913 March 1, 2023 Box Canyon Road In Mecca

It rained all night.  It was raining this morning but the sun was also in and out.  We did have a beautiful rainbow. 

There was a brief pause in the showers and I tried to get out and walk.  The wind was blowing at about 17mph.  Walking into the wind was miserable.  I headed into town with the wind at my back.  I didn’t get very far before I had to make a call for help.  For the second time in two days, Tim rescued me!

There is a new sculpture in front of the tennis club.

There is a wind advisory until 10pm tonight and the forecast is for continued rain.  I thought that we would spend this whole nasty day in the RV.  Tim looked at the weather in Mecca.  We decided to take a ride to Box Canyon. 

The road was wet and there were puddles in the desert.

We drove away from winter and toward sunshine and blue skies.

Box Canyon Road sits right along the San Andreas Fault.  The geology here is very interesting. 

We got out and walked but our first attempt ended with this chute.

We drove a short distance further and tried again.  We walked for a long time in this canyon. 

There are wildflowers blooming here that we haven’t seen in Borrego and some cactus we haven’t seen before as well.

There was graffiti and lots of people had etched things into the soft rock.  There was lots of trash too.  I don’t care if people come out and shoot at stuff but they could clean up after themselves.  I cannot tell you how much this angers me.  It enrages me that some people have this complete disregard for the environment.  I just don’t get it!

We saw an opportunity for a Jeep ride and stopped at the kiosk to take a picture of the map. 

We took Little Box Canyon Trail to Mecca Copia Trail through the Colorado Desert and all the way to the Salton Sea at North Shore.

As we headed back to Borrego Springs, we were assaulted by gusty winds and in the distance, we could see dense black clouds, blowing dust, and rain bands.  It was eerie and otherworldly. The temperature dropped to 40 degrees and the “rain” was making splats on the windshield…ugh…back to winter. 

We ran from the Jeep into the Red Ocotillo where we ate a late lunch/early dinner. 

We are now in the RV, bundled in blankets and with the furnace blasting.  This is not the weather we expected here in the Southern California Desert!