My friend Neil from Des Moines paid me and Carole a visit in Palm Springs this past weekend. Since he's very much the "nature boy" (he and his wife live out in the middle of the Iowa woods in a log house they built themselves), I knew I had to take him to one of my favorite places on earth: The Palm Springs Indian Canyons. Located on land owned by the Agua Caliente Cahuilla tribe, the Palm, Murray and Andreas canyons each have their own distinct character, but all offer profoundly breathtaking experiences for those who enjoy hiking and communing with the great outdoors.
I love Andreas Canyon the most, both because it's an absolutely gorgeous and peaceful oasis studded with hundreds of ancient Washingtonia palm trees, and because it pretty much offers immediate gratification -- just walk twenty feet from the dirt parking lot, and you'll find yourself in another world entirely. I always have the same feeling in Andreas Canyon that I experience when crawling around ancient ruins; it's hard to put it into words, but it's kinda like joy, awe, peace and weightlessness (or is that just a palpable sense of my own insignificance?) all mashed up together into one big ball. Standing alongside the impossibly clear stream that runs through Andreas Canyon, it's as if all your tension and worry has been magically removed, and all you can do is grin like an idiot and offer a silent prayer of thanks. If you've never been there, by all means put it on your "to-do" list.
looks out of this world.
which reminds me, i had another alien abduction dream last night.
fucking weird.
Posted by: Greg Barbera | January 29, 2007 at 04:18 PM
Looks beautiful, man. Inspires me to revisit NoCal's many natural wonders.
Posted by: Michael | January 29, 2007 at 09:15 PM