I rode an aerial tramway 2.5 miles up into the San Jacinto Mountains in about 12 minutes. Me, who got sick twice on the drive up Haleakala on Maui, actually had fun on this trip up the mountain in California. It really was exhilarating and I took these pictures on the ride up. Palm Springs Aerial Tramway has the largest rotating tram cars in the world, built by Von Roll Tramways in Olten, Switzerland. The cars can each hold 80 people, but there were less than half that on our trip up. So as the floor slowly rotated, we all had window views. (The tram car picture is from a brochure, the others taken with my Samsung Galaxy 6.)
The trip begins at the Valley Station at 2,643 feet elevation, middle row picture on the left. When you reach the Mountain Station (middle row, right) you’re at 8,516 feet. It was 92 degrees at the start and a refreshingly brisk 54 degrees at the tram station up top.
The mountain views and the bottom picture showing some of the Coachella Valley were taken as we travelled beginning in the Sonora Desert through five distinct life zones ending in Alpine wilderness.
The mountains are home to bighorn sheep, mountain lions, coyote, raccoons, foxes — but we were lucky to see a bushy tailed gray squirrel. When you reach the top, you’ve arrived at Mt. San Jacinto State Park, with a ranger station, campgrounds and 54 miles of hiking trails for everyone from novices to experts, which some of our group tried out. My right knee was still bothering me so I only hiked as far as the gift shop 😉
I am still waiting for the boring part 😊
LikeLiked by 3 people
😉 we did have fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
100% not boring! 😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, thanks, glad you liked them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, really. Not boring at all. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, it was great fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds so fun. Glad you didn’t run into the mountain lions. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey! You followed my blog. THANK YOU so much for that. We have kindred adventures up Haleakala(for me in the 70’s on a family vacation) and the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway (a couple of times in the late ’90s). Looking forward to reading your blog.
LikeLike
Hi, loved your pix. That’s so funny about Haleakala, crossed that off the old bucket list! Looking forward to following you, too.
LikeLike
We were there in August of last year. It was a scorcher! At the top was the coolest place to be that day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was hot but I love the lack of humidity — no hair frizz!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow that’s great. I will have to add this to a vacation list. Looking forward to following your blog…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, welcome, and looking forward to following yours, too!
LikeLiked by 1 person