Jan 7th - Palm Springs Aerial Tramway & Salton Sea

Today was another beautiful day. High was in the mid 70’s. I’m not sure about the low. We slept with the windows open and haven’t run the heat pumps, nor the air conditioner, since we have been here. Tonight and tomorrow are supposed to be very windy, with gusts up to 50 mph in some areas. I don’t expect anything like that here but we stowed the awnings just in case.

This morning we rode the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It was a great experience.

http://www.pstramway.com/ The elevation where we are staying in Desert Hot Springs is around 1,000’ above sea level. The base where the tram starts is elevation 2,643’. Our little 4 banger CR-V worked getting up there. There were signs along the way telling people to turn off their air conditioners to ease the load on their engines. (It wasn’t hot enough for us to need AC this morning) The elevation at the top of the tram is 8,516’. Other than flying in a pressurized airplane, I’m sure this is the highest I’ve ever been. The view and the changing vegetation is amazing. If you are in southern California for any reason this is something you should not miss. It was 45 degrees up there and there was snow in areas.

The photos below were all taken with my phone. I was shocked when I looked at them tonight, they didn't turn out to bad. The first three are Left-Center-Right views from the observation deck. If you can zoom in you will see rows of wind mills and the city of Palm Beach. The white in the photos must be desert because there certainly is no snow down at the lower elevations.

 I don't know what the black, looks like a lake, is in the photo below. I couldn't figure out what it was when I took the photo and forgot to watch it on the way down. Near the center of the photo, a little off to the right, is one of the towers that support the tramway. The parking lot is located below the black area in the photo.

 Again, if you can zoom in on the photo below, you will see one of the tram cars on its way down. the cars can carry up to 80 people.

 Kathy had me go rock climbing. Life insurance must be paid up.

 She tried to get a photo of me slipping and sliding on some loose dirt on the way down but she was a little slow.

If you get a chance to ride the tram, consider going up in the mid/late afternoon so that you can be on top when it gets dark. Watching the city lights on the way down is probably spectacular. We will be sure to do that if we are ever in the area again.

 We filled up before heading to the Salton Sea area.

In the afternoon we drove down to the Salton Sea. It is the largest lake in CA, approx. 500 sq. mi. The lake surface is 226’ below sea level. It is fed by three rivers and agricultural run-off, but it has no outlet. Evaporation and some seepage is the only “outlet”. The lake is saltier than the Pacific Ocean. There is a LOT of haze down in the area around the lake. I am not exaggerating much when I say it makes me think of driving into Gary, IN in the early 70’s, while the open hearth furnaces were still operating. Actually the entire Palm Springs area seems to be covered with a haze.

After getting back "home" we went to the pool area. We were the only ones there. The big pool is heated and is at least 5 degrees to warm for my tastes but it felt good in this afternoons windy conditions.

Tomorrow we may go to the Joshua Tree National Park, or we may stay here and spend the day laying about here and at the pool. We are planning on staying here tomorrow night also, and maybe even Monday night.

Good night to all and may God bless you and yours. He sure has blessed us.