Adventuring into the Great Unknown

As the warmth hits your skin and the murky summer air fills your lungs, you begin to realize that the city you once occupied is hundreds of miles away. California dreams have been installed in my memory since the ripe age of fifteen, when I first visited the beautiful city of Palm Springs. You have to visit this quaint summer home for America’s rich, gay and retired elite; the weather is sublime, the people are gorgeous, and the hiking is too die for. I remember it being the place where I first realized my love for the outdoors. I also remember it being the place where I first encountered roaming wolves and summer gazes. Open your mind to the way of the southern Californian and adventure into the wilderness.

Fifteen to twenty-three is quite a time span; but the imagery of palm trees, the desert landscape and mountain top mansions are still a vivid memory. A trip to Palm Springs is one that you won't soon forget, the most vivid memory that summer was visiting a serene mountain top hiking range that stretched across acres of the springs. The view of the city below was breathtaking, I believe that first experience shaped my love for the outdoors and helped me overcome my fear of heights. Seeing the lush difference, firsthand, between the bowl of a desert that Palm Springs is, and the beautiful forest that the mountaintop hosted made me realize how much variety there is in nature. Being my first time hiking I did not venture off of the beginners trail, but the park hosted many different trails for hikers new and old alike. Outdoor activities were never a strong suit of mine, as a kid I skipped out on recess and went to the library, but during my time in Palm Springs I realized that the off-road rugged life is the one for me.
Southern Californian heat in the middle of the hottest season on record - temperatures reached one hundred degrees plus on most days. I stayed alive by drinking gallons of water, splatting massive amounts of sun tanning lotion on (I looked like Leona Lewis on her Spirit Album…hype) and stayed horribly close to anywhere near swimming access. Combining the heat of the Californian summer with the activities I did like off road jeeping was a recipe for unanticipated fun. The longest lasting impression Palm Springs made on me was the courtesy and graciousness of the residents. I do attribute visiting Palm Springs to realizing that flowers are allowed to bloom anyway they want, whether that be sunny side up or upside down.