns to open desert and sand:
We only saw a few lizards on our hike walk, and many ravens overhead. The oasis:
We're so stinkin' cute!
We returned to the visitor center area and Kris said goodbye to Pablo:
Until my next update, I remain, your "we did not see Maria Muldaur" correspondent.