Monday April 21, 16.8mi/27.0km

Maniobra Valley Wash (149.7/2160ft) to NW side of Eagle Mt (166.5/3420ft) (CA)

I had a nice easy morning of walking down the gravelly wash.

I saw a few of these large holes, I think they are burrows for Desert tortoises?

After a mile the wash turned off in an undesirable direction, and I hiked XC straight to the interstate.

It was pretty easy hiking through sparse vegetation, though I did come across one surprising obstacle, a can graveyard!

All the cans were the old style so I figured they were dumped in the 1960s. A little while later, and I was crossing over the interstate.

There’s nothing at this exit except for a convenience store, a cafe, and a museum. The General Patton museum is the first thing I hiked by.

I went into the convenience store to buy a massive cup of Dr Pepper, and some replacement first aid items. Afterwards, I ventured over to the cafe and relaxed in the climate controlled environment for over an hour while eating massive amounts of food and charging my electronics.

I paid my bill, refilled my water, and left the cafe before the rush of lunchtime customers. During the hike out of that little commercial complex I saw more antique tanks.

And a mile later, I was in Joshua Tree National Park!

It’s not one of the main entrances, or even an entrance that anybody really uses, since there’s no roads or parking. But it was a nice quiet hike up a sandy wash.

After an hour, the wash turned quite rocky and slow.

Eventually the bottom of the wash became choked with boulders and I had to scramble onto the hillside, where the guidebook described an “old miners trail”. I actually found traces of the old trail and managed to mostly follow it, And only a few parts were overgrown. The Ocotillos are blooming strong this spring!

Eventually that old trail dropped me back into the wash, which I had to climb back out of one more time to avoid another boulder choke. All of that scrambling and detouring was tiring and slow so when I got to the “Lost Palms Oasis” I took a nice break in the shade.

Now I was on an official National Park trail and the hiking was easy. Looking back on the Lost Palms Oasis:

The trail was really quite nice!

I strolled along for over an hour, seeing only one other dayhiker, and arrived at Cottonwood Spring. It was roped off with fences and signs prohibiting entry.

It would have been neat to go explore the little spring, but I wasn’t worried about getting water since the campground was only five minutes away. And because it’s for National Park tourists, of course it has water spigots.

As usual the campground was a confusing mix of roads, campsites and buildings. After filling my water I figured out how to leave the campground. The old 4wd road described in the book departs from behind campsite number 17, and the site’s occupants were a little confused when I hiked by!

Despite not having been a road in over 40 years it was remarkably easy to follow through the high desert. And I had great views of the setting sun on Eagle Mountain.

And a little while later, it sank below the horizon behind me.

Time to set up camp! I found a little sandy spot between some yuccas and called it a night.

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.

Saturday April 19, 17.1mi/27.5km

Bdy of Mecca Hills Wilderness (116.8/60ft) to Hidden Spring Canyon (133.7/730ft) (CA) +0.2mi to Hidden Spring

I woke up a little later than usual from my cozy little spot, and got moving at 7:30.

I hiked an hour on the dirt road before I started to enter the Painted Canyon.

Getting deeper into it…

I had like a dozen cars pass me and when I got to the end of the road, that’s about how many I saw parked there. Apparently this is a popular dayhiking destination. Now free of the road, I hiked up the deeply incised canyon.

There was so much geology on display In the canyon and I took a ton of photos today. Like this cool black and white striped rock.

Thinking about that rock, I thought ahead to lunch when I would have a black and white cookie. My attention was quickly refocused on the task at hand as the canyon narrowed and I saw a ladder in my path.

Looking back down at the double ladder section.

As I continued to hike up the canyon the walls became shorter and less vertical, and in some cases I could see where they had recently collapsed.

I knew I was about to leave the canyon, so I decided to stop for lunch while I still had the shade of the Palo Verde trees. After lunch, it was a quick jaunt up out of the wash and onto a plateau. Looking South, I could see the Salton Sea again.

This area has been a designated Wilderness since 1994, but the old 4wd tracks still haven’t healed over. Which made them easy to follow all across the plateaus and ridgelines.

I heard a noise and then looked to the north where I saw a very strange sight. Flying over the I-10 corridor was a small plane pulling an advertising banner, much like you would see at the beach.

Except at the beach, it makes sense to advertise to the thousands of people who are there. In that part of the desert there’s basically zero people. Weird. I continued along ridgelines until I got to the high point for the day, a small 1800 ft summit. With great views in all directions, but especially of the Salton Sea.

The hike down to Box Canyon was overall pretty steep and there was a narrow portion of ridgeline, though not nearly as narrow or scary as the guidebook made it sound.

I got down to Box Canyon around 4 pm and followed the paved road for a little while before I dug up my water cache.

Cache #4 was another success! At this point I’m 131 miles into the Desert Trail and I’ve seen exactly one water source on the route…. and that was a water tap at a campground. Yup, it’s a dry trail. I packed up my water and started hiking into the Orocopia Mountains, the next section of this trail. For the first time on the Desert Trail, I was hiking on an actual constructed trail. Amazing!

It followed a few small ridges through a badlands area.

Towards the end of the trail, I could see down into Hidden Spring Canyon, which was my next destination.

After a mile of constructed trail, I joined the wash in Hidden Spring Canyon.

I thought this was a really interestingly shaped old dead tree.

I decided to investigate the side canyon that contained Hidden Springs, which was surrounded by palm trees.

It was less of a spring and more of a stagnant pool, but still it was technically water.

The sign said it was legally protected, and humans aren’t supposed to use it, as it’s reserved for local animals. I continued further up the canyon another half mile before deciding to call it a day and camp in the wash.

Not much distance today, but there sure was a lot of elevation gain! Along with the energy-sucking sandy washes, I burned a lot of calories today.

Friday April 18, 20.8mi/33.5km

NE boundary of Anza-Borrego (96.0/20ft) to Bdy of Mecca Hills Wilderness (116.8/60ft) (CA)

Today was a long road walking day. I had to hike across an entire valley of private land, which meant traveling 21 miles before I could stop to camp. The first mile was pretty pleasant, on a quiet dirt road.

As I got further down that little road, I noticed some industrial agriculture, a date palm farm.

Then I turned North onto a four-lane divided freeway, which was less fun. I traveled that before for a couple of miles before I finally turned off onto the old two-lane highway that it replaced. My plan was to stop at the Oasis Palms RV Park to get a snack and cold drink but instead I stumbled upon this Alamo convenience store.

I was surprised by the amount of hiker foods they had stocked, But I wasn’t tempted to buy anything since I would have to carry it for the rest of the day and I knew the dollar store in town would be cheaper. I walked along the old highway all morning, and it was pretty quiet with only an agricultural truck every so often.

Just before noon I had reached an intersection with 66th Avenue, where I would turn right into town. I saw this guy with his little brightly colored food cart and decided to see what he was selling.

He was selling fruit! Huge cups of chopped fruit covered with various spicy sauces and some Tajin seasoning. After some initial stumbling in Spanish, our conversation smoothed out and I explained what I was doing out here, hiking hundreds of miles across the desert. He was very nice and gave me a free cup of fruit!

I hadn’t eaten fruit in a week, and it really hit the spot. While I was sitting there eating, I noticed he had a steady trickle of customers come up, usually riding some piece of agricultural equipment. After eating and resting in the shade for 30 minutes, I got up and hiked the last couple of miles to Mecca. I was almost there, and then I had to wait for a really long BNSF train.

It seemed like basically a town of agricultural workers, but had recently received funding to improve its infrastructure. There were new signs, streets, and little parks everywhere.

I went to the post office to pickup my replacement credit card (that I had lost the day before I started the hike), and they didn’t have it. I filled out a form to have them forward it to the next post office, and then went across the street to resupply at the Family Dollar. After that annoying chore was done, I went to a nearby taco shop.

It was pretty delicious and I stayed there for a couple of hours charging my phone, headlamp, and batteries. They kept giving me refills on Dr Pepper, so it was hard to leave but eventually by 5pm I did.

It was a nice pleasant walk out of town along a quiet paved road on a sidewalk. I kept seeing these sad little signs plastered everywhere around town, I hope they find their dog.

I had about five more miles of roadwalking to do before I could get to public BLM land. I passed by lots of industrial agriculture along the route.

In the distance to the northeast, I noticed the clouds were gathering over the mountains that I would be in tomorrow.

I even passed by a massive mile-long lemon tree field.

Near the end of the roadwalk I crossed over the Coachella Canal, which takes massive amounts of water from the Colorado River, part of the reason that river no longer reaches the ocean.

It was heavily signed with no trespassing warnings, and I didn’t see a safe way to get down to the water anyway, so I continued on. Once I turned onto Painted Canyon Road, it was a nice relief to be walking on a soft dirt road again.

That only lasted a mile before I reached public land, and I setup camp behind an amazing tree which blocked all the wind.

I’ll have to look up what type of tree that was and make a point of camping near them more often. The guidebook does a good job of listing all of the plants that you will see, but there are no photos so it’s hard to know which species is which. Tomorrow, back into the mountains!

Thursday April 17, 14.0mi/22.5km

Big Wash (82.0/820ft) to NE boundary of Anza-Borrego (96.0/20ft) (CA)

I actually slept really well in my bivy, even with all the wind. After my usual 7am start, I climbed up out of the wash and onto a plateau and had the most amazing morning view. Looking east toward the Salton Sea:

I ambled along the plateau for awhile and came across a little highpoint which had a benchmark!

They always stamp the name of the summit into the benchmark and this one they had named “cool”, haha.

There was even a little summit register inside of a soup can with entries going back all the way to 1994, including some familiar names from my guidebook.

From there I descended into another wash, climbed up onto another plateau, and then descended into a third wash. This last one turned into a slot canyon as I hiked upstream.

I hiked this wash all the way upstream until it faded out, and I was on a ridge. Looking north to the little agricultural town of Mecca, one of the few towns in America that is below sea level:

I followed the ridge and a few minutes later I was on a 2000ft summit! It was just after noon, so a perfect time for lunch!

I hadn’t been above 2000 feet since back when I started on day 1, and the temperatures were nice and refreshing up here. Probably 70F / 21C with a strong wind. When I started to get chilly, I descended down the north ridge, and soon came to a little saddle with a series of sandstone caves.

I descended the entire afternoon, following the ridgeline down until it ended in the bottom of Travertine Wash.

The rocks were so red down here, I think I entered a different geologic region.

I left the wash by climbing over a tiny bridge, and I was quite surprised to find a grove of palms around the corner.

It will always be bizarre to me to find such a large group of huge trees growing in the middle of an otherwise treeless landscape. Nevertheless, I enjoyed their shade and had a nice little nap.

This area is only a mile from a road, and there were little bits of trash here and there and that indicated this area is popular with tourists. This little metal ring surprised me when I poked at it with my trekking pole, it jumped up and stuck to the tip. A huge magnet!

Having my fill of entertainment, I continued on and followed the wash down to the park boundary. The 21 miles of the route are on roads that cross private land, so there is no camping allowed. So I had to stop early here, and then tomorrow I will try to make it across the entire Coachella Valley, as there are no lodging or hotels in the town of Mecca.

Tomorrow I’ll get an early start to cover all the miles and also do some grocery shopping and device recharging in town.

Wednesday April 16, 15.5mi/24.9km

Bank Wash Jct (66.5/360ft) to Big Wash (82.0/820ft) (CA)

Since I hiked so late last night, I slept in a little and started moving down the trail at 8am.

All morning I was hiking sandy 4wd roads and it was quick and easy going. Around mid-morning I came across a very strange sight– 5 palm trees.

And they were huge!

And a mile later I came across another similar sight, this one was marked on the map “17 Palms”. Coincidentally, this is where the “San Diego Trans-county Trail” crosses this trail.

I counted them, and there were actually 22. So maybe a few more grew? And while I rested there in the shade, I had Taylor’s 22 song in my head.

I continued on the sandy backcountry road, and there was basically no vegetation, just a lot of unique rock formations and striations in the nearby hills.

By noon I had arrived at the paved road crossing, which completes this guidebook section (section C). There was a cool little interpretive display about the network of backcountry roads.

I set down my pack and got to work at retrieving my water cache. As usual, it was quick and easy.

And then I cut up the 2 gallon jugs into small little strips so they would fit more easily in my pack.

There was no natural shade to be found, so I set up my chrome umbrella and enjoyed lunch in my self-made shade. It actually wasn’t hot today, so after awhile I got cold and took away the umbrella. After lunch I crossed the road and climbed up onto a plateau, where I had a view to the west of where the PCT travels. It looked stormy up there!

It had also become quite windy here, so I suspect there’s a storm front coming through. I descended down into a wash and then had to climb back out the other side on a route only vaguely described by the guidebook.

It was a fun puzzle to figure out, and eventually I figured it out and even found an old herd path to follow.

Once I was on top of this plateau, the view down to the Salton Sea was pretty impressive.

My next step was to traverse this plateau and then drop into the next wash. Surprisingly, I even found a couple of cairns along the way.

The drop into the next wash was quite tricky to figure out, and the line on the map seemed improbable, but once I got there it made sense. It kinda felt like the hayduke! It was a pretty deep wash, with a couple small sections that were slot canyons.

The pattern repeated, I climbed out of that wash, traversed a short plateau, and then dropped into the next wash which was much shallower and sandy-er.

The guidebook calls that one Grave Wash. Climbing out of that wash was tricky routefinding, but eventually I figured out a way. Based on the number of grapefruit-sized pebbles I knocked loose, I’m sure it wasn’t the best way, but it worked. I traversed another plateau, and by now it was 6pm and exceedingly windy. So when I dropped into Big Wash, I decided to try to find a place to camp. It was far less windy down in the washes, but still far too windy to set up a tent. Bivy night!

Making dinner and getting my gear arranged took a little longer than usual, since every step involved dealing with the wind. But by 7pm I was in my bivy sack and falling asleep.

Tuesday April 15, 13.6mi/21.9km

Mouth of Harper Canyon (55.2/1010ft) to Bank Wash Jct (66.5/360ft) (CA) +2.3mi to Resort

I purposely left my campsite later than usual since I knew I had less than an hour to walk until the road, and Desert Ironwoods RV park didn’t open until 8:30. It was a leisurely walk on a slight downhill.

I passed by a little spot that was labeled Cactus Garden, this must be the famous part of Anzo-Borrego Park with all the different species.

The spots I saw yesterday were more impressive, but this one is accessible by car so it becomes famous. I arrived at the road, where I had buried my water cache and again easily dug it up.

Usually caching water for long trails isn’t necessary, since the trails are purposely designed to pass by water sources. This trail, however, was designed to be hiked only in small sections. According to the guidebook, each section is between 15 and 35 miles long, and it tells you to park a car at either end, and bring all your water with you. That strategy is fine if you’re out for a weekend with a group of friends, but obviously doesn’t work for thru-hiking.
I called the RV Resort for a ride and got some disappointing news. One of the employees had called out today, so now with only one person at the desk, he couldn’t leave to come pick me up. Bummer. I stood there for an hour and a half trying to hitchhike but very few cars passed. Most vehicles were heading the opposite direction or were large trucks carrying (weirdly) massive bales of hay. After hitchhiking failed, I walked the hour to the RV resort along the hot paved road. I found a free tool along the way, in pretty excellent shape too.

I arrived at the RV park at 11am and immediately went inside and got some cold drinks and then found a shady place to sit.

I also got a shower, did some sink laundry, charged my electronics, and got rid of all my trash. After chores, I took a dip in the pool and swam a few laps, gotta get my workout in for today!

I lounged the water for a little while but got out quickly because I didn’t want to get sunburned. I basically dried instantly which was nice since my tiny towel was still damp from the shower. I had just gotten all packed up and the manager (who I had spoken to last week) just happened to be coming by today and she agreed to give me a ride back to the trail. Nice! From there it was a hot and leisurely afternoon of walking 4wd roads.

I had a small descent into a little canyon.

I had hiked so a few miles today and I was determined to get as far as I could, but when I saw a large shady spot I couldn’t resist.

I hiked on past my usual stopping time since I had spent most of the day not hiking. The early evening shadows added a nice cooling effect.

I kept crossing a bunch of washes, the biggest one I crossed was called Fault Wash, which apparently is here because it’s on top of a large tectonic fault.

Yesterday I was reminded that this is a geologically active area, though I didn’t realize that at the time. When I was in Harper Canyon I felt a slight vibrating for a few seconds, today the locals told me that was a small earthquake. Cool. I hiked right up until the last waning light after sunset and then set up my tent behind a creosote bush.

Monday April 14, 19.3mi/31.1km

Middle Mesa (35.9/1060ft) to Mouth of Harper Canyon (55.2/1010ft) (CA)

I fell asleep just after 9pm last night and before I knew it it was 6:15 and the sun was coming up. Deep sleep! I packed up and was moving by 7am and had a pleasant surprise. So many ocotillos and they were all in bloom!

The fragrance of the flowers filled the morning air and added a little extra cheer to the usually delightful morning miles. After a couple miles I came to a spot called Diablo drop off, a spot popular with off-road Jeep drivers to descend down into Fish Canyon.

I descended down into the canyon and the road was extremely sandy, which was excellent for seeing all the different animal tracks. I’m not sure which one this is.

I hiked up Fish Creek Canyon for the rest of the morning, it was pretty easy but a little monotonous. It started off as a wide sandy wash.

Then it got a little narrower, but I was having fun walking on the slickrock.

After 5 miles of walking up the wash, it took a sharp turn right and then the character of the sand changed dramatically. It was now a soft uncompacted sand, which was extremely difficult and taxing to walk in.

Finally, it was time to leave the wash and the jeep roads and I turned off at a junction. Weirdly, this was the only sign at the junction. No navigational signs or info boards…just a warning about mountain lions.

By now it was noon, so I took a break under the next shady bush I could find which surprisingly turned out to be a juniper. After eating I hung out and read my book for a little while since it was pretty hot now. The nice cloudy morning had changed to a bright sunny afternoon. After lunch I walked across Hahaha flat, which was a veritable desert garden.

Ocotillos, yuccas, teddybear cholla, barrel cactus, calico cactus, catclaw, smoke trees, creosote, burrowweed, agave, brittlebush, and Spanish bayonet. This ocotillo was especially colorful!

After a mile of walking through a colorful desert garden, I had to ascend over a short pass. It was quite rocky but was finished pretty quickly.

Once over the past I was now on Harper flat, another desert garden. This barrel cactus was in bloom!

All the desert plants.

I continued on a slight downhill through Harper flat for an hour, just amazed at all the different desert plants in bloom. At the end of Harper flat, the terrain started to slope downward more steeply and I began to enter Harper Canyon. Of course, the first thing I see is a classic piece of desert litter, a deflated balloon.

People really need to stop releasing these things into the air, they’re guaranteed to become litter. It was noticeably hotter in the canyon, I think it had a solar oven effect. I found a shady spot behind a boulder for a break.

Harper Canyon was actually pretty cool but I forgot to take many photos. It started off wide…

…. And then became much narrower and rocky with a little bit of fun scrambling here and there.

My legs were pretty tired so I decided to stop and look for a campsite as soon as I was out of the canyon. It always seems a little risky to camp in a narrow canyon that can flash flood. Right after the canyon opened up into the valley, I spotted this cool blooming cactus.

And right after that I spotted my campsite. I was set up by 6:30 and had a relaxing evening watching the sunset.

Tomorrow I’ll have a later than usual start since it’s only 3 miles to the road, which leads to a little RV park that has cold drinks and snacks, but it doesn’t open until 8am.

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.

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.