Sunday April 13, 17.1mi/27.5km
Lower Carrizo Gorge (18.8/950ft) to Middle Mesa (35.9/1060ft) (CA)

I got an early start at 6:30, the morning is the best time to hike. And especially on this trail, when it’s so hot in the middle of the day.

It’s late spring in the low desert but lots of things are still blooming! I don’t know the name of this flower.

And this ocotillo looked very healthy with all of its green leaves and red flowers. Usually I see them in the fall and they’re just dead-looking sticks.

The official Desert Trail route walks almost a mile out of the way to visit a campground which has pit toilets, water shade and trash cans. So it seemed kind of worth it.

They said the water was non-potable so I filtered it. Usually those signs are just for liability reasons because the water isn’t tested.

I dumped what little trash I had accumulated, it will probably make my backpack half a pound lighter. I’m not sure that I’ll notice with the 15+ pounds of water I’m carrying though! And because I wasn’t sure this campground would have running water, I had cached water just a mile away at the main paved road. It was easy to dig up with just my bare hands and a pair of cheap gardening gloves.

I walked along the desolate paved road for a couple of minutes and then quickly turned off onto a sandy 4wd road.

By now it was after 10am and getting pretty hot, so as soon as I saw some big shady trees I decided to take a cool down break.

I sat there for quite a while, just enjoying being in the shade with the slight breeze. But there were miles to go, so I continued on through the hot midday Sun on the sandy road.

Eventually I left the road network and joined a sandy wash. There were some really big tamarisk trees and it was impossible to avoid stopping for another break in their wonderful shade. After accidentally catching a quick nap, I packed up and hiked up the wash that led into Arroyo Seco del Diablo.

It was hot and sunny where I was, but just a mile behind me I could see a line of thick cloud. I was pretty jealous.

I entered the canyon, which was made of a mud-like substance.

It had these really cool striations of colors in the walls.

And some of the shapes and patterns that were carved into it were pretty amazing. I couldn’t tell if it was carved by wind or water.

As I got further up canyon, the walls got taller and the sun sank lower in the sky and I was very thankful for the shade.

More cool shapes in the canyon walls.

It was beautiful hiking but by 5pm I was ready to be done walking for the day. I’m usually more tired at the beginning of a hike before I’ve developed better fitness. But I’m also questioning the accuracy of the guidebook mileages, as well as my Garmin watch GPS. The guidebook says 17.1 miles, my watch says 19.1 miles. I’m guessing the truth is probably right in the middle. Tomorrow, I’m going to record a GPS track with my phone app which I know is accurate. Science! It was pretty windy up on top of this Mesa, so I tried to find a sheltered spot behind a large bush.

Another tiring day! At least the weather forecast looks much cooler after tomorrow.