Rediscovering joy in the desert of loss
We felt a desperate need to escape and lick our wounds following the recent and unexpected loss of our Siberian husky family member, Gem. The challenge became finding joy in new experiences outside the dog-friendly box that had been our life.
Our annual vacation rental in the Palm Springs area became our month-long hideout. At first we struggled to lift ourselves out of the pit of emotional tar in a place so imprinted by our pack's routines. The fog of grief began to dissipate when we decided to step out of our personal misery with places and activities that would have been verboten with a dog.
Joshua Tree National Park, just an hour's drive east topped the list. I am not easily seduced by desert landscapes, but Joshua triggered a surge of fascination as we drove across the pristine plain of native and endangered yucca trees highlighted by tumbles of colossal boulders. The visitor center off of Highway 62 was a good introduction to the geology and natural history of this area where Mojave and Colorado Deserts overlap and the Joshua yuccas are threatened by climate change.
Mormon settlers are believed to have named the trees whose unusual shape reminded them of their prophet's outstretched arms. The cardio hike to Ryan Mountain's summit and its panoramic views was an instant morose mood breakthrough. We were enchanted by the Lost Palms Oasis's
lush vegetation closer to the Highway 10 exit. Water surfacing through the matrix of geologic faults explains the sharp contrast between the arid hostile environment and the hidden palm islands.
A highway billboard for the TKB (The Kids' Business), a family-run deli claiming to serve the best sandwiches in the country sparked our curiosity and appetite. The cafeteria-like venue off the beaten path was an unlikely location for a popular restaurant, but customers come for the mega portions of artery-clogging flavors, not ambiance.
Later in the week, we took advantage of our newfound
motivation to hike into the Indian Canyons and Tahquitz Canyon Preserves. The desert had been gifted significant rain earlier in the season, feeding the Agua Caliente Band's scenic ancestral lands with cascades and waterfalls.
Another protected area that had always intrigued me was the Coachella Valley Preserve for its maze of narrow rock canyons rich in fault waterfed groves of California palm trees. At the entrance you can stand straddling the North American and Pacific Plates where the San Andreas Fault fractures toward the Salton Sea. Flooding had closed some areas, but the Pushawalla
Palms Trail surprised us with an exhilarating 5-mile loop atop a San Andreas Fault ridge down into a hidden wet, verdant palm-shaded ravine.
A visit from our Carmel friends, Molly and Steve was an opportunity to hike in the Santa Rosa and Santa Jacinto Mountains National Monument and sample some of Palm Springs' museums. Our museum grazing began with aviation history at the Palm Springs Air Museum with a chance to see the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth attack aircraft. I was particularly impressed with the vintage WWII airplanes.