707 January 12-14, 2022 Mountain Palm Springs – Quiet and Solitude

On Wednesday, we drove from Yuma and traveled about 100 miles to Mountain Palm Springs. We knew we were getting close as we drove through a great field of windmills.

This is a primitive campground on S-2 in Southern California. We have stayed here before and we love it. The setting is remote and starkly beautiful. It is nestled in the green Anza- Borrego desert. We chose a site at the very end near the trailhead.

We spent the remainder of that first day walking in the desert and enjoying the peace and stillness.

I began Thursday with a walk. I took the park road back to the highway and got a good 4 miles done. There is no cell service here. I walked without talking on the phone or listening to music or an audiobook. It was a good time for some quiet introspection.

We packed our picnic and drove the Jeep to Indian Gorge. We took the road to the southern valley first. At the end we parked and hiked the trail up into the canyon and to the palms. The hike involved some rock scrambling. The trail is there among the rocks.

Next we took the northern trail and we walked and here we had our lunch. The views of the valley beyond were incredible.

Morning skies.

On Friday, we decided to take the Canyon Sin Nombre down into the Carrizo Badlands.

We stopped to hike a slot canyon with more boulder climbing…such a great challenge!

We drove through a long wash and found the trail that took us among the Badlands and then to a ridgeline. The road was twisting and turning and involved some technical skill…which made for a fun ride.

We saw a coyote not far from the RV. He appeared to be circling the bushes where the rabbit warrens are…looking for dinner.

It was nice to spend days being unplugged and disconnected and enjoying the peacefulness.