Mission Hills CC Hiking Group's second hike of the season this morning. We hiked the Eisenhower loop at the Living Desert.

There were four of us who braved what we thought would be a very cold 7:30am morning hike here in sunny Palm Desert: Linda, my friend Heidi, Sandra and Ellen. This was the first time Sandra and Ellen joined us on one of our hikes. I've said this before, but MHCC Hiking Group has the neatest members.

Surprisingly, the only time I felt a bit cold was at the WAMU parking lot before we headed out to the Living Desert in Palm Desert to hike the 5.5 mile Eisenhower loop trail.

The first mile of the hike is level. Once we started to climb everyone began shedding the many layers we were wearing. (After last week's cold hike, we made sure we were dressed properly.) We skipped taking a break at the shady picnic area at the top of our 1.8 mile ascent, as the sun was still down behind Eisenhower Peak. Not stopping for a break didn't keep me from eating my snack of walnuts and raisins while descending the next 1.7 miles. No siree! I don't need to be seated to eat. The last 750 yards, before reaching the level desert wash, took us through a rocky and sandy canyon! Oh, and today was the first time I ever saw pooled water on the canyon portion of the hike.

Below are two videos that I hope will inspire and motivate all you MHCC hiking group members to join us on our Saturday hikes. And don't forget Bonnie's Wednesday hikes.

After the first flat mile, you'll see us hiking up the 1.8 miles before descending on the return loop.


It was a nice after-hike treat to view the sheep. The Bighorn Sheep aren't always visible in their fenced in mountain home at the Living Desert. Take a look and pay attention to the last part of the video.


To see still more photos from our hike, go to http://flickr.com/photos/gottagolinda/.

By the way, Bonnie's rained out hike last Wednesday is now rescheduled for January 14th. Bonnie will be sending out email notification I'm sure.