Newbie - Art Smith Hike

[Forty]

Decided to post something on here finally. I've been lurking for months.

I'm completely new to hiking. I live in Palm Desert and generally have limited time, so I have been doing the hike to the Cross and the Bump and Grind for about 3-4 times per week over the last 6-7 weeks. They're decent, quick cardio workouts but not really "hiking". Two weeks ago I did the Murray Hill hike from Vons down in PS and I was instantly hooked into making hiking something more than just an hour excursion up a 800ft hill for an hour. Reaching the peak of Murray Hill was akin to putting the spike in my arm. I'm hooked.

I know many of you are very experienced and something like Murray Hill is small beans, but for me it gave me confidence that I can take on bigger goals and thrills in exploring areas that are lightly travelled. Getting away from the daily grind is so nice. For a novice I have good leg endurance as I was a professional golfer for over 10 years and walking comes easy to me. But gain is the workout for me. I'm not used to gaining 2000+ feet in a workout.

So this morning at dawn I decided to take on the Art Smith Trail from the entrance on Hwy 74. I had to get it done in 4 hours or less (family responsibilities) and I made it @ 5.5 miles out (11 roundtrip). I turned around at what appeared to be a ravine/creek that joins up with Cat Creek (which I had already passed). There was a very large Palm Oasis up the creek that I tried to scramble up to but chose to not risk injury and quit (I was alone).

Also, I found the rock that someone spray painted "3.0" a while back and whoever fixed it did a pretty good job. It's very faint. I also found a spray paint can at that final creek I came to just off the path on the way up to the Oasis. I didn't pack it out as I had no room in my backpack. I will take a baggie with me next time and if it is still there I will pack it out. It looked pretty new so I hope there isn't any new graffiti.

The views were really great and it was so silent I could hear my heartbeat. I'm all yours hiking. You've got me. My long term goals are Skyline, C2C, and Rabbit via S22. I'm a long way off from those but it's good to set goals! Hope to run into some of you guys/gals out there sometime.

Here are some pics


Art Smith Trailhead




View of Palm Desert a little after the Hoppalong Cassidy Trail split

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Cat Creek



Here's the "3.0" mark that has been covered up. You can barely see it.




A view of Palm Desert from about 4 miles in




This is where I stopped and turned back about 5.5 miles in. I tried to scramble up the creek to the Oasis and didn't get far. It looked like a lot of unstable ground. I believe this creek combines with Cat Creek.




This is the spray paint can I found in a bush. I found it just off the trail on the left as I began trying to scramble up the creek.




Forty

[Florian]

Hi Forty. Art Smith is a good hike and not traveled as often as some of the other local trails. Glad to see the 3.0 is almost gone. It always amazes me how some people just don't care.

Welcome to the forum!

-Florian

[bamm321]

Hey Forty, you sound alot like the way i got started Lots of bump n grind trips during the week, and murray peak alot of saturdays.

Murray peak is what got me hooked also. Amazing making it up my first time, and after having done it more than 100 times its still one of my favorite ways to spend a couple hours in the morning.

It will build your confidence, and push you to bigger hikes eventually. My example would be 4 skylines and a cactus to clouds for me this year so far!

[Forty]

Thanks for the welcome guys. I almost feel like I know some of the people on this board with how much lurking I've done.

bamm - That's awesome. I hope to have that kind of success someday soon.

In the short term I'm looking to do a Art Smith to Murray Hill down to Vons before the end of the year. That seems like a long slog but one that I'd love. I want to check out Mad Women Spring and the Indian Canyons soon as well. In the meantime I'll assault the Cross and the B&G on weekdays to keep my legs strong and to shed a few more pounds. I'm 6'3" and I weigh 215lbs. I want to get under 200lbs. before I start taking on big gain.


By the way... where can I get my hands on some good topos? I bought the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa National Monument map. It's decent for a large overview.

40

[HH8]

The views were really great and it was so silent I could hear my heartbeat. I'm all yours hiking.

My own heart is the different drummer I march to the beat of.
Glad you were finally able to meet yourself.
It will probably be your most fulfilling relationship.

[bluerail]

theres a great map shop in palm desert http://desertmapandaerial.com/


I knew youd end up unspooled on the trail Chris. nice.