Borrego Trip, October 2006
Borrego Trip, October 2006
Here are a couple of photos from our October 2006 trip to Borrego Springs.
We start with a picture taken in Palm Canyon, near the palm trees where
there always seems to be water.
This year we went down to the south end of the park to explore
"cañon sin nombre" in the Carrizo badlands.
There are some very interesting rock and sediment formations in
the canyon, however, we were most interested in a slot canyon that
allows you to go from the canyon floor to the top.
The first photo is of Mark almost at the bottom of the narrow area in
the slot canyon.
The next two are taken from the bottom of that same area while Kathy
negotiates it. It was much easier going down than it was when we went up.
Not too far from cañon sin nombre is "Arroyo Tapiado" which holds
numerous mud "caves".
One large cave is right next to the (dirt) road.
This is not really a cave, but a canyon which is covered over is some areas
but opens up to the sky in others so you don't need a flashlight to walk it.
On our way to and from Arroyo Tapiado, we passed a popular campus
site marked with a "Hollywood and Vine" street sign. (Yes, in the
middle of the desert.)
The next day, we visited "Hawk Canyon" which is a few miles East of
Borrego Springs. It has some colorful sediment deposits along the walls
including a green stripe which was apparently laid down when the region
was ocean bottom. Kathy took this picture afterwards from an overlook
several hundred feet above the canyon. (I couldn't even stand up there
because of my vertigo.)
Adjacent to the overlook is a jeep trail with a one way drop off.
There's even a classic "One Way" sign there in the middle of the
desert. We were curious to see it because we have seen some pretty
hairy jeep trails (e.g., "boulder alley") out there that are stil
two way. The drop off is a couple of hundred feet high and it's
all deep soft sand with a couple major ruts. So trying to come back
would be tough and would rip even bigger ruts into the area.
The previous picture is from the top looking down, and the next is
from the bottom looking up.
Finally, a short .5 mile from the drop off is "the slot", which is
a slot canyon that took us right back to where we had parked.
There's one part that's so narrow, you may have to remove your backpack!
©opyright 2006 Mark R. Wallen