Field Trip - Mud Caves!

We had been wanting to head out to the desert for several weekends now, but with other things getting in the way, we had to delay the outing until this past weekend.

While we didn't get ambitious enough to actually set the alarm, we were still on the road well before 9 AM, eastbound on I-8 and into the desert.

Exiting at Ocotillo we topped up the tank ($3.60/gal!) and hit the Imperial Highway,
which eventually turned into the Great Southern Overland Stage Route. From there we turned onto Vallecito Creek Road;
a very sandy wash that's categorized as a 4WD road by the California State Parks. After about five miles of a mixed surface of loose sand and a lot of washboard on Vallecito and Arroyo Tapiado, we arrived at the first canyon to look for mud caves. But first, most importantly, lunch;
which, as any visitor to this blog should know, was consumed in our mobile dining room.

not a bad view in the house

After witnessing a Hummer H2 drive by (the first one ever to tackle terrain more-rugged than a mall parking lot), we ventured out into the 94 degree heat.
It didn't take us long to find the first cave.
This one was only about about 30' deep and 8' wide max, but still a nice place to get out of the sun and escape the heat.
We poked around this cave for a few minutes and then ventured farther up the canyon in search of a larger cave.

Nothing significantly larger was found, so we turned around and Celeste found a perfect fit in a small slot.
Back to the original cave for another break from the sun. It was 12:30 and our grrrl does not like extreme heat.
With how barren the soil appeared...
... I'm surprised to find small flowers in bloom. Adaptation at its finest.
The soil is very sandy but hardens to a concrete-like state in places. Good bricks. Here are some sedimentary rock patterns from the inside of a cracked boulder.
Back to the van, A/C cranked, in search of more caves. A Jeep Wrangler parked off to the side of the trail gave us hope that another was close by. Bingo!
We ventured in, albeit with only one flashlight as I was too lazy to walk back to the van to grab a second one. Plus there were others in the cave so I wasn't concerned if ours went dead.
The air temp was easily 15° cooler inside the cave. Easy to navigate as well, not too narrow and a buffed-smooth floor meant that we didn't have to worry about tripping. After traversing about 10 minutes or so we came across a skylight.
Warm air rushing in, we pressed on farther into the cave.

"I think we need to go this way."

Celeste and I came to a point with a connecting loop. She was getting tired and was ready to get back to the van, so we headed back. Here's Celeste showing us the way. Sorry about the lack of light at times.

Back on the wash, we put Klaus' suspension to the test yet again on the way back to the paved road.

And what a road it is, with plenty of curves, some nice elevation changes and great scenery. Tt'd be magnificent to do a road ride on.
We stopped a few more times to snag some photos of the flora.
And then in Santa Ysabel to grab an Apple Pie at Dudley's.
Back home, the van received a thorough cleaning and bellies were filled with pie. Another fun day in San Diego County. We have to return some day to see more of the caves. Supposedly there are 22 in total. Find out more information on the area here.

Field Trip Preiview

Here's where we're off to today. Should be another fun adventure.
More info to come upon our return.

image source: Google Maps

Field Trip - Salton Sea

Our first camping field trip since moving out to California was this past weekend. As is to be expected at this point, Klaus took us on another adventure, this one a little bit more unusual.

A friend gave us Weird California for xmas, a fun book that has chapters on some of the Golden State's more peculiar points of interest. When reading it over the holiday break one chapter was especially intriguing - that of the Salton Sea.

We traveled west on CA Hwy 78 through San Marcos, Escondido, Ramona and the old mountain mining (now touristy) town of Julian.

On the way we stopped in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to eat and stretch our legs. We ventured a half mile or so up Lizard Wash (an unimproved gravel road) and found a good wide spot on the trail to stop.
Surrounded by jumping cholla and ocotillo and barrel cacti, Celeste went out to explore while Allie and I snapped plenty of pix.

more artsy B&W stuff, dead ocotillo

Located in Imperial and Riverside Counties, the Salton Sea is the largest lake in California, covering about 370 square miles. Created in 1905 due to a breach in an Imperial Valley dike that flooded the Salton Sink the Salton Sea has no outlet aside from evaporation. Due to this, the salinity level has increased over the years and now stands at 4.5% (the Pacific is about 3% off the coast of California).

We camped at the Salton Sea State Recreation area. While there were beautiful boating conditions - temps in the 80s, low wind, etc, the only thing moving about the lake were the pelicans and California gulls. A few fisherman were on the shore, but that's about it. Thankfully the campground was clean and quiet.

and so castles made of salt
fall in the sea
eventually

everything on the shoreline was covered in a thick coating of briny minerals

In the 1940s and 50s the area was a popular tourist destination with boaters descending on the lake in large numbers. The high salinity and low altitude (227 feet below sea level) allowed for speed records since there is a higher oxygen level (more HP) and the better flotation. At one point, there was a 15-lane boat launch at the state park. RV parks and resorts catering to the masses were built, but by the 1960s, agricultural runoff reached biblical proportions and the water level began to fluctuate wildly. Whole towns and sections of towns were suddenly swamped by ever more saline flooding. We'd see some of the results the next day.

I hadn't yet slept in Klaus, so we decided that all three of us would share the bed. It's slightly wider than a full-size mattress. Thankfully we're all relatively thin.

Celeste loooves the Peanuts pillowcase cover from my youth.

under a full moon

day use picnic shelters after dark

moon lover

After a somewhat-decent night's rest, we packed up our gear and hit the road to follow the eastern shore of the lake.

Old Southern Pacific RR bridge

Bombay, California is one of the cities that was swamped in the 1970s by a combo of a storm and a fluctuating lake. It's a one square mile town filled with several hundred mostly decrepit trailer homes. With a median income of $17,700, it's one of California's most affordable cities in which to live.

anyone up for a cocktail?
"ran when parked"

On the other side of the seawall lays the remains of the waterfront property that was flooded in the 1970s. Not much left other than some old trailers and structures slowly returning to the Earth.
With our memory cards bulging at the seams, we said goodbye to this surreal place and headed around the south side of the sea prior to heading back into the mountains.

One last stop up Lizard Wash for some more fresh air and exploring.
Found a nice barrel cactus too.
Oh, and these Salton Sea documentary DVDs are now in our Netflix queue.