Snow-Bound in the Desert

Deer and raccoon had left their tracks on a cushion of freshly fallen powder, and we kept an eye out for the larger prints of a mountain lion or bear. Beneath the burly branches of lodgepole pine and clusters of white fir, our breath rose in puffs of steam cut by beams of sunlight. Snow crunched beneath our feet, and only the distant voices of hikers disturbed the forest silence.

It was hard to believe that this winter wilderness was only a 14-minute ride from the desert below. But here we were, about 8,500 feet high on Mt. San Jacinto, after a quick ascent up the newly renovated Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.

Billed as the world’s largest single-span vertical cable car, the tram has been whisking passengers from the hot desert floor to the cool forest above since 1963--from palms to pines, as locals like to say. In September the tram unveiled its new, wider cars, which slowly rotate 360 degrees. Up to 80 passengers at a time get a panorama while rising or falling 6,000 feet--mountain climbing made easy.

My sister Linda, brother Mark and I have birthdays within five days of one another, and we decided to celebrate together this year. When Linda and husband Bob met Mark and me for a Palm Springs weekend last month, the improved tram turned out to be just one of the high points.

Mark and I are fascinated by Old Hollywood lore, and neither of us had ever stayed at the Racquet Club, built in 1934 by silent-screen star Charlie Farrell and actor Ralph Bellamy. Avid tennis players, Farrell and Bellamy were once booted off the tennis court of long-gone El Mirador Hotel to make room for Marlene Dietrich. They struck back by building their own tennis facilities down the road, with a set of guest cottages for their friends. Thus evolved the Racquet Club, center of the Hollywood high life here in the 1930s and ‘40s.

Not much has changed at the Racquet Club since then, or so it seems. The white cottages--with their lattice trim, green and white awnings and emerald lawns--look like the perfect backdrop for Errol Flynn and Paulette Goddard in tennis whites. The walls of the lobby and Bamboo Lounge restaurant are decorated with Bruno Bernard’s black-and-white photos of movie stars of yesterday.

The resort is comfortable but not opulent; some of the paint could use a touch-up. But the atmosphere is appealing and the rate only $95 per night for our Bruno Bernard Cottage, next door to the Clark Gable Suite. The cottage had one large room with twin beds, which we didn’t mind given the great price, and a bathroom. (Linda and Bob stayed at the Hyatt Grand Champions in Indian Wells, about a half-hour drive east.)

With money saved on our lodging, we decided to treat ourselves to a special dinner Friday at Wally’s Desert Turtle in Rancho Mirage, a 15-minute drive east of Palm Springs.

For years I’ve wanted to dine there, and I was not disappointed. It’s an elegant restaurant: mirrored walls, tables with candlelight and impeccable service. The food is expensive--and fabulous. I started with a salad of local beet root and arugula with a walnut dressing, and Mark had carrot and ginger soup. For our main course, we both chose medallions of pork, served with porcini mushroom sauce and Santa Clara plums.

When making our reservation, I had mentioned that this was a birthday celebration. At the end of the meal, the restaurant surprised us with a large profiterole stuffed with French vanilla ice cream and covered with chocolate and vanilla sauces. It ended a wonderful evening.

Early Saturday morning, Mark and I had a quick swim in the heated pool at the Racquet Club, then drove 15 minutes to the tram’s Valley Station, about four miles off California Highway 111 on Tramway Road.

We boarded the circular car and rose up the eastern face of the mountain. The ride was smooth and the view was impressive, with the tram operator offering snappy patter to the folks crowded around him.

At Mountain Station at the top, the air was clean and clear and cold--probably in the 30s. It had snowed the night before, and Mt. San Jacinto State Park, which covers more than 13,000 acres behind Mountain Station, was powdered with white. Clouds threaded through jagged peaks, which appeared and disappeared like some cosmic magic act.

Fifty-four miles of hiking trails wind through the park, including the 12-mile trek to the summit (elevation 10,804 feet, the second highest in Southern California, behind Mt. San Gorgonio). When winter storms dump enough snow, you can snowshoe and cross-country ski at lower elevations.

We had a less strenuous workout in mind. We hiked the Desert View Trail (a 1.75-mile loop) and reached a lookout point socked in with clouds. As we stopped to catch our breath, the clouds parted and long vistas of the desert became visible.

The trail was getting crowded, so we detoured down the Nature View Trail, less than a mile long. Here we saw the tracks of deer, raccoon and what looked like wild turkey. Despite boots and heavy socks, my toes were getting numb, and Mark was hungry. So we stopped for a picnic lunch in a pool of sunshine.

After a few hours of hiking, both of us were ready for the desert again. So down the mountain we went, to Rosanna’s Salon and Day Spa in the heart of Palm Springs.

Rosanna’s has massage rooms with showers or hot tubs (or both), so that you roll from bath to massage with minimal effort. The shower soaked the cold out of my fingers and toes, and the therapeutic massage made me feel almost ready to hit the trail again.

After Mark had his treatment, we returned to the Racquet Club to soak in the hot tub as a huge golden moon rose above the desert.

Saturday night we met Linda and Bob at Melvyn’s Restaurant at the Ingleside Inn, another Palm Springs spot with Old Hollywood ambience.

My dinner salad was a little too basic, but I liked the chateaubriand for two that I shared with Mark. As part of the birthday celebration, the restaurant staff snapped a complimentary photo and brought a slice of cheesecake at the end of the meal. Linda blew out the candle, and we all shared the dessert.

Sunday morning, Mark and I drove about half an hour east of the hotel to the Living Desert Wildlife & Botanical Park in Palm Desert.

The park is split roughly in half--part American Southwest habitat, part African habitat. I love big cats, but the coolness of the morning turned most of the feline residents into late risers. We managed to glimpse a group of cheetahs dozing far away and a mountain lion. Only a serval (an African wildcat) and two Mexican wolves cooperated by pacing near the perimeters of their enclosures.

Although a shuttle is available for $3, the park is small enough so that walking in the cool morning was a delight. The concrete paths imprinted with faux animal tracks reminded us of those in the snow the day before.

Although the cats were shy, we did see zebras, Arabian oryxes and a golden eagle. This female, almost twice as large as the average male eagle, watched us with unblinking eyes. She seemed a fitting symbol for the golden beauty of the desert in winter.

Susan James is a freelance writer in La Canada Flintridge.

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Budget for Two

Racquet Club,

two nights: $212.18

Dinner, Wally’s: 90.34

Dinner, Melvyn’s: 71.50

Breakfast, Bamboo Lounge, two days: 36.53

Admission, tram: 35.50

Rosanna’s Salon: 154.00

Admission, Living Desert: $15.00

Gas: 18.50

FINAL TAB: $633.55

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Racquet Club of Palm Springs, 2743 N. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262; telephone (800) 367-0946 or (760) 325-1281, fax (760) 325-3429, Internet https://www.racquetclubps.com. Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Tramway Road off Highway 111, Palm Springs; tel. (888) 515-TRAM or (760) 325-1449, Internet https://www.pstramway.com.

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