January 12-13, 2022 Borrego Springs to Desert hot Springs, California

 73 and partly cloudy. 

We hiked up Palm canyon today. Tree in the parking lot, Hot, dry trail with mountain lions and rattlesnakes. Didn't see either. The ladies restroom at the trail head. There are also many cool shade shelters built out of rocks at the campsites near the trail head. 

The ocotillo have leaves! First we have seen this year. They will leaf out after a rain, but during drought times they drop their leaves to save water. They can photosynthesize from their branches too. There were a bunch of these huge logs from palm trees in the wash. 

Leafy ocotillos up canyon.  John on the trail ahead of me. 

Nice rocks. The springs and palm trees at the head of the canyon. 

So much water for the desert. A few deciduous trees also with the palms at the springs. 

John ducking between boulders on the trail. John ducking between boulders on the trail. 

John climbing down a couple rocks in the trail on the way back. The campground and the town of Borrego Springs is at the mouth of the canyon. We are camped right off Palm Canyon Drive, you can probably see our bus with binoculars. 

On the way back these bighorn sheep were in the trail. Not afraid of us till we hiked by and they took off. 

Chuparosa flowers were blooming all along the trail. The hummingbirds were loving them. Wavy rock, barrel cactus and a few ocotillo blooms. The hummingbirds love them too. Afternoon light on the mountains at the trail head. The reddish plants are in a pond full of endangered pupfish. 

The perfect ending to the hike. John in the hot tub at the RV park. 73 and mostly cloudy. We drove up to Desert Hot Springs, which is near Palm Springs. We stopped at the Truck Wash and got the bus washed on the way. 

We are now at Sky Valley RV Resort. Most of the spots now have manufactured homes on the lots. We are between a couple and have a covered patio. There are 1030 spaces, 9 pond/lakes,12 hot spring pools,  a couple parks, tennis, hiking trails, 2 club houses, hiking trails and probably more things haven't discovered yet. There are 6 hot spring pools on this side of the resort, 6 more on the east side. We had a nice soak after dinner on our covered patio.