Following on from the successfully pleasant outing a week earlier, I dove a little deeper into the landownership challenges on eastern San Jacinto and reached out to a few former canyoning partners to see if there was interest in tackling a canyon or two. Enthusiasm was not great for a big descent given the warming high temperatures and the current fitness levels encouraged by stay-at-home pandemic orders but I did manage to tempted Dav to join. We arrived to the south side of Palm Springs around 7:40a to get in line for the 8a opening of Indian Canyons. From the Palm Canyon trailhead we hiked out past Rock Canyon and followed the trail on to Indian Potrero. Here a fortunate gap in landownership, San Jacinto & Santa Rosa National Monument administered by BLM and USFS, meant that I could legally fly a drone to scout along portions of Cedar Creek. This canyon was down to a trickle with algae-filled pools at this point in the summer but I collected enough photos to create a topographic model of the waterfalls for a later trip.We crossed back over Palm Canyon at the head of Indian Potrero where I drone scouted the canyon called Hells Kitchen. This one looked even better than Cedar but also in a mucky late season state. I then drone scouted Little Paradise further up Palm Canyon which had two interesting waterfalls to 13m height but we decided not enough interest in the section below to warrant the extra effort today. We suited up at 11am and headed down Palm Canyon from the Indian Potrero crossing.
It started pleasant enough with sculpted rocks and trickling water, noticeably less flow than a week before. In some places short jumps across sandy pools would reveal shoe-clogging surprise quicksand. The first half-mile went fast then the obstacles started kicking in. We rigged a 5m waterfall rappel into a spectacular little slot canyon hallway using a created log anchor. This hallway led shortly into a few easy downclimbs where frogs and lizards were hanging out. We even saw two foxes scatter impressively up the steep canyon walls.
To deal with a slippery 8m downclimb we rigged a 25m rappel off a rock horn with a somewhat tricky pull. The next down dip sequence was quite scenic with slabby waterfalls linked by potholes, ending at a very pleasant amphitheater complete with spectacular fault outcrop and palm oasis. This made an obvious lunch spot and I happily snacked while sitting chest deep in the final pool of this section.
The next half mile largely followed the weaker rocks along the Palm Canyon Fault and so was more open with willows until we reached the Stone Pools section, about halfway through our stretch of canyon.
This final mile had some of the best sections of sculpted rocks and a few deep pools, some even requiring swimming. The water temperature continued to be perfectly cooler than lukewarm and so every mandatory dip was a refreshing rejuvenation. Towards the end of this canyon section algae became more prevalent in the pools, providing a slight nuisance to wade through or skirt around. One pool actually had some size and depth and so we both breaked for a quick cliff jump.
The last feature of note in the canyon was a long flooded corridor requiring an algal swim. We rejoined the approach trail just before the indian reservation boundary. We reached the end of the canyon at about 2pm, having gone about 2 miles in the canyon and working our way through two ghosted rappels to 25m. We made good time on the trail and were back at the cars in about an hour, including a lengthy dip in a two tempting pool in lowermost Palm Canyon. We wrapped the day with a tasty takeout meal at Native Foods and I drove onward.
It was not a particularly difficult section of canyon but was wonderfully lush and scenic, and both Dav and I agreed a good reminder of what we had been missing out on during the pandemic. Thanks to Dav for teaming up on this one.
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