California - Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Ron, Ron's wife Debbie, their son Danny, and I visited the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, CA.  If I recall correctly, it was 108* in Palm Springs, and a refreshing 66* in the mountains.  The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is the largest rotating aerial tramway in the world. It was opened in September 1963 as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley to relatively near the top of San Jacinto Peak and was constructed in rugged Chino Canyon. Before its construction, the only way to the top of the mountain was to hike a number of hours from Idyllwild.
The twelve-and-a-half minute, 2.5 mile ride begins at the Valley Station at 2,643 ft and passes up North America's sheerest mountain face through five life zones on its way to the Mountain Station at 8,516 ft above mean sea level. Travelers start in the Sonoran Desert and arrive at an alpine forest.
The floor of the 18-foot-diameter aerial tram-cars rotates constantly, making two complete revolutions throughout the duration of the journey so that the passengers can see in all directions without moving. With a maximum capacity of 80 passengers it is the largest of the three rotating aerial trams in the world. The other "Rotair" aerial trams are located in Cape Town, South Africa and Titlis, Switzerland.

 

While in Palm Springs, we stopped off at the "Cheesecake Factory" restaurant for lunch.