ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK, CA :: I love slots. Slot canyons, that is. While Kristie was attending her conference today, I was excited to check out two popular slot canyon trails in Anza-Borrego, California's largest state park.
The vast desert and badlands of Anza-Borrego are centered around the town of Borrego Springs, just a couple hours drive from San Diego. Here, I stopped at the park's visitor center to pick up a map and more detailed directions. I also made sure I had enough water. It was about 95 degrees today, but fortunately much cooler in the slots.
My first stop was the abandoned Calcite Mine. Calcite has a unique optical property that made it particularly useful for gun sights during World War II. Throughout the area, flakes of clear calcite mineral sparkled in the sand and rock.
From the freeway, there is a rugged "jeep" road to the slot canyon. I had rented a Jeep Patriot, but it certainly is not the type of jeep that could safely traverse the sandy and steep grade. I'm glad I decided to walk the 1.5 miles, during which I was passed by a couple real 4X4 Jeeps, which I could see were being tested by the deep ruts in the road.
The slot itself is less than half of a mile long, but I spent almost four hours in the area. The unique experience of being in a narrow, twisted canyon is indescribably fascinating to me, so I was inching my way through. Afterwards, I hiked back out and to the end of the jeep road where the bullet-ridden sign for Calcite Mine is. From here, I climbed to the top of a ridge to get a view of the Salton Sea and to enjoy my lunch in the sun. The heat felt great in the dry air.
Calcite Mine was fun, but not too deep and not too narrow. My next stop, "
The Slot", was much better.
This entry has been viewed times.
