Murray Trail

Yesterday we packed his Jack Bauer bag with roasted almonds, fruit and water and drove out toward Indian Canyon. After some miles of nothing to see, we arrived at the entrance to several different trails we could choose from.

And there was much to see! This native home to the Cahuilla Indians is a breathtaking contrast of rocky gorges, abundant water, hundreds of plants and barren desert.

We decided to take the less visited Murray Canyon. It's an easy trail that promises some lush scenery and waterfalls at the end of the 2.5 mile hike.

We walked through a grove of California Fan Palm trees in their dishevelled state.

How did he get the camera?

The trail led through a desert hillside filled with yellow flowering brittle bushes. We passed hikers who talked about seeing snakes, and one even offered advice on how to get them to come out. We made sure we didn't give them any reason to.

Always in the distance you could see unusual rock formations, scattered about.

It was the rocks that he liked to point out . . .

and the flowers that I kept stopping for. These are desert bells ...

and some desert mallows.

Many times we crossed the shallow stream that wound back and forth for quite a distance. I was grateful for the well placed rocks that usually made it easy to step.

At times we walked through deer grass threatening to hide the path.

and other times we scrambled over rocks.

Reaching the end, even though the waterfalls were small, was worth every step . . . even the wet ones. The scenery was like nothing we had ever seen! Simply beautiful!