California Dreamin'

A few years ago, my wife and I entertained the thought of if we wanted to stay in Bend, Oregon. We had been here for over 10 years and admittedly, both have lost a little enthusiasm with winter. Having grown up in Florida (my wife) and Hawaii (me), the novelty of winter had worn off a bit and with three kids, winter can get a bit long for both of us. We contemplated moving back home to Hawaii or to somewhere in California and went as far as to check out some towns that we thought we might be interested in. However, anywhere we went, it just didn't seem to compare to Bend. Yeah, the winters are long here but the access to mountain trails, the skiing, and all of the great people and relationships that we have made here just made the decision easy for us. However, we did both agree that we needed to get away several times each winter and act like lizards and warm our souls. We decided that a schedule that allowed us to leave in January and March seemed like a great combination. After a great trip to see family in Hawaii in January, we decided to visit another spot that we love; Palm Springs.
I used to have to travel to Palm Springs when I worked for The North Face and fell in love with the baking hot weather, the quaint downtown, and the wonderful trails that weave, rise, and descend through the canyons surrounding Palm Springs.
First we tackled the real endurance event: a few days at Legoland and Disney with the kids and then we headed to the heat of Palm Springs.
I know, you're thinking Pea skins (old folks), golf, and gated communities. Yeah, there is some truth to that. But, the trail running in Palm Spring and the surrounding areas are some of the real gems in my opinion.
In the past, when we have visited Palm Springs, I found myself running the same trail almost every day. Yeah, its a good one. The Lyken Trail is a nice 10 mile out n back with a great little climb and descent but I had grown tired of it. On the last day that we were there a few years back, I smartened up and bought a mountain biking book (hiking books always list trails that are too short). This opened up a new world to me. Not only were there amazing trails but there were tons of them. In fact, I now feel like I have found the absolute perfect Western States 100 training camp! The trails are technical and there is no doubt that the weather will absolutely bake you. While I was there, it was considered "cool" and we had weather in the 80's and 90's. It may be cool to them but it was a heat wave to me.
Now, this was no run-cation so most of my runs were all in the 10-18 mile variety but they were enough to let me know that the next time I'm in Western States, I'm going to do my best to convince the Bend boys to come out and bake in the sun on these glorious trails. Here is a run down of the trails that I did.

Day 1: Goat trails. We had arrived in Palm Springs around 4 PM so I settled the troops in and was given a hall pass to check out the Goat Trails. The pinnacle of this area is the very cool Murray Peak. It is a picturesque peak that offers a super fun and technical (running-wise) 2000 foot climb to its summit. Well, even though the peak was looming to me to come climb it, I was not sure on how long it would take to climb and did not have a headlamp. Therefore, I just checked out the surrounding trails and got a layout of my assault of the peak in the morning! 8.8 miles and 2100 feet of climbing. Great blend of dirt roads and technical trails.
Day 2: I had climbed Murray Peak one time before on my last visit. However, when I did, I made a wrong turn on a dirt trail and added a BUNCH of mileage on my run. I think my run turned out being about 20 miles so I wasn't really sure how long my run would be today. My wife and kids dropped me off and I hit the trails.

Me and Murray Peak in the distance
I found myself feeling giddy out on the trails. I've been slipping around on the snow and ice for months and it felt amazing to get on some technical singletrack and climbing on exposed ridges is one of my absolute favorite thing to do. The perma-grin was painted on. One of the funny things about the desert though is that without a lot of landmarks out there, mountains, ridge tops, etc look very far away to the naked eye but you run up to them relatively quickly. This was the case for my run to the peak. It only took me a surprising 5 miles to stand on the summit. But, man, it was awesome. Just a picturesque trail, tons of cactus and some of the best singletrack that I have run in a while. I made some small talk with a couple hikers on the summit, and headed down.

As Bronco would say, "smokin' singletrack, take me away"
Great run in the sun. 10.5 miles 3200 feet of climbing. I did add some more running in after the peak as I had a full two hours to burn until the fam was picking me up.
Day 3:Hopalong Trail. This was a new trail that I had never been on. It started at the same trailhead as the super popular "Bump N Grind" trail. I was slightly sad at how many people were hiking on the initial trail out but the crowds died out after my trail left the Bump N Grind trail intersection. Now, this is a tough trail to describe. It is 12 miles end to end (one way) and I was doing an out n back. It was like being in a crazy world of contrasting landscapes. I'd have miles where I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. Then, all of a sudden, I saw this giant cross in the distance.

Can you see it in the distance?
It was a nice magnet for me to pull me to the top. Once I got there, it was a CRAZY, Palm Springs style cross. Probably 30 feet high and lined with light bulbs. Totally cracked me up.

I'm going to say that the "Big Guy" in the sky might not call this his finest tribute....
Then it was back to more climbing and descending in the heat. It was a tough and rugged trail for sure and I was loving it. I will say, the biggest downfall with the trails out here is the lack of trail signs and how many trails there are. Between goat trails and lots of random trails, they need some direction out there. There is no shortage of hikers/runners/bikers in the area and a few signs at complex intersections (like near the cross) would be very helpful. Anyway, my biggest concern was water. There is (probably obviously) none out there. In fact, at one point the trail literally hugs this super fancy pants golf course and it was an amazing contrast between the uber lush golf course and the arid and craggy surrounding desert terrain. After about 8 miles out, I decided that I didn't want to push my luck with the water, and headed back. Once again, I was on my own, weaving my way through the amazingly rugged canyons.


My turnaround point and my 1 mile intersection for the next day
It was a smooth and fun trip back to the car minus one wrong turn. I took the trail that is apparently the "direct route" to the cross. I won't make that mistake again. Probably went by 25 hikers on the way up.
17.5 miles, 4325 in climbing.
Day 4: Art Smith Trail.(This guy has some great pictures of the trail)
The final day in Palm Springs unveiled my favorite run of the bunch. This trail offered a little bit of everything. Amazing climbs, rattlesnakes, beautiful cactus, rock outcroppings, hidden palm tree oasis', and a sandy final 1 mile climb to the end of the trail. As usual, the first 2 miles were littered with lots of folks who had apparently never seen someone run uphill before...;)
Every turn was filled with amazing views as I left the foothills and started to explore the beginning of the Santa Rosa mountains.


Palm Trees seemed very out of place in such a harsh environment of desert and granite
Once again, I was dodging in and out of climbs and descents of canyons and carefully monitoring my water supply. I have to admit that it would have been hard to turn me around. The book I bought had said that the finish of the hike was spectacular with a set of benches perched on the top of the last climb and offered 360 views of the surrounding San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains.
I continued to push until I hit the last "sandy mile" where I spun my wheels a bit until I hit the finish of the trail. So, my only disappointment of the entire trip was the final destination. Yeah, there were benches but they were tucked into a little valley with pretty uninspiring views (compared to the rest of the run) and a broken down front loader.




This is not the image that was conjured from the guidebook.....
After sipping some Nuun, it was time to head back to the car and end this great run. The weather was in the 90's and this definitely was the warmest I have been in a while. Although, it felt great to run without multiple layers and just "rock the shorties"!

All in all, a great trip and really got me excited about a new place to really prepare for some of the summer "hot" races. Its tough getting ready for the hot races here in Bend as it is cool until June.
16.25 miles, 3245 in elevation gain.
As always, thanks to my wife for allowing me to play in the mountains for a few hours each day.....
Bring on summer.....