When we got to the top of the mountain we exited the tram though a visitor center, restaurant/bar, gift store and look out area.  We had planned to go on a hike, so we went down to the ranger station and got our free hiking permit.  

We decided to do the Willow Creek hike which turns out to be 3.1 miles (maybe we didn't go all the way).  I bought a pedometer awhile back and it has been fun to see how many steps, miles, calories and aerobic steps we take on our hikes.  Disappointed to see that our hard hike burned only 221 calories. I have to say that this was a somewhat strenuous hike (I forgot my hiking poles in the car), a lot of uphill, rocks, boulders, and roots to climb over.  The trails were well marked in some places and not others.  We took the wrong path a couple of times. 

 The view of the coachella valley (Palm Springs) from the top.  Looked like a clear day to me even though the ranger station said it wasn't. 

 It definitely had that mountain smell and kinda of a fall feel.  You could hear the wind blowing through the tree tops.  I love that sound.

 My handsome man lead the way.

Of course, he couldn't resist a little adventure and left the path as he usually does, to climb a big rock pile. 

 We found this lean-too (sp?) that someone had built.  

 We saw this cool yellow and gray tree.

We came across this weird red flower poking up out of the ground.  We saw maybe 5 on our whole hike.  When we looked closely, they looked kinda rubbery.  We meant to ask the ranger what it was, but forgot.

We stopped and laid back on a big flat rock and took some time feeling the breeze, listening to the wind in the trees and the silence around us.  We wished we had brought a picnic.  

View from the rock.