Wednesday, 14 October: Palm Springs, California aerial tramway

A cable car going up the mountain past one coming down

It is unseasonably hot in Palm Springs at the moment: around 36 - 38º C (96-102ºF).  We went on the aerial tramway, which is a cable car that goes up to Mt Jacinto State Park, 2596 metres (8516 feet) above sea level. The cars take about 80 people at once on the trip up, about 10-15 minutes. The cabin is round, and the floor slowly revolves so you look out of different windows as the trip progresses. Once at the top, there are restaurants and walking trails. The view is spectacular, looking out over Palm Springs, Las Palmas and the Coachella Valley. The state park is, apart from the tramway buildings, untouched wilderness, a habitat for many birds, such as the Golden eagle and yellow-headed woodpecker, and animals such as squirrels, coyotes, mountain lions and black-tailed deer. There are streams flowing down the mountainside, and you can track them by the green plants between the rocks. You can stay at the top for as long as you like, and catch a cable car down when it is convenient, as they run every 15 minutes. The trip down is better because there are just a few on board, and the view is therefore easier to see.

In the afternoon we took a jeep tour around the town, and learned a lot about its origins.  The Agua Caliente Indian Reservation adjoins and overlaps what is now the town of Palm Springs, and for hundreds of years the Cahuilla Indians used the hot springs that are in the location, regarding them as magical because soaking in the water cured so many aches. Gradually other people came to the springs, paying the Cahuilla for the experience. In time, a hotel was built, and movie stars and directors in the early days of Hollywood, the 1930s and 40s, began to build holiday homes there. Their contracts with the movie studios said they must not go further from Los Angeles than 100 miles... and Palm Springs is 99 miles away, another thing in its favour! The town grew from those origins. Today Agua Caliente is one of the richest of all the Native American tribes, and the town flourishes. The charming town retains its village atmosphere, with a strict building code limiting the height of buildings in the area.

A vast forest of wind turbines outside the town supplies all its energy needs.