HolyCoast: Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

While my wife was in her conference I drove 20 miles over to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway that takes you from about 2,800 feet (after a climbing, winding 2 lane 3 mile drive from the desert floor) up to the 8,516 top of Mt. San Jacinto. Don't do this trip if you don't like walking uphill because you're going to do a lot of it, from the parking lot at the bottom of the tram, to the nature walks at the top. And walking uphill at 8,500 feet is a whole bunch different than doing it at the bottom of the hill. You start looking for the oxygen tanks pretty quickly.

It was pretty much perfect weather on both ends. About 80 at the bottom and 57 at the top. I took a jacket with me but ended up just carrying it around. The sun felt like it was about 10 feet away and I was getting warm.

And a warning to those who might have a touch of motion sensitivity - this trip might make you queasy. As the tram runs up and down the hill the floor of tram rotates. The walls stay where they are and you move around. That can be a little disconcerting to the inner ear. That, and as you go over each of the several towers, the car swings pretty good. My wife would have hated this trip with a passion.

Here are some photos:

At the bottom of the hill, looking up the cable toward the mountain top. It's a 2 1/2 mile run that takes about 10 minutes.

Part way up as we travel through the soaring granite canyons.

From the top, looking back at the Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage area.

The State Park at the top of the tram with lots of hiking trails.

Looking back down the hill at one of the trams as it approaches a tower.

Some of the local flora.

At the top, looking back down the tram route. This picture really doesn't do the steepness of the grade justice. You're pretty much falling off the mountain.