Sunday April 20, 16.0mi/25.8km

Hidden Spring Canyon (133.7/730ft) to Maniobra Valley Wash (149.7/2160ft) (CA)

I slept great and then early this morning I heard a critter stirring in the bushes nearby. The sky was already light, so I figured time to get moving.

I hiked up the remainder of that wash and then climbed out onto a plateau, and then had an easy descent into another wash.

This would basically be the pattern for the whole morning, wash, plateau, and then back down to wash. Looking back toward the Salton Sea from the top of a plateau:

I descended into the next wash and took a break under a shady Palo Verde tree, and I noticed this strange metallic object residing nearby.

As I was exiting that wash, I saw this cool cactus which I hadn’t seen yet. It looked kind of like a prickly pear, except the pads were smaller and much more wrinkly.

And this ocotillo was positively blooming with leaves.

The next wash I followed for a couple of miles before exiting.

And the exit was a little spicy. When I was blocked by this dryfall, I was forced up the steep hill to the right.

And it was quite steep! The initial 100-ft climb out of the wash was slow, and I tested every step to make sure to not slip on the loose rocks. After that, the grade eased up quite a bit, but I still climbed a 1000ft in less than a mile. Once I got to the ridgeline, I definitely took a break at the top of that.

I had another hour of traversing the ridgeline to the summit of Orocopia peak.

The summit cairn with the Salton Sea in the background.

And of course the summit register inside of an ammo box.

The summit register went all the way back to 2004 and it was fun to read some of the old entries from previous Desert Trail hikers, and many more day hikers. The time flew by, and I quickly packed up and started the descent to the valley. Initially it was easy walking down a ridgeline and then dropping into a shallow wash. Eventually the wash got more carved into the bedrock, and I had some interesting rock formations to work around.

After a couple hours of descending in that wash, I thought I was done but there was one last dry fall obstacle to get around.

I had to hike up around it on the hillside to the left and drop back into the wash below. The section felt pretty typical of the Hayduke trail. There was even a little undercut section which formed a cave!

After that wash ended, I had a relaxing stroll up an abandoned 4WD road, and then another descent down a much easier wash. The wash was so easy that I got lost in thought and ended up hiking until my stomach reminded me that it was almost 7 pm! Oops. Time to camp.

Tomorrow I will cross over Interstate 10 and the little oasis of commerce there which consists of a cafe, convenience store and military museum.