During our winter stays in Palm Desert, California, we host a series of friends … and one of our regular activities is riding the Tramway to a height of 8,800 feet in about 12 minutes to nearly the top of the mountains west of the Coachella Valley. Our guests opt in for these rides even if they have done it in years past.
The Palm Springs Tramway is one of three in the world that rotates while you ride it … Which means you stand in one spot and see all views as you ascend or descend the mountain. The others are in Capetown (Table Mountain) and Switzerland (Engelberg). We have been to Table Mountain, and have a personal goal to ride the third in the Swiss Alps.
I rode the tram five times this year … Mrs Bear went up once last year, but made it a clean sweep this year for a variety of reasons. She liked all of our guests, took the place of one guest who declined due to a sinus infection, and came along the other trips in order to be our Designated Car Parker and Driver.
We set up the ascent at sunset in order to see the sun go down during the ride. It’s also a time when you can observe the rock formations and towers in the daylight. For example, the towers have a very small platform on the top … which is where the helicopters land during construction and repairs.
I would pay a lot of money to watch a copter land on that platform AND watch workers somehow descend down the tower under the rotor wash !!
It’s also interesting to leave a desert ecosystem at the base, and watch the vegetation change to forests covered in snow at the summit. The locals bring their kids up to experience and play in the snow. Later in the year, they come up to escape the valley heat. At 8,700 feet, it is over thirty degrees cooler.
We come up and eventually head to Peaks. All the restaurant food, drink, and supplies come up in the Tram … which explains why, in two years, the menu has never changed. But the food is good and the view of watching the valley lights come on is spectacular!!
By the time we finish dinner and ride the Tram back down, most of the people have left. The lights are at their peak, and the conductor puts Sweet Caroline on the speakers for a sing-a-long. I finally asked him on week five if we could start the songs on Number Four, and we got Roy Orbison singing Pretty Woman …
Our formula doesn’t change and I, for one, never get tired of it … Maybe that’s because our guests always seem awed by the experience.
The Adventures of Barry Brink 
Awesome scenery. I would love to experience a rotating car – it would be a great experience.
Love this post! It’s a peaceful trip to be on the tramway or ropeway, isn’t it?