During his two years confined in harsh imprisonment for the crime of homosexuality, British playwright Oscar Wilde wrote: “Nature, whose sweet rains fall on unjust and just alike, will have clefts in the rocks where I may hide, and secret valleys in whose silence I may weep undisturbed … She will cleanse me in the great waters, and with bitter herbs make me whole.”
Philip Ferranti, founder of the Coachella Valley, CA Hiking Club and author of “140 Hikes In and Near Palm Springs,”echoes Wilde’s thoughts: “Spiritually, hiking can take us on the journey inwards where we discover our inner strengths and calm centers … Hiking tells us that indeed we are united to the whole of life, plant and animal. This ‘prayer-in-motion,’ a hike, at best offers us a space and time to discover and connect to what really matters.”
The Palm Springs chapter of Great Outdoors benefits from the region’s inherent natural attractions. According to Ferranti, nowhere in the Lower 48 can you find more hiking trails (more than 140) or trail miles (more than 1,250) than within the 60-mile-plus radius around Palm Springs. This section of the Colorado Desert hosts a concentrated diversity of topography and flora, with elevations from 11,000-plus feet to below sea level. The traditional hiking season runs from October to May, but whisk up on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in the middle of summer, and you’ll find cool Alpine conditions that make hiking possible year-round.
Moreover, the region around the Coachella Valley is home to five state parks and recreation areas, three national wildlife preserves, and one humungous (1,240-square-mile) Joshua Tree National Park. In 2000, more than 272,000 acres of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains on the eastern flank of the Coachella Valley were deemed a national monument, the second-largest in the state.
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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