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February 2011

Palm Springs Tramway is part of Mount San Jacinto State park, rising almost 11,000 ft above sea level, some other peaks are over 10,000 ft. On this tramway peak one can see beyond Palm Springs more than a hundred miles, extending southeast to the Salton Sea and beyond into Imperial Valley.

In 1945, California legislature approved the construction of the aerial tramway, and completed in 1963. Visitors to the park now can take a tram of less than 15 minutes to get to the top.

The north face of the Tramway area, or San Jacinto drops down 9,000 ft in less than 4 miles; the view from inside the tramway with images shows this dramatic drop around its cable run. The Palm Spring Aerial Tramway, one of the largest and longest single-lift passenger tramways in the world, carries passenger 2.5 miles from the Valley station to the top. After 6,000 ft, the world on top is quite different from the valley below. Trails from the top lead hikers to forests and small meadows. Trails on the southwest take hikers to Idyllwild or Fuller Mill Creek on the west, both can be reached from freeway 243 from the west, 7 miles away from the valley floor.

The weather in February on these peaks allows snow accumulation for winter recreation. Day snow hiking was pleasant, it was not that cold, yet snow hiking shoes and clothing were preferable to make the hike safe and enjoyable. During this trip forest rangers, rescuers were looking for a lost hiker, later was found after several days of searching. Nature could be very intimidating in this kind of climate, as southern Cal was still in the winter season, and snow could drop at low elevation of thousand feet.

Some of the panoramic images can be best viewed by selecting "origin" below the image to experience its grand vista.

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