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!

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!

911 February 27, 2023 Easy Day

After our morning workouts, we went to town to do errands.

Then, we hopped on our bikes and took a nice 10 mile ride.

We spent the rest of the day quietly.

910 February 26, 2023 Racecars And Flowers

The sun was shining!  There was new frosting on the peaks. 

I walked in the park this morning.  It was chilly and the wind was whipping but I got almost 4 miles done, following washes and sandy paths across the desert.

Tim went to use the fitness room and it was locked.  When the windstorm happened last week, a door was damaged and ripped off the hinges.  The hotel staff think that it will take about a month for repairs.  Tim had been making good use of the facility and he was disappointed.  Tomorrow he may look for another place to go and workout.

Today was NASCAR day.  I decided that I would let Tim enjoy the race.  I went to Henderson Canyon Road and went to look at the wildflowers.

Desert lilies.

Dune evening primroses and sand verbena.

Desert sunflowers.

Everyone was happy!

909 February 25, 2023 Downtown

This morning it was foggy and drizzling.  I decided I needed to get out and walk no matter what.  I walked into town thinking that there might be more places to take shelter if it began to rain harder. 

I got some cleaning and laundry done while Tim took a hike on the ridge.

I went to pick him up in town.  We went into the Borrego Art Institute.  We enjoyed the exhibit of desert photography.  

We walked to the Borrego Community Garden.

We went to the State Park store and browsed.

We went to the Borrego Botanical Gardens.  I had found this place on a walk a couple of weeks ago.  There was a particular display that I wanted to see.  There is a fence.  Mounted on the fence there are 30 stories of people and how they came to live in Borrego Springs.  These stories are written by adults and students that have come from Mexico.  As I read these accounts, I was reminded again how grateful I should be.  I was also reminded how parents always want what is best for their children.  Most families share this desire.  How brave and daring to sacrifice so much and hope for a brighter future.  It was a moving experience.

We got a text after 6 this evening saying that there was live music here in the lobby at the RV resort. We decided to go. The music was very loud in the main room. We sat at the bar and had some wine and some Guiness and we solved the problems of the world.

908 February 24, 2023 Salton Sea

This morning, I walked to town.  The goal was to get to the farmer’s market and call Tim to join me.  On my way, I saw two coyotes cross the road into town.  They were headed toward the grocery store.  When I got to the circle there were no tents, no vendors.  The weather forecast must have shut things down.  We are expecting wind and rain and the surrounding mountains are more snow covered.

I was walking around the circle when I was stopped by an older gentleman.  He told me that he had noticed that I walked every day.  He also walks every day.  He told me that he had lost his wife, his family, and his house.  He told me that he had been in a coma for 95 days and when he woke up, he decided that he wanted to live.  He says that walking makes him feel better…his whole body, his heart, and his head.  He told me not to give up…not to stop…don’t quit.  He was a nice man and spoke English well and we spoke a little Spanish too.   I felt inspired by him and have been thinking of him…don’t quit!!!

The crews have been busy trying to right things around town.  They have been working on the big tree. 

Tim had an idea for a day trip.  We packed our lunch and set out to see the Salton Sea.

We saw lots of evidence of storm damage as we left town.  Trees on houses and carports, roof tiles in the streets, tarps on roofs. 

We passed through the desert at Ocotillo Wells…large open spaces.

As we turned out onto the main road, we saw a group of 5 military jets doing really cool maneuvers.  We found a place to pull over and watch.

Lots of farmland with some cauliflower, romaine, and alfalfa fields.

We stopped at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.  The Salton Sea sits at 228 feet below sea level.  It is one of the lowest points in the United States.  In 1905, an engineering mistake caused the Salton Sea to fill with water.  In reality, this area had been filled with water on and off for millennia and this is just the most recent form of Lake Cahuilla.  Over hundreds of years, this lake was filled with floodwaters from the Colorado River.  This flooding brought rich silt to the Imperial Valley, making it excellent place for growing things.  The Salton Sea is increasing in salinity and has decreasing water levels.  Agricultural fertilizers and other toxins have leached into the water.  Scientists have also found that the Salton Sea has one of the largest lithium deposits in the world.

Sonny Bono, in his role as a politician, worked hard to protect this land and the birds and wildlife here.  Tim ate his breakfast here. 

We saw some cottontail rabbits and a few quails.

We left and continued to use backroads to travel as close to the shore as we could.  We stopped at the Red Hill Area.

There are geothermal wells here.

There are lots of CalEnergy Plants here.

Old fire trucks.

Desert art.

Trains.

We stopped at the Wister Road Area.  Here we found a fishing pond.  We stopped for a snack and some pictures.

We took a trail to see some mud pots.  This is geothermal activity.  The water appears to be boiling but in actuality, it is carbon dioxide being vented from the earth.

We stopped at the Niland Marina.  The water has a chemical, organic odor and it is not safe to swim here, but it was nice to see water.

We had been traveling for 4 hours.  I did the driving back to Borrego Springs.  We saw a pair of coyotes crossing the highway.

We saw a long stretch of electric poles snapped off at the base, the wires lying on the ground.  Crews were busy working.  The town of Salton City has been without power since Tuesday’s wind storm.

We really enjoyed this day of learning and exploring.

We watched the evening news and it was all about the coming snowstorm. We shall see what weather craziness comes to Southern California tomorrow!

907 February 23, 2023 Crazy Weather!

Last night it was very dark in Borrego Springs.   This is a dark sky community and there are very few streetlights,  and no traffic lights.  Businesses have red or muted lights.  But last night, there was no power.   Because of cloudy conditions, there was no moonlight, though the moon is just a sliver now anyway.  All the stores and restaurants were shuttered and closed.  After sunset, a car pulled up into the hotel/resort parking lot, I cannot imagine what it must have been like to drive into this place with no light.

After 30 hours our power was restored.  We were grateful that we were to be able to use our generator and our propane furnace. 

I had to wait for rain showers to pass before I started my morning walk. 

Even so, as I was walking back, I got caught in more rain.

It rained on and off all day.

We went out in the late afternoon to go to the post office and to get drinking water.  We saw this rainbow over the desert.

We decided to go look at the snowcapped mountains.  Tim drove into Coyote Canyon.

So pretty.

We went back to Kesling’s Kitchen for dinner.  Moroccan chicken salad and a shrimp white bean pasta salad were both hits!

Now we are back in the RV listening to more rain.  The weather certainly has been strange.  We read that during the wind storm on Tuesday winds were measured at 60mph here in Borrego Springs.  It is 15-25 degrees cooler here than normal.  It is snowing in the mountains with a forecast for much more in the next two days.  Crazy weather!

906 February 22, 2023 Weather Watching

It was windy yesterday but last night the wind was wicked crazy wild.  It was a little scary laying there in bed and listening to the whipping wind.  We could hear sand blasting the outside of the RV and then some rain as well.  The wind was battering the RV so hard that we pulled the slideouts in.  Sometime after midnight, the winds calmed enough that we could sleep. 

We woke up to a fine layer of sand on the inside of the window ledges on the western side.  There was also a coating of dust on everything. 

The entire town lost power at some point during the night.  The temperature inside the RV was 54 degrees.  We ran the generator to warm things up.

It was too unpleasant to walk this morning…more wind, chilly, and spitting rain.  I read that there may be a blizzard at higher elevations.  The road up to the mountains had a sign requiring mandatory chains on all vehicles.  We could see the mountaintops smothered in a thick layer of clouds. 

I stayed in today.  The highlight of my day was making flight plans for our trip to the east later this spring.

Tim had cabin fever and needed to get out.  He walked the ridges on the lower mountains behind the campground.  He called me to come and get him when he got to the circle.  There was a huge tree down.

There were power company trucks out working all day.  We are hoping they are able to restore electric soon!

In the meantime, it was a good day to take the day off.

905 February 20-21, 2023 Piedras Grandes

I began Monday with a great walk through the state park and all the way to the trailhead.  I crossed the desert on a trail that took me through the middle of the park.  It was a nice day to be out and walking and I did more than 4 miles.

Hummingbird.

We packed the Jeep for an overnight adventure.  We had briefly visited Piedras Grandes a couple of weeks ago when we were staying at Mountain Palm Springs.  We saw a couple of very promising campsites and decided we would come back. 

We left from Borrego Springs and drove the winding roads up and over the mountains and down to the lower portion of Anza-Borrego State Park. 

We had driven for an hour and still had a long way to go.  I took over the driving.  We had driven 60 miles when we entered Mortero Wash.  This is a dirt road with several washouts and some minor rock obstacles.

We took a break when we got to the railroad tracks and Tim drove us into the cultural preserve.

We got out and hiked around the large boulders.  There is evidence that The Kumeyaay people inhabited this place for 12,000 years.  Over 600 generations have lived here.  There are signs of ancient life everywhere.  The people took shelter here among the large boulders.  There are rain basins, matates for grinding, pictographs and fire scars.  The relics that were recovered now reside in museums.  This is considered sacred ground.

We found a campsite in a cove of rocks.  It was thrilling to know that we were staying in this timeless place.  As I stood on the boulders looking at the landscape, I was aware that I was seeing the land much as it existed centuries ago…albeit for the wind turbines in the distance. 

In the eastern US, I know that there is also a history of ancient people.  This legacy was largely erased, buried under our cities as we sought to conquer the existing indigenous nations.  Here in the west, there are these preserves.  Very small tributes to represent thousands of years of life; reminders that there is a very rich culture where native peoples thrived.  It is so very humbling.

We were there all by ourselves.  We saw no other hikers touring the monument.  One 4WD truck passed us at dinnertime but then there was no one else. 

The sun set behind our boulders before 4pm.  I kept moving to be in the sunshine.

It was quiet and the wind was still.

Some evening color.

Of course, we had a fire and of course, there was stargazing.

Deep in the night we heard the songs of coyotes.

Morning coffee but no fire because it was 50 degrees and sunny.

We hiked this morning up into the hills of giant boulders.

The trail from the beginning.

This is where we stopped, looking back. We had only hiked about 1/2 miles but we had picked our way through and over the boulders.

We took a different way back to the highway through the maze of wind turbines.

There is no way to take a picture to show how scenic this drive is.  Enjoy this video.

Sand verbena in large patches; purple and stunning.

By the time we were approaching Borrego Springs, the winds were beginning to pick up.  The forecast is for sustained winds in the mid-twenties with stronger gusts.  A perfect afternoon to be inside and rest.

Borrego Bread made a warm sourdough bread delivery which was a terrific snack!

903 February 17-19, 2023 An Old Friend

Friday morning, we got up early to get to the farmer’s market by 7:45.  We were able to get beautiful berries, fresh greens, asparagus, banana bread, and sour cherry scones. 

I walked from the circle to the hardware store and then walked across the desert back to the campground.  Tim tool the Jeep back to the RV and did his morning workout.

We packed our suitcases and drove the Jeep a couple hours west.  Tim drove us over the mountains on twisting roads to an elevation of 4,200 feet where it was only 42 degrees with patchy snow. 

We descended on the other side and drove through small towns and over hills toward the coast.  As we got closer to San Diego, there were large fields of bright orange and yellow wildflowers.  It was a gorgeous ride. 

Friday afternoon, we shopped in El Cajon and had dinner at California Fish and Grill.

We stayed in a hotel. 

Saturday morning, we walked in the neighborhood nearby.  We found a small baseball field at the local elementary school and began walking laps.  Families began to arrive with their 6-year-old children.  We watched them playing catch and warming up.  We just love kids and baseball and it was fun to be there.

We went to Walmart and gathered a bunch of supplies that are hard to find or are very expensive in Borrego Springs.

After lunch, we drove to San Diego to visit with Tim’s old friend Doug, and his family.   The guys hadn’t seen each other in 20 years and there was a warm and emotional reunion.  Doug and Jolie and Brett welcomed us and prepared a feast for dinner.  We very much enjoyed catching up, sharing memories, and telling stories.  Tim and Doug got a nice fire going and we sat outside until we were chilly.  There was Julian peach pie for dessert…with ice cream.  Such a nice evening!

We retuned to El Cajon and stayed a second night.  Sunday morning, we went to Sprouts and got a bunch of groceries. 

By 8am we were on our way back to Borrego Springs.  We stopped at a tiny Mexican place in the small town of Ramona for breakfast burritos. 

We were back in time for the Daytona 500. 

I spent the afternoon doing laundry and unpacking.  I took a nice walk into town.

We had a great weekend.  We appreciated the chance to spend time with friends!