Outdoors with Don Q: Having fun in the snow above Palm Springs

Last Friday, Elaine and I, together with my cousin Lorraine and her husband Bob Scholes of Dayton, Nevada, took a memorable ride on the “Tram,” high in the mountains above Palm Springs, Calif.
Earlier, Elaine and I had convoyed with Sal and Catali Quilici of Dayton to visit Don and Norma Reasons at one of their friends’ home, located across from the ninth green at the PGA West – Stadium Golf Course in La Quinta.
The four of us stayed with the Reasons for four days and three nights, before Elaine and I traveled to Indio to be the guests of the Scholes, while the other two Quilici’s remained with the Reasons before returning to Dayton.
The Scholes have a very comfortable winter home on the 16th tee at the Heritage Palms Golf Course in Indio where we were their guests for four days and three nights.
When we first arrived in Indio, the Scholes accused me of bringing bad weather as it was cold, rainy and very windy. In fact, as they reminded me, they had to turn on the furnace to warm up their home on our first night.
While having dinner on Thursday evening, we discovered that none of the four of us had ever taken the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, so the decision was made to do so on Friday morning, and it turned out to be a great choice.
That tramway is located about 6 miles from downtown Palm Springs.
On Friday, the weather was gorgeous: No wind, no clouds, bright sunshine and the temperature soared to 76 degrees.
After a leisurely breakfast, Bob drove us to the parking area for the tram, and as we drove higher and higher up the ever increasingly steep road, we passed a number of signs advising vehicles to turn off air conditioners to avoid overheating on the steep grades during the summertime.
The tram ride takes you from the Valley Station at an elevation of 2,643 feet all the way up to the Mountain Station at 8,516 feet.
We reached the parking area, parked our vehicle and then the fun began.
It was a long, steep walk to the main building and by the time we reached it, all four of us were out of breath, and panting and puffing, plus the weather was noticeably cooler than down in Palm Springs on the valley floor.
We walked in the door and the ticket room was jam packed with many other people also interested in talking the tram ride.
At a cost of $21.75 per person for seniors (all four of us qualified for that designation!), plus $2.00 more for adults, that ride is a giant GOLD MINE of income from all the countless people who ride the tram, year round.
We bought tickets for the 11:00 a.m. ride, and when it arrived some 50-60 people crowded onto the car (The capacity is 80 people plus one operator).
We left the station and began to climb from the desert floor to the snow capped mountain directly in front of us.
It had snowed the preceding day, and the countryside glistened with the pure white, fresh snow as the temperature quickly dropped from the balmy 76 degrees of the valley floor to a crisp 37 degrees at the station at the top.
When we arrived at the top, the air was very noticeably thinner and much cooler and our heavy jackets felt great at that high attitude.
The Mountain Station is located in the Mt. Jacinto State Park and Wilderness Area, and from there you can do all kinds of outdoor activities, depending on the season and the time of the year.
Those activities include skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing in the wintertime, and nature walks, hiking and camping in the summertime.
The station offers a gift shop, park visitor center, adventure center, Peaks Restaurant, Pines Café, the Lookout Lounge and Chino Canyon Balcony with spectacular views of the valley below us.
We walked around the balcony taking digital photos of the desert landscape and cities far below; and then we walked a short distance down the snow lined walkway leading to Long Valley and took photos of the surrounding snow covered trees, bushes and countryside.
While on that walk, we saw a couple get nailed by a huge clump of wet snow that fell off a pine tree branch, directly above them. From their reactions, it was the first time in a long time that they had been in snow.
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is the perfect outdoor activity, year around, for a family if you are ever visiting such nearby places as Cathedral City, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and Thousand Palms.
You won’t go wrong.

Special Notes:
Hours of operation: Monday-Friday: First car 10:00 a.m.
Hours of operation: Saturday, Sunday and Holidays: First car 8:00 a.m.
Last car up: 8:00 p.m.
Last car down: 9:45 p.m.
Tram cars are wheelchair accessible.
Pets are not allowed.
The tramway is closed for annual maintenance in September.
For information:
Call (888) 515-Tram or (760) 325-1391 or go to the Internet website HYPERLINK "http://www.pstramway.com" www.pstramway.com.

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can’t tell you what feature is unique about the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway cars.
If he grins and says, “Each car slowly rotates 360 degrees twice during each ascent and descent during the 12,708 foot-long trip,” he has taken that ride.

Photos:

Photo No. 01: The Valley Station for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, which travels 12,708 feet from the Coachella Valley to the Mountain Station near the top of Mt. San Jacinto.
Photo by Elaine Quilici
Photo No. 02: A tram car arriving at the Valley Station.
Photo by Elaine Quilici
Photo No. 03: Looking back at the Valley Station.
Photo by Elaine Quilici
Photo No. 04: Looking down on Palm Springs.
Photo by Elaine Quilici
Photo No. 05: A snow covered stairway at the Mountain Station.
Photo by Don Quilici
Photo No. 06: Left to right, Lorraine and Bob Scholes of Dayton, together with Elaine Quilici of Carson City, taking photos of the various cities in the Coachella Valley, far below.
Photo by Don Quilici
Photo No. 07: Don Quilici standing on the Chino Canyon Balcony, which is at an elevation of 8,516 feet. Photo by Elaine Quilici
Photo No. 08: A tram car on the way down from the Mountain Station.
Photo by Elaine Quilici

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now and www.SouthTahoeNow.com. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com