Visiting Palm Springs, Ca. and hiking in the Indian Canyons (7/10)
Palm Springs: Mid-Century Mecca
You haven’t seen Palm Springs until you’ve seen it through the eyes of Robert Imber, the city’s mid-century architecture guru who has probably forgotten more about the subject than any other mortal will ever know.
Imber’s passion and expertise on modernism can excite even the most ignorant, and taking one of his tours explains why the city is enjoying yet another facet of its evolution.
“Palm Springs is considered the Mecca of Mid-Century Modernism,” he explained, “so it is high on the list of cultural tourism destinations.”
In fact, the city is on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of architectural destinations and has been designated a Preserve America city.
On a recent and unusually chilly December afternoon, Imber maneuvered a minivan in and out of several Palm Springs neighborhoods, providing an expertly abridged oral history of the city.
“The first non-Indian residents arrived in the mid-1800s and the first attempts at farming failed…” he said, “but people discovered the curative aspects of the climate in the 1920s.”
That’s when the well healed arrived with entire households for long winter stays and built homes, mostly in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The Village of Palm Springs was incorporated in 1938 and grew during World War II when Generals Eisenhower and Patton brought troops to the area to train. Then came the post-war building boom – a time when some architects escaped the staid East to try something dramatic and different in the West.
“Palm Springs was where residents were willing to buy or commission architecture they’d not likely choose back in New York, Seattle or Indianapolis,” Imber explained. “The mild desert climate allowed walls of glass, open carports and indoor-outdoor living.”
Then in the 1970s, the economy went south, gas prices shot up and “Palm Springs was withering on the vine,” Imber said. It developed a reputation as a destination for the spring-breakers and residents began moving to other desert communities.
Then in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, people discovered the worth of mid-century modern houses. What had been neglected and abandoned was restored and revered, and the work continues. “Modernism has revitalized Palm Springs and is bringing new business and tourists from all over the world,” Imber said. “We may not have the greatest number of mid-century (homes and commercial buildings), but we have the greatest concentration of anywhere in the world.”
Although Imber’s tours don’t focus exclusively on homes of the stars, you’ll see several because they are architecturally significant, and he’ll throw in a bit of gossip here and there, too. The roster of notables includes Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Rock Hudson. Many worked under the “studio system” which demanded they never be more than two hours from the movie studios. That made Palm Springs a perfect retreat – within a two-hour drive and relatively free of the limelight.
Imber also points out downtown buildings that may have ‘badly mistreated surfaces” but are some of the “most progressive mid-century architecture anywhere.”
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about mid-century architecture, Imber said, is that “it is cold or uninviting or without much innovation since much is so very simple, which it is not when understood. Mid-century modern principles and designs are particularly strong and exciting as they were entirely innovative, clean and concise.”
The architecture reflects the cultural changes of the mid-century decades, he added, thus making it “sociologically significant as well as visually stimulating.”
Contact Imber at [email protected] or (760)318-6118.
The Bloomin’ Desert Beckons
Snow-capped mountains, verdant valleys, gurgling streams and flowers everywhere.
Do these sound like descriptions of the Sierras, the Vermont countryside or perhaps Colorado’s Rocky Mountains?
Well, think again. The scenes described here are currently playing at your nearby Southern California desert.
The buzz among hikers, naturalists, birders, campers and anyone who loves being outdoors is that the desert is going to put on one spectacular show this year. In fact, it has already started. Our region’s unusually abundant rainfall this winter has forced the early blooming of brittlebrush, brown-eyed primroses and the ever-lovely lupine. The ocotillos – those spindly, tiny-leafed bushes that sport red, flame-like flowers — usually don’t bloom until May, but they are in full flower in some areas now. So are the golden desert sunflowers, poppies, suncups, monkey flowers and popcorn flowers. Coming attractions also include blooming barrels, cholla, prickly pear and other cacti.
It’s a regular Garden of Eden out there, and there are several key places to see these vibrant displays.
One is the Palm Springs area where, while hiking the Indian Canyons area recently, we found magnificent views and beautiful flora high, low and around every corner.
The Indian Canyons are on land that belongs to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla (pronounced Kaw-we-ah) Indians. In 1876, the federal government deeded these 32,000 acres to the Agua Caliente people. (About 6,700 acres are within the city limits of Palm Springs). Today, 15-mile-long Palm Canyon is considered the world’s largest California fan palm oasis.
The ancestors of the Agua Caliente Band built complex communities in the five Indian Canyons, which served as their summer home. Here the Indians could stay cool under the heavy cover of the thousands of desert fan palms, and Murray Creek, Andreas Creek and the three forks of the Palm Canyon Creek, which are flowing freely now, supplied the Indians with their water.
Indian Canyons has numerous trails requiring varying abilities. Most people like to begin at the Trading Post, where most of the trail head are. Maps also are available here. We chose to do two hikes: a four-mile walk in Palm Canyon of moderate difficulty, and an easy, one-mile hike on the Andreas Canyon trail.
We were warned before we set out that we’d have to ford Palm Canyon Creek twice on the route we had chosen, and the ranger was right. We were up to our knees in a couple of places in painfully cold water, but it was worth it. Seeing that volume of water tripping over the rocks of a desert stream was a rare and delightful sight. It made it easy to understand why the Cahuilla Indians migrated here in the summers and how important yearly rainfall was to their survival.
Many hikers who shared our trail noted that they couldn’t remember seeing the desert so colorful. Soft, fresh tufts of green grass have sprouted everywhere, giving the desert floor an odd and unique emerald-carpet quality. For two hikers from upstate Minnesota where winter lasts for six months, this was Nirvana.
“The water may be cold,” they told us as they contemplated crossing the creek, “but at least it’s flowing. Water in Minnesota at this time of year doesn’t move.”
Our second hike, on the San Andreas trail, proved to be more populous because the trail is an easy one. We encountered families with small children, women wearing open-toed sandals and older people who were obviously not trail-savvy. But they were all enjoying the sun, the clear desert air and the abundant flora.
We who know and love the desert relish this time of year because we can tell those who believe the desert to be just one big sandpit to get out of their cars, walk a little and discover a whole new world.
One of the best places to do this is in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, which at 600,000 acres is the largest state park within the continental United States. Annual visitors to the park equal the number of acres, and most of these visitors arrive between November and March.
The rangers are telling all who will listen that it’s a banner year for flowers here, too.
The park’s visitor center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily from October through May. If you are unable to venture out on the trails, want a quick overview on the park’s flower population, or want to be more knowledgeable about what you’ll see if you do explore the trails, walk through the desert garden just outside the visitor center. The plants and flowers are labeled, and shutterbugs can shoot to their heart’s content.
Weekends are a busy time for the park, so if you can’t go during the week, arrive early. Expect the visitor center to be a hive of activity as the day progresses, but know that you don’t have to go far to escape the crowds.
A word of caution: the desert is dry and regardless of cooler winter temperatures, dehydration can happen quickly. Never hike without an adequate water supply, sunscreen and a hat.
For more information:
Visit these Web sites:
- Indian Canyons: http://www.indian-canyons.com/ There is an admission charge to enter the area (adults $6; seniors, students and military $4.50; children 6-12 years $2). Arrangements for 90-minute, ranger-led tours can be made at the Palm Canyon Kiosk
- Anza Borrego State Park: http://www.anzaborrego.statepark.org
- Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center:
Call:
- (760) 767-5311 – for general information about Anza Borrego Desert State Park
- (760) 767-4684 – for the current status of the wildflower bloom
Read:
- “Best Easy Day Hikes Anza Borrego” – by Bill Cunningham (paperback; $6.95)