Araby Trail: wildflowers, and a storm brewing

It’s not a secret that Araby Trail is my favorite hiking trail in Palm Springs. I use it as a workout trail, a show-my-friends-the-town-from-above trail, get-out-of-the-house-trail, and just-enjoy-the-outdoors trail.

Today I wanted to see whether the recent severe rain falls (that closed several of the man streets in Palm Springs) did any damage to the trail. It’s been washed off several times already. Though there was some water run-off damage, the trail was still in good condition.

Wildflowers

The rain brought other early surprises: wildflowers along the side of the trail.

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I didn’t expect to see these vivid colors already. I know we are expecting another super bloom in Southern California after the heavy rainfalls this winter, but I didn’t realize it would start this early.

A storm is brewing

As I was enjoying the sights of the wildflowers, a storm started to brew.

The trail ahead started to look pretty gloomy. But I wanted to get to my usual short-hike turn-around: the heart overlooking Coachella Valley. So I hiked on. There were still plenty of people up ahead of me on the trail and the clouds were still some way off.

I made it to the heart and the sky looking into the direction back to the start of the trail didn’t look too bad. Then I turned around and followed the trail. The sky was suddenly a very different story.

The trail now started to look way too gloomy leading right into a stormy rain fall (or at least another Stephen King novel). So I turned around and made it home dry and safe.

Hiking Araby Trail

If you are looking to hike Araby Trail in Palm Springs, check out these two blog posts:

Hike: Palm Springs – Araby Trail

My favorite hike in Palm Springs – Araby Trail

This post is my contribution to this week’s Which Way Challenge.