California Desert Trails

“THAT appetite comes by eating I have found to be as true in the matter of geography as in the affairs of the table. After long wanderings among the incomparable forests and mountains and by the romantic shores of the most scenic and diversified of our States, I fell an easy prey to the beckonings of the other principal feature of California’s topography, the dreamy, dreary desert. Long ago, on short expeditions into and across it at various points, I had fallen under its inexplicable charm; now I determined to know it more closely, by daily and nightly intercourse through months of travel in its sun-blasted solitudes: gaining the experience I desired at the price, certainly, of some discomfort, and, possibly, of a trifling degree of danger — merely enough for spice. 


This volume, then, is the fruit of over two years’ continuous camping and travelling on the desert. It might more exactly be named “Colorado Desert Trails” than “California Desert Trails,” since there are within this State other expanses of desert (such as the Mojave, contiguous on the north to the region I describe) which are not touched upon in the book. But there seemed a danger of confusion in the other name, since, on a casual sight, the word “Colorado” in the title might give the impression that the subject-matter was some region in the State of that name. The tract I deal with is, in truth, unfortunately named — though the misfortune is accidental, since, when it was labelled, in 1853, there was no State of Colorado — and out-and-out Coloradans might justly petition our common Uncle that the mere suspicion of harboring a desert should be lifted from them and the odium plainly fixed upon the rival tourist-claiming nephew, California.” 


This classic includes the following chapters: 


I. Introductory 

II. The Palm Oases and Canons 

III. Trees and Tree-Like Growths 

IV. The Smaller Cacti, Shrubs, and Flowers 

V. Some Desert Indian Lore 

VI. A Desert Ride: Palm Springs to Seven Palms 

VII. A Desert Ride: Seven Palms to Thousand Palm Cañon 

VIII. A Desert Ride: Thousand Palm Cañon to Coachella Valley 

IX. A Desert Ride: Coachella Valley to Piñon Well 

X. A Desert Ride: Piñon Well to Mecca 

XI. A Desert Ride: Mecca to Figtree John 

XII. A Desert Ride: Figtree John to Borego Springs 

XIII. A Desert Ride: Borego Springs to Los Coyotes 

XIV. A Desert Ride: Los Coyotes to Warner’s Springs 

XV. A Desert Ride: Warner’s Springs to Agua Caliente 

XVI. A Desert Ride: Agua Caliente to “San Felipe City” 

XVII. A Desert Ride: “San Felipe City” To Imperial Valley 

XVIII. A Desert Ride: Imperial Valley to Yuma 

XIX. A Desert Ride: Yuma to Blythe 

XX. A Desert Ride: Blythe to Coachella Valley