Our first stop took us up a slot canyon and we got to make the first tracks of the day...
The weather was quite warm but felt oh so good after this long cold winter. There was some shade to keep us from getting really hot.
There were a few arches along the way...
It may be mostly dirt, sand and rocks but there's so much to see! This spot had some crumbly, cracked ground...
There was obviously water in here over the winter...
It looks soft but it's actually quite hard...almost like rock...
The texture on the walls of the slot canyon were constantly changing...
Drip!...
This looks like a vein of rock/mineral...
I like this one...
Interesting! I wonder how this one was formed?...
We didn't find any caves in that canyon. So, we hopped back into the SUV and headed further up the wash. We found this on our next stop...the entrance to a cave!...
We went in with our packs of water, food and flashlights. It wound around and back and forth. We could stand upright through most of it but had to duck under a few ledges. It was pretty long...maybe a quarter of a mile. Since it was made of dried mud, it didn't echo like it would if it was rock. The temperature inside was nice...about 70, I think.
There was light at the end of the tunnel! It was a hole to the outside. My husband and my daughter's friend climbed out to take a look. This is a shot of my hubby standing in the exit of the cave we were in...
As we stood at the end of the cave, we saw a bat fly by and then noticed a small cave underneath where we were standing. My daughter's friend decided to go in and check it out...
There he goes...
Back out! It was short and only lead to a hole where he could look out and see us. But, he found a Chargers hat in there!
We turned around and headed back toward the main entrance. Just before we got there, we noticed something. Hmmmm? What's down there?...
Another offshoot?
Hubby decided to check it out. Going down...
Down...
Down.
This is my daughter and her friend looking out at the entrance/exit...
Wow! That was fun! Here we are sitting just outside the entrance...
On the way back to the SUV, hubby took a little detour, on a tiny little trail, up the side of the mud mountain we had just been inside of. Going up!...
The next cave we found didn't look like much from the outside. In fact, we weren't sure it went much farther than this hole. But, just inside and to the right there was indeed a cave. We followed it in and found a great surprise. There was a big room that was about four stories tall with a little light coming in from the top. There were remains of campfires in the center and it was pretty big. We decided it would be the perfect spot for lunch. So, we went back to the SUV, grabbed our food and hiked back in. The guys set their flashlights up onto the walls of the cave and as our eyes adjusted we could see really well. It was a truly unique and fun dining experience! I didn't get any pictures though. It was pretty dark in there but I probably should have tried to take some.
We saw very few people while we were hiking the caves and this part of the desert. We didn't see much wildlife either. Just some birds and a few bugs...
And, a few lizards. They were pretty...
Part way up one of the washes that we drove in, there was a street sign...in the middle of no where! It said, "Hollywood" and "Vine"...
We were having so much fun together and the day was only half over. After lunch, we packed up and headed north to Borrego Springs for more adventure. That will be in my next post. :-)
2 comments:
You know, I've done a few exciting things in my life, rode wild horses, raced go-karts at 65mph. But going into uncharted caves is not my idea of fun. I'm a tad claustrophobic. I don't even like the covers over my head. You guys are brave!!! Great post, great pictures!
seriously very cool! You live in a wonderful part of the world.
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