Palm Springs - From 94°F (30°C) to 60°F (15°C)

After a last good breakfast in dynamic & multi-cultural LA (I guess at least 80% of people here are latino) we start a 2h drive to Palm Springs today ... heading for the desert as well as the mountains.

We arrive around 10h and start a 1,5h walk 'in the heat' in the Agua Caliente Indien Reservation (Cahuilla people). Very hot but we choose to 'discover' the Andreas Canyon trail since for a big part of it we get some shadow from the palm trees. It's about 94°F here (more than 30°C). Very impressive views.


After lunch on Palm Canyon Drive ('the' drive in Palm Springs) we take the Aerial Tramway to the top of Mount San Jacinto for walk in the snow at a height of more than 2.600 m. No palm trees here but mainly Jeffrey Pine, Pinyon Pine and White Fir surrounded by snow. Unbelievable that we are now walking in the snow with a temperature around 13°C, but luckily still some sun.

After a walk of about 2h it is time to check-in at the hotel (Best Western Las Brisas - very nice room) to enjoy the swimming pool, which is more than welcome

We end the day with an enormous steak (and our most expensive dinner till now) on a terrace on Palm Canyon Drive (a little tipsy due to the combination 'hot weather + good Californian wine')

Time to go to bed around 23h, since early wake-up tomorrow for a long drive to Flagstaff.