912 February 28, 2023 Truckhaven

I knew that we planned to hike today so I took only a one mile walk around the campground this morning.

We packed a cooler and took the Jeep for a ride to Truckhaven Rocks.  These huge sandstone monoliths are tilted out of the earth due to movement along the San Jacinto Fault 3 or 4 million years ago.  The Santa Rosa Mountains run at the center of this faultline.  

We took the steep and winding Jeep trail. 

We passed a couple walking the road and stopped to check on them.  We chatted for several minutes with Mitch and Cindy from New Hampshire before continuing around the hairpin turns.

We parked at the Calcite Mine Slot Trail.  First, we walked east, downhill.  The walls rose high as we walked deeper into the chasm. 

We came to a steep dry waterfall about 3 feet high.  I knew that I could get down, I scooted on my butt.  Even as I was scooting, I was wondering how I was going to get back up on the way out.  Tim assured me that I would get out and on we trekked.  We had two other severe drop-offs and I was able to get myself down without issue.  This was such a beautiful place and such a cool hike, that we didn’t want to stop.  At last, there was a narrow spot with a 5-foot drop-off that Tim wasn’t sure about.  Here we turned back. 

At the first obstacle, I ended up using Tim’s knee as a step to get myself up and over as he pushed from behind.  At the second, Tim had to scramble up before me and he helped to pull me up.  At the third area, I saw a work around and I was able to climb up the side and around the top of the boulder. 

We decided to hike the western side of the canyon as well. 

The obstacles here were easily navigated until this.

I decided to stop and drink water and eat a protein bar and I encouraged Tim to continue. 

He was back fairly quickly.  Up ahead, there was a boulder that was just too big to surmount.

We walked to the Jeep and on our way, we met Mitch and Cindy hiking in.  We chatted for a while and then we offered them a ride back to their car.  We wanted them to finish their hike and so we went back and Tim had his gruel. 

Mitch and Cindy met us and we ferried them the 3 miles to Palm Wash at the base of the hill leading to the parking lot.  They were interesting to talk to and we enjoyed our brief visit.

We parted ways.  Tim and I drove down Palm Wash through the mud hills and all the way to Route 86 in Salton City.

We never tire of this view. The mountains around us look different all the time…the sun, the shadows, the light, the clouds.

We got back to the RV in midafternoon.  The Borrego Bread lady had made our sourdough delivery.  We managed to wait until after 4 to eat it.  We relished our feast!