Saturday April 12, 14.3mi/23.0km
Interstate 8 Underpass (4.5/2720ft) to Lower Carrizo Gorge (18.8/950ft) (CA)

I packed up camp before 6am, I don’t like camping next to roads unless I absolutely have to, and so I departed pretty early. All morning I walked along abandoned railroad tracks and it was a very relaxing and scenic morning.

Some of the old abandoned railcars had some really nice graffiti on them.

The first tunnel I came to was closed, so I took a short trail around and descended back down to the tracks.

In the distance I could see the first trestle I would be crossing, and below me was the beginnings of Carrizo Gorge.

Most of the trestles were easy to cross since they had some nice steel grates to walk on.

The first tunnel I walked through was pretty short, but it still felt a little unnerving knowing that some of the previous tunnels had collapsed.

Getting closer, I could see how wide and tall the tunnels were..I think they were built a long time ago when trains were taller and still burned coal.

A few miles further on I came upon another set of abandoned rail cars that were parked on a siding.

The insides of them looked pretty trashed.

All the tunnels were numbered by the railroad company and tunnel number 8 was closed, but there was a nice trail around it. Though there were plenty of Teddy Bear Cholla encroaching on that trail.

A closer look.

One of the tunnels was lined up perfectly with the one that came after it, making a cool visual effect.

Finally I came upon the locally famous Goat Canyon trestle, which is the destination for most day hikers before they turn around.

I saw a group of three guys hanging out there as well as a grandmother/granddaughter duo. I waved goodbye to them and started my descent down to the bottom of Carrizo Gorge.

The official Desert Trail does not follow the railroad tracks at all, instead it just descends into the gorge bottom almost immediately from my campsite this morning. But I knew that route would be overgrown, and when studying the maps it looked like there were a couple of descent options that weren’t too steep. Still, I wasn’t sure this descent would work, so I kept studying the terrain as I went down.

About half a mile and 45 minutes later, and I was at the bottom of Carrizo Gorge.

It was a pretty ideal descent route, not too steep, though I got a little lucky with the lack of cacti. When I got to the bottom of the canyon it was noticeably warmer so I decided to take a break in the shade. On my way to a shady spot I stumbled upon this cool horn. I think it’s from a bighorn sheep.

And a short distance away, a skeleton, probably from the same animal.

The morning clouds had disappeared and my hike down the canyon was pretty warm, my little thermometer said 90F/32C. Every hour I took a break in the shade.

Towards the bottom of the canyon I noticed high up on the hillside a pair of derailed railroad cars.

According to the guidebook those derailed in the 1970s, and they were full of Coors beer so the local college students came out every weekend and tried to collect free beer. There was one little section of hiking that was absolutely clogged with vegetation. It was a thicket of Tamarisk, Mesquite, and aquatic grasses. It took me 30 minutes to go a quarter mile. Gross.

After that section though, the vegetation mostly disappeared as the ground is drier here, and the rest of the hike to the trailhead was easy. I quickly passed by the little trailhead where there was a Forerunner parked. Not many vehicles can get in here since it’s a 6 mile long sandy and rocky road. I walked the rough dirt road for another hour, and it was quite pleasant now that the canyon bottom was in afternoon shade. I stopped to camp at 6:30, much earlier than last night.

I’m also limiting my daily mileage in the beginning to ease in my feet. The guidebook says I hiked 14.5 miles, but my watch says I hiked 18 miles. The watch is probably closer to the truth, as my railroad alternate added a couple miles, and also it’s impossible to walk a straight line down a gorge that’s choked with vegetation and boulders. Hopefully tomorrow is easier hiking, this afternoon was slow and tiring.