I decided to put this post in the Faith & Family topic because my visit to this Oasis in the Desert - Indian Canyons on the land of the Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs, California - was a spiritual experience.

I did several easy hikes there, and then stepped up for a 4 mile hike up Murray Canyon to see the Seven Sisters waterfall.  I was as prepared as I could be and brought 3 liters of water, but still, making that last 1/2 mile across the open desert towards the Andreas Canyon (seen in the distance below) where my car A/C and a cooler with more water awaited, I had the phrase "God-Forsaken desert" float through my head.  Even as it did, though, it was apparent to me that it didn't apply here.  The life - the stunning vitality, beauty, and variety - supported by the canyon streams gainsayed any possibility that God had forsaken this part of the desert.  Indeed, this seemed his summer home.