There’s SO Much More to the Desert Than Playing Golf

Most of our friends who winter in the Desert come here to play golf at world-renowned courses. I do play golf (or at least my version of the game), but playing a round or two did not make my short-list of Desert activities during our week at the Wilsons. Warm weather exercise, however, was a priority.

Tom and I found a couple of easy hikes that gave us a bit of a workout along with incredible views of the desert valley. We enjoyed the Randall Henderson Trail so much that Teri and Phil joined us for a repeat hike.

Randall Henderson was instrumental in the development of Palm Desert and was the visionary behind the famed El Paseo, a.k.a. “Rodeo Drive of the Desert.” With outstanding views of the Santa Rosa Mountains, the trail was dedicated to Henderson in 2005. A nicely developed visitor’s center is staffed with an amiable bunch of retired folks who moved here to spend their golden years. I think one of the guys moved here to dish out his version of Palm Desert history and gossip. Of course we ate it all up.

The trail is nicely signed, and an interesting brochure gave us a good appreciation of the desert vegetation, wildlife habitat, and geological history of the area. I was stunned to learn that there are hundreds of different kinds of catci, and I swear we saw 80% of them.

Unfortunately, we were too early in the season to spot the still-hibernating Desert Tortoise, and we also failed to spot any Bighorn Sheep on the steep, rocky slopes. However, we did have one notable sighting – the infamous Desert home of Duane and Lola Hagadone.

The bane of many Desert residents, Hagadone’s sprawling $30 million mountain estate has been highly criticized for its over-the-top size and ostentatious appearance.

Its copper roof covers 32,000 square feet of living space. Even at a distance, the naked eye has no trouble picking out the complex with its out-buildings, multiple water features and trademark red geraniums. Naturally, we zoomed in with our binoculars, and I’m pretty sure I saw Lola vacuuming one of the bedrooms.