Awesome hike in the desert

January 19, 2013 by 4gslivingthedream | 2 Comments

The weather is finally starting to warm up here so we decided to check out the Coachella Valley Preserve, just a few miles down the road.  We have driven past it so many times and we wondered what it was all about.  It is a preserve with over 17,000 acres and many different hiking paths.  It’s in the middle of the desert, but there are areas where there are a groupings of palm trees.  These areas are fed by the water seeping out of the San Andres Fault.  Luckily, we didn’t experience any ground shaking while we were there.  It is also home of the Coachella Valley fringe toed lizard, which is found nowhere else in the world.

We headed down the path to the Mc Callum Pond trail.  It’s a short hike, only 2 miles round trip, there are other trails you can take to different areas that are longer, but the sun would soon be setting and it cools down quickly out here.

We started our hike in lots of vegetation and palm trees.

Then, after walking most of the way in the desert, we started wondering if it was worth the trip.  It was!  McCallum Pond up ahead.

This is McCallum pond.  It is home of the rare and incredibly endangered Desert Pupfish.  Sadly we didn’t see any though.

It was absolutely breathtaking, we only wish our pictures could capture it as we really saw it.

We will be back, cant wait to try out the other trails.

On a different note, there are 2 new additions to the park here.  Just had to post these.  They are only 4 days old in these pictures.  Didn’t want to get to close, they are quite protective.

It will be fun watching these little ones grow up.

As we mentioned, the weather is definitely looking up.  We hit at least 80 today and it looks to be nice for the rest of the week.  Started to think we brought Wisconsin winter with us for a while!!

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