This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
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While combing through my photo database during this unusually-hot-even-for-July heatwave that's been baking southern California, I was drawn to this winter photo taken in January in Palm Springs. A rotating, hanging cable car took some friends and I two and a half miles above the desert floor to a snowy, forested mountaintop. One of the things I love about living in Los Angeles is that you can begin the day a few blocks from the Santa Monica Bay, and end it on top of a snow-covered mountain.