Pepper and I love hiking, and we haven’t had many opportunities during our mission. Our day in Joshua Tree was great, and we’ve hiked a few other trails. So we were excited to head up to Palm Springs today and hike an area called Murray Canyon.
The hike begins in the desert (of course), and the sun was beating down. Even in mid-March it was edging toward 90 degrees. Still, there’s a different sort of beauty in the desert.
As we approached the canyon, we saw a grove of palm trees.
Coming up to the trees, we were surprised to hear the sound of running water! There’s a spring up in the mountains that feeds a sizeable stream, and that stream runs through the canyon. In the shade of the trees, there’s plenty of refreshing shade and water.
The trail crosses the stream multiple times (I think I counted seven) along its three-mile course, so it’s really cool to hike in the desert amongst rocks for a bit, and then dip beneath the palms for a stretch.
At the end of the out-and-back trail is a large rock formation where the spring water cascades down. It’s called Seven Sisters Falls, although I have no idea why. It’s a little hard to see the waterfall behind us, but it’s there:
We agreed this is our favorite hike thus far in our mission. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.