Mt. San Jacinto

It was one of those strange days when there seemed to be more going on in the sky than on earth. The winds whirled above the valley like special effects from the Twilight series. It was a strange day in this way. I drove out Monterey from Palm Desert and crossed I-10 and went through Thousand Palms and out towards the turnoff to the left past the oasis and finally connecting with that lonesome ghost road of the Coachella Valley known as Dillon Road. You go past the oasis place and then in maybe five miles take a left turn onto Dillon Road and proceed maybe fifteen miles into the town of Desert Hot Springs. You turn right on the main street of town and go high into the hills above the town. You prop up your tripod as you look at a housing development on your left and right and see in the distance the windmill farms around Palm Springs. We’re at the top of some wash as we take the photo. But the orange of the wash contrasts in an interesting manner with the blue of the great mountain in the distance.

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“One of the most impressive natural features in southern California is the northeast face of San Jacinto Peak. In slightly less than seven horizontal miles the peak rises from 800 to 10,804 feet above sea level, creating the steepest escarpment in North America. No other mountain is this continent rises so high so fast, not even the Sierra Nevada or Grand Tetons.”

The San Jacinto Mountains

James Cornett

Curator of Natural Science

Palm Springs Desert Museum