Mileage:  53,895 Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation Area Borrego Springs, California

Salton Sea is on the San Andreas Fault.  If you go walking in this area, you can supposedly find mud pots and mud volcanoes.  We passed a hot spring on our way north this morning.  The ground is crusty and hardened with salt and other minerals as the Salton Sea slowly evaporates.

Route 111 is intentionally built in a series of dips to accommodate the washes that might be filled with water during a monsoon rain or thunderstorm, rather like riding a gentle rollercoaster.

So many trains.

We still have snow covered peaks in the distance ahead of us, desert all around us and palm trees planted in what used to be resort areas.  All that and the lake that isn’t supposed to be here!

We decided to camp for the next several days at the Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation Area.  This is an off-road playground.  All kinds of adventurers are here with there OHV’s, ATV’s, dune buggies, dirt bikes, and Jeeps. 

First, we visited the Discovery Center where we were able to get trail maps and information.

This butterfly is a queen butterfly.  The ranger said they were extremely rare to see.  99% of the butterflies here in the park are painted ladies.

We took a trail this afternoon and rode along the perimeter of the park for awhile before cutting in.  We saw globular rocks formed when cement like materials built up over a grain of sand or a seashell and formed these odd shaped boulders that are shaped like pumpkins.  We saw sand dunes and passed by a reef filled with fossilized clam, oyster, and scallop shells. 

No critters in the desert tonight!

Again, the Jeep allows us the opportunity not to drive by but to experience the desert in another way…such fun!