If there is one thing I've learned from CP is that the wealth of knowledge is far better than any TripAdvisor crap or similar site that you would scroll thru on the internet....usually... :-)
While we suffer thru our PM hangover today hoping the Packers win and on the last snap of the game Rogers breaks his pinkie ring finger I would like to pick your all mighty brains.
I live in upstate NY and I've gone North, South even across the pool to my Right but I gotta say I'm a Virgin to the west coast.
My wife has a company meeting in Palm springs but we land in the horror I'm told is LAX.
On top of that we land at noon.
Since we need to get to our resort quickly(if that is possible) in Desert Hot Springs we will not be site seeing.
Grab our rental at LAX and hit the highway.
It looks like a fairly straight shot on google maps..approx 2:30 travel time.
So my first questions are
LAX is truly a nightmare?
The surrounding highways...will I be at a stand still til I've cleared LA?
Google maps shows us I'll be using Highway numbers.. 105/605/10
Anything interesting to see on this ride?
I'm guessing I'll see some scenic views that I'm not used to which is interesting in itself.
Our list to dos are..
Soak up the scenery type(Rocks,cactus, desert terrain wildlife etc. that we've never seen before.
Going on the popular Palm springs Aerial Tramway.
Once were 8500 FT above the sea level..is it worth doing the 2 hour hike to the peak(10,000 FT)? has anyone been here or done this?
We're spending one full day at Joshua state park exploring.
Our plan is to leave there in the evening then go back near midnight and do the star gazing thing...I'm told it IS mind blowing with Zero light pollution.
Those are the typical things on the agenda the others are.
Buy our first Legal weed ever...my wife who rarely smokes anymore says to me... Ok so we land then we hit the highway then we buy a god damn Legal joint and burn that shit up!!.... I think I just stared at her and finally said..is there anyway we can leave tomorrow?! :-)
Swim in the Hot Mineral springs at the hotel.
And of course Good Eats.
There is a Mexican place called South of the Border a walk away from our Hotel seems to have good reviews.
There is also a breakfast place in Palm springs called Cheeky's.
I should say our Hotel is 20 minutes from the Main Joshua Park Entrance at Joshua Village & we are 20 minutes from Palm Springs.
The location despite the Crime warnings seem to be pretty good.
Sorry to clutter the lounge with this but any tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
If nobody has any this thread will soon fall under the weight of the Injury reports & how long PM should sit threads. [Reply]
Yeah I think something about how fast you go from sea level to 8800 feet on the tramway, and then exerting yourself, causes potential altitude sickness. My GF got sick on that scenic hike too.
It's pretty cool passing 4 different ecological zones on the way from desert to alpine. You can do it in a hike too - called cactus to clouds - that's one of the roughest day hikes in existence - 8000' of elevation gain, 10,600' if you go all the way to the summit.
Germans love to go there in summer for some reason.
I asked a woman who works at Furnace Creek what 130 was like. She said you can't wear jewelry outside for more than a few seconds or it burns your skin. [Reply]
You guys may find this interesting on that subject.
I asked a Ranger how often they have to do a search and rescue.
On a typical day there are one or two.
Usually one due to being lost and normally one due to injury.
One Ranger who I became friendly with adds..They usually end well but there is still a guy hiking out there since this time last yr.
I was like.. ouch.. just no way to find him?
Nope not on foot or helicopter.
I asked what about Drones.
He said well their illegal over a national park even by the staff themselves.
But that all changes November 16th Joshua state park is allowed to use a highly advanced drone to search and rescue.
First mission and the reason this was pushed for was this guy lost in the park.
I said..well there is obviously no heat signature and I'm guessing he past in the shade of trees or under boulders.
He said the tech is hard to explain but they were at an information meeting..
Somehow this drone will be able to see this guys skeleton.
But the trick obviously is flying close to over the body.
It could take a little bit of time. [Reply]
I didn't realize we are near to being America's Team.
Do not doubt this.
Were not exactly the old Cowboys yet but the strangers that just wanted to talk about the Chiefs chances to finally knock out Brady was unbelievable.
And who didn't want to talk about PM or his injury.
Once in awhile I'd ask who is your team..I heard them all Bills,Rams,Bengals,Lions,Bears to name a few even some Raider fans.
I almost got sick of saying Go Chiefs back at someone as we walked thru Airports..I said almost sick of it.:-)
On the way home a guy says Go Chiefs and I said... Thanks..
I kept walking thinking did I really just say thanks instead of Go Chiefs.
That is how old it got. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Kiimosabi:
If anybody wants to read a fantastic write-up by the guys who found the Death Valley Germans here is a link. This is very much worth your time.
Originally Posted by The Iron Chief:
You guys may find this interesting on that subject.
I asked a Ranger how often they have to do a search and rescue.
On a typical day there are one or two.
Usually one due to being lost and normally one due to injury.
One Ranger who I became friendly with adds..They usually end well but there is still a guy hiking out there since this time last yr.
I was like.. ouch.. just no way to find him?
Nope not on foot or helicopter.
I asked what about Drones.
He said well their illegal over a national park even by the staff themselves.
But that all changes November 16th Joshua state park is allowed to use a highly advanced drone to search and rescue.
First mission and the reason this was pushed for was this guy lost in the park.
I said..well there is obviously no heat signature and I'm guessing he past in the shade of trees or under boulders.
He said the tech is hard to explain but they were at an information meeting..
Somehow this drone will be able to see this guys skeleton.
But the trick obviously is flying close to over the body.
It could take a little bit of time.
I'm on a SoCal hiking group on FB. Seems like there's always someone missing. At least one person died on Whitney this year. There was still ice and snow into early August and some people were massively unprepared. Another woman probably would have died after spending a night out near the summit - but some PCT hikers found her at dawn and helped her to safety.
There's a woman missing right now from near the Whitney area that they think might be kidnapped.
Another woman got chased away from her campsite by a guy with a knife, while her husband was just reparking the car, and they found her 3 days later. [Reply]
I used to fly around there all the time. I tried to pay attention. Terrain changes from Death Valley to the mountains were amazing and deceptive running low level particularly into a setting sun.
BS old story coming read or ignore:
A couple of Marine buddies were coming back to China Lake in the 80s in an OV-10 on a Sunday near sunset. They got in a box canyon, and ran out of airspeed and ideas. Rolled level and punched.
Those seats fired at 45 degree opposite angles. 1 buddy was fired into the canyon wall. Killed him. The other buddy got 1/2 a swing and hit the rough terrain. Jacked up but mobile. He was goofy.
Some mammoth rescue crew was starting their training for the upcoming season and happened to see the whole thing. They found the surviving buddy and saved him but it took talking sense into him. My buddy’s plan was to walk out to 395 Highway. He kept trying and argued with the rescuers. The rescuers finally convinced him it was a bad plan by showing him that he was going the wrong way.
One of the rescuers put my buddy in his sleeping bag for the night. My buddy, a Southern boy, said he held onto that “hippy, like I was married to him.”
Got flown out the next morning to the hospital. The two wives spoke to the hospital and a nurse on the phone told one that she was sorry. Not how it is supposed to go. I still talk to the survivor. He’ll enjoy my retelling of one of his stories. [Reply]
That story reminds me of the opening chapters of The Right Stuff.
I've been out taking pics near Joshua Tree at midnight and heard the sonic boom of some fighter overhead. I thought a bomb went off somewhere until I saw something streaking across the sky and figured out what it was. [Reply]
