Slot canyon...yeah, we're cool

I’ve always thought of myself as pretty well organized and prepared. In a recent post I began to question this assumption, and now I have to say that I’m starting to wonder if I have a real problem. After a two-hour drive last Sunday ended with us discovering that our proposed hike was preempted by something fairly easily foreseeable (for the second time in a month), I’ve begun considering whether I should turn over trip-planning to Laura’s cat. She could hardly do a worse job.

On the bright side, however, we were once again lucky enough to stumble onto a challenging and memorable hike. Preparation shmeparation?

I had wanted to explore the Wilson trail along Pinyon Ridge in Anza Borrego State Park for a while, and since both Laura and I were itching to get in a decent hike somewhere new, we hopped in the car early Sunday morning and headed south. We’d hiked in AB many times before so I felt no need to get updates on any park news or notes besides familiarizing myself with the somewhat circuitous off-road route to the trailhead.

Unfortunately the problem began to show itself as we neared the turnoff for the trail - much of the area was clearly suffering from a recent fire. We drove the three miles of sandy road anyway, hoping that the ridge on which we wanted to hike had escaped the fire. But it became clear after we reached the parking area that, at the very least, the beginning of the hike was going to be negatively affected.

We talked about how it might be interesting to hike the trail anyway, that it could be educational to examine the environment, which seemed not to have begun significant regeneration (the reason we assumed the fire was relatively recent), but were eventually put off by our disappointment over the condition of the habitat, along with the full parking area and the bitterly cold wind.

So we headed down into the park and dropped in at the visitor center - a worthwhile stop if you’ve never done so - where we hoped to score some advice for a different outing. We were directed to one of the parks known attractions: the Calcite Mine area, a walk up a washboard road thorough typical AB rock and sandstone formations, but our source threw in directions which added the adventure of some slot canyon hiking.

We’d known that AB had slots, but had never bothered to check them out. Laura being essentially a plant, bird and bug person, and me being essentially a claustrophobic bulky guy, slots just never seemed much of a draw. As it happens we were missing out on something worthwhile.

After walking up the Calcite mine road a while, we found the recommended turnoff and dropped down into a wash where we veered west toward a tall, close canyon. As things got even closer and more challenging, we climbed over dry falls and small boulder piles, working our way up through some amazing geology until after about a mile we intersected the mine road once again. Having been told that continuing in the wash would bring us to some of the best slots in the park, we pushed on, expecting to have to turn back upon reaching some anticipated awkward spots.

But this is where it got even more fun. As the climbing difficulty increased, the need to puzzle out how to get up over some of the obstacles ended up spurring us on, not turning us back. Laura especially took to the challenge with enthusiasm, and that slightly unexpected result prodded me to follow. So we got much farther up the canyon than we, or our insider-info source, had predicted. Finally, though, we came to a spot where a stack of boulders ten to fifteen feet high clogged the tight canyon walls. With no apparent scalable route (at least for our meager climbing skills) we were finally forced to retreat.

Instead of following the slot back down to the road, however, we decided to try to climb out of a side slot Laura had noticed on the way up. It headed northeast, and we worked our way up and out of it hoping to meet up with the road near its end at the mine. This was another fun and challenging scramble, and after climbing up over a ridge - and being treated to a terrific view of the Salton Sea to the east and desert to the south - we stopped for a snack on a rock ledge just above the mine road.

After a short push up the hill we came to the mine area, which is basically a collection of trenches dug in search of calcite, investigated the place a bit, and then headed back down out of the howling wind.

It’s always nice to discover the ability to overcome new and interesting problems, to pass heretofore unconsidered physical and mental tests. When you’re in your fifties, though, it’s more than nice, it’s like a fountain of youth pill. We walked back down the road to our car, scoffing at those people passing us in four-wheel drives who were missing out on the best part of this location.

With that kind of adrenalin-fueled smugness, there’s almost no need for advil.

Info: Distance - 4.3 miles. Elevation - gain of 676', with some challenging scrambling in the slots. Rating - Moderate.

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