California - Mnt San Jacinto State Park

Mnt San Jacinto looks over the valley of Palm Springs and Kathy, Bruce, Rick, George and I went up to the top the 3rd day we were there.
We ascended in a revolving cable car, the only one of its kind in North America. I think I read there is another one in the Alps. The fact that it revolves means that you don't have to move around to get good pictures, the gradual rotation gives you constantly changing views. There are also two levels to stand on, the one in the centre of the car being slightly higher so that those who don't like heights ( therefor don't want to stand next to the windows - like George) still get to see the views

A little nervous at the start of the ride

Looking down from the cable car at the valley and community below.

At the top of the mountain it is considerably colder and those who had been dressed in shorts and T shirts were shivering especially as it was also quite breezy. Luckily Rick and Eve had warned us and we were better prepared. The views are phenomenal. You can see as far away as the Salton Sea at the far end of the valley. The valley is shades of brown and sand except for the vivid greens of the communities. The mountainside is rugged and bare.  However there is quite a lot of foliage managing to survive at the top of the mountain.

The trip back down is equally impressive, even more so as we had seen a video about how it was built using helicopters to deliver materials and guide some of the pieces into place.