2012 - Coachella Valley Preserve Re-Visited

The Coachella Valley Preserve has a collection of trails and oases that occupy the eastern side of valley and area that lies along the San Andreas Fault. There is a visitor center that has many photos of recent and pioneer history as well as many pictures of the wildlife you can expect to see.  They have a website www.coachellavalleypreserve.org that has many of the same photos.

Our group hike out to McCallum Grove and pond and then walked a short loop trail south of the visitor center (smoke tree ranch) to visit a site of a palm tree fire from 2004.  It was very impressive how much the trees have recovered.  The hike was an easy 2.25 mile adventure.

Grove surrounding the visitors center

An unfortunate Side-Blotched Lizard that has had it's tail removed by a predator.  The tail will regrow.

Lizards are very well coloured for hiding in their habitat.

I had fun with the hiking group as they were asked to rub the branches between their fingers and have a smell.  Roquefort cheese was the consensus which is why this bush is called the 'Cheesebush'.

A very dry trail leading to the McCallum Grove

Ocotillo in bloom and a close-up below of the plant's protection system

McCallum Grove and pond

We spotted a nest in the side of one of the fan palms and after talking to the host at the visitor center we think it belongs to a Great Horned Owl that has taken up residence at the grove.

A shot looking up through the grove's canopy.

This is a stump of the fan palm and you can see the fibrous rings that support the tree.  It is amazing to watch these tree in a wind storm and wonder how they don't break off. 

The Smoke Tree looks like a plume of smoke when you are a distance away but when you get up close you see it is a mass of thorns.

The trails close to the visitor center are right on the fault line and have water running through the area.  The board walk saves the vegetation from being walked on as well as the hiker from the foul muck of decaying plant matter.

Young fan palms growing in the back drop of the surrounding hills.