survey of Mountain Palm Springs December 11, 2010 N 32 44.840 W 116 1.084 266 W Imperial Hwy Ocotillo CA 92259 Ocotillo Community Park 51-750-13-136 trailhead at Mountain Palm Springs Campground [N 32 51.750 W 116 13.136] estimated driving time from is slightly over two hours distance from home accoding to my truck odometer is 103 miles we set out at mileage 0.00 [San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers hike] we go toward the interpretive plaque 734-189 canyon splits, we keep R toward some palm trees 744-229 749-236-A a very small palm grove to the L and wet sand in the wash 748-285 747-301 752-350-B sparse palm grove 742-360 721-394-C we enter a [larger] palm grove 714-404 709-421 709-428 702-436-D we leave the grove 683-456 657-477 51-603-13-484 side trail to L goes uphill, we turn L we ascend to a small ridge and get a very good view of a large grove [Southwest Grove] apparently at the head of the canyon we are following 588-470-E trail junction, L to Bow Willow Campground 1--1/4 miles, back the way we came Mountain Palms 3/4 mile [we turn R to go to Southwest Grove] 573-485 545-523 529-552 the other trail [noted at 603--484] runs through a canyon to our R, apparently to the same grove 520-591 518-594 520-613 we enter a large palm grove 502-614 498-630 this is the Southwest Grove, and it has some elephant trees nearby 495-647 490-681! other end of grove, end of this part, I turn around odometer here about 0.64 miles 500-660 we start back by a different route along the other side of the canyon [we are following the trail to Surprise Canyon Grove] 515-656 522-656 535-647 550-645 562-643 582-650 600-658 603-665 628-643 635-629 650-633 650-644 663-640 674-633 684-628 703-617 711-602 730-591 754-593 775-605 797-603 789-619 797-620 806-623 823-617 834-606 843-604 847-594 855-599 858-605 861-628 873-659-F we enter a palm grove [Surprise Canyon Grove] 890-650 881-663-lunch 888-687 908-702 911-727 901-760 904-796 916-828 920-859 903-916 874-989 856-3-"palm bowl grove" sign for Palm Bowl Grove to our R 865-996 we turn off trail and enter grove 51-868-14-27! this is an enclosed area near the far side of the grove, this is as far as I will go, end of this part 51-878-13-655 place where we entered Surprise Canyon Grove, we continue downstream 879-631 883-602 884-575 899-553 912-529 [somewhere along here, I follow the wash while the other hikers follow a trail along the R side of the wash] 927-499 914-464-R 912-422 926-370 938--245 939--315 950-286 955-261 949-245-S 925-230 906-213 876-203 841-188 810-160 769-134 51-749-13-128! 2.93 miles, back at the parking area, end of this part, time is 1:53 PM [I survey some roads from my truck in the GPS. I drive back to Highway S2, south on Highwa S2, and into Bow Willow Campground.] 737-135 762-087 765-985 781-913 806-837 836-789 893-709 933-659 966-586 815-593 771-596 709-586 659-564 287-326 95-201 35-162 985-160 929-169 894-181 871-189 843-213 824-236 809-273 787-378 765-446 750-475 715-520 700-545 701-581 709-608 713-641 688-788 676-838 671-870 50-619-13-24 614-48 618-82 609-115 589-151 565-203 558-232 564-262 565-298 557-363 547-393 541-434 543-462 546-487 536-539 538-565 571-618 589-646 592-630 583-607!