First, a word or three about my lack of entries for the past few days. The above picture sums it up: I’ve been playing golf in the morning, doing a little hiking, and doing lots of eating and drinking…Its been really difficult to tolerate and I didn’t want to share my suffering!!!
But this afternoon, we broke out of this mold. I took a golf day-off and ventured with Mrs Bear to the local Tram. Now a quick look back…Three months ago, I blogged about our tram ride up Table Mountain in Capetown.
At the time, I mentioned that this was a tram with a built-in circular rotation.
Well, it turns out that there are three of these in the whole world and we rode our second of the year today
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is steeper and carries more people than Table Mountain. It make two full 360 degree rotations on the way up so you can stay in one spot and see everything ! We started from our villa at 250 feet above sea level and took the tram to an elevation of 8300 feet. The temperature dropped from 69 to 28 and we were back in the snow. So instead of taking advantage of the hiking trails in this pristine mountain environment, we had a lovely lunch, watched the films about construction, and continued our torture of enjoying the views from inside the glass.
Seriously, this is a breathtaking experience. I don’t think I have ever ridden anything that whiskes you into the mountains with this level of steepness. On a clear day, you see the entire Coachella Valley. And there are 50 miles of hiking trails. So, for example, if you come up here in summer, the temps will drop from over 100 to the 70s, and the breezes will make it even more comfortable.
Until then, we will have to endure the valley amenities, and perhaps have a couple more California lagers !!! Or maybe, we can travel to Switzerland and ride the third circular tramway before China builds a fourth.
The Adventures of Barry Brink 