June 24, 2005: Palm Springs Trip Day 7
	June 22, 2005: Palm Springs Trip Day 5
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The Slot Canyons at Mecca Hills

Today is another hiking day. We've done some research on the Internet and located a number of references to the slot canyons on the Ladder Canyon Hike in the Mecca Hills. There is a well-marked round-trip hike that's been referred to frequently by a number of hikers, so we decided to give it a try.

We borrowed Greg's Honda Element and left early in the morning. Getting to the trailhead was not difficult, but it was a fifty-mile drive. For most of it, we just drove southeast on I-10 until we found the exit for Highway 86 to Mecca. We could have taken Palm Canyon (Highway 111) all the way, but it would have been longer. Once in Mecca, we headed east on Box Canyon Road, looking for the turnoff for Painted Canyon Road.

The descriptions on the Internet said that Painted Canyon Road was a well maintained dirt road and that it should be passable in most vehicles, so we thought that an Element would certainly qualify, being a very small SUV. However, all the sites cautioned you not to venture off the road or, as one site put it, "you WILL get stuck."

This was the dry season, so we weren't worried about mud or water, but the road was very sandy and there were times when we thought that even staying on the roadway was tempting fate. I didn't want to drive too slowly, for fear of losing traction, nor did I want to drive too fast for fear of sliding into deeper sand. So we just crossed our fingers and drove cautiously. It turned out not to be too much of a problem, although there were a couple of slips and slides. But we reached the parking area in one piece and without getting stuck.

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The websites also cautioned that we would be in a wilderness area many miles away from food and water, and that we should take plenty of both with us. Fred brought water and I brought granola bars and sunscreen. The hike through Painted Canyon is not steep, but it is soft sand, and it was like walking on the beach. But we were prepared, and had a cell phone with us, so we were OK. Before starting out on our hike, I thought I would record our arrival at the trailhead with a movie, and you can watch it with the player at left.

The Mecca Hills were formed by the convergence of the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault. The geologic formations of Mecca Hills are among the most unusual of their kind in the world, and the San Andreas Fault that runs from below the Salton Sea all the way above San Francisco is overdue for a large quake. Layers of eroded rock, some over 600 million years old, have been pushed up and overturned by the activity of the San Andreas Fault system.

Before we get into the pictures of our hike today, I think it is probably a good idea to set the stage and show you, on both an aerial view and on a simplified trail map, just where we would be hiking. At various points throughout the hike, I'll use one or the other of these images to track our progress.

Courtesy of a hiker's Website, I can show the trail map sketch at the right. From the parking area, we'll follow Big Painted Canyon for a short ways until we can turn off up and into Ladder Canyon. This is where the slot canyons and most of the ladders will be. This trail is supposed to come out on top of the Mecca Hills, where we'll hike across the hilltops to the trail junction.

Once at the junction, then we'll follow a trail that should lead us back down into the Big Painted Canyon. From there, we'll hike along the canyon floor back to the parking area. During the rainy season, this hike is more difficult, but probably nicer, as we are walking along a river bottom- a river that only has water during that season. The pictures we've seen on the Internet show a broad river bottom, so I presume that, even during the rainy season, such streams as there are would not cover the entire bottom area. But we don't have to worry about that at this time of year.

I thought you might be interested in an aerial view of the hiking area as well. Although I can't be positive about the marked route, I think it is pretty close. I haven't attempted to transfer all the labels from the trail map to the aerial view; you should be able to match them up pretty closely. I did mark the location of some microwave/cell towers that we saw while hiking across the Mecca Hills to the trail junction midway through the hike, though, because you will see them in some of our pictures.

Well, that's probably enough preparatory information for you. Let's set off on our hike.

Hiking to the Ladder Canyon Turnoff
 

We left the car in the parking area and started up the broad river bottom into Big Painted Canyon. As you can see from both of these pictures taken at the very beginning of our hike, there is quite a bit of vegetation on the floor of the canyon, probably because of the water that flows here at certain times of the year, or perhaps because of underground water sources. Here are some pictures of some of the desert flowers that we found growing here; to view the full-size images, just click on the thumbnails:

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We hiked a bit up Big Painted Canyon, but weren't exactly sure where the sign directing us to Ladder Canyon was. We should have hiked until we found it, but we noticed that, off to the left, there seemed to be a pretty obvious canyon entrance, and we thought that this might be the entrance to Ladder Canyon. So we headed up into the canyon we had found. I went ahead of Fred, and when I got to the first turn in the canyon, I looked back to see Fred at the canyon entrance. So we both entered the canyon, with me in the lead, and walked, climbed and squeezed through the narrow passageways. The thumbnails below are for a series of pictures that Fred took as we headed into this canyon; just click on them to view the full-size pictures:

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We continued for quite a few minutes up this canyon, until it narrowed so much that it was hard to get through. At that point, I stopped to make a movie of our progress before we continued on. You can watch it with the player at right.

A little further on, we reached a wide point in the canyon, and thought again that we might be on the right track. Wrong. It was only around the next turn that the canyon finally narrowed so much that it was impassable. Since we knew that there were supposed to be ladders for us to climb, we knew for certain that we'd turned too early. So we turned around and went back to the entrance to this canyon, turned left again, and continued up Big Painted Canyon.

Hiking Through Ladder Canyon
 

Well, as you can see, we are back on the right track, because we reached the junction for the Ladder Canyon trail about a quarter mile further up Big Painted Canyon. As promised, there was a signpost to the right of the canyon that pointed across the way to the left. When you look to the left at the signpost, it is hard to believe there is a trail there, as it has been hidden by countless rockslides. But, following the obvious trail that we did find when we crossed the canyon, we entered Ladder Canyon to the right of the rockslide. Just before Big Painted Canyon disappeared from view, I stopped to take a picture of Big Painted Canyon above the entrance to Ladder Canyon, and also of the canyon wall across the way.

After taking the pictures of Fred entering the Ladder Canyon trail, it was his turn to look back on me as I passed some of the same blue‑flowered bushes that we had passed down at the entrance to Big Painted Canyon, and then he let me pass him so he could get a picture of me on the rock stairway to Ladder Canyon.

For the first little way on the Ladder Canyon trail, it was as if we were walking through a smaller, narrower version of Big Painted Canyon. This picture of Fred in Ladder Canyon shows a typical scene on this first part of the hike. What was happening, though, was that the canyon was getting both narrower and deeper as we went along. So deep, in fact, that we started to find all kinds of interesting formations in the lower canyon walls, formations of which this tunnel through the canyon wall was probably the most spectacular.

We knew that there would be several ladders that would help us reach the top of the canyon; they are maintained by volunteers, and all the trail guides cautioned that we be careful when climbing them. We reached first of these ladders after a quarter hour or so on the Ladder Trail. The slot canyon simply dead-ended in a circular room, that looked as if it were a two-storey room in a house, with a ladder leading up to a loft above the room; at least that's what it reminded me of. The ladder was the only exit from the cul-de-sac; I climbed up first and then Fred climbed up after me. Then the trail continued through the narrow canyons at this new level up. It was only another fifteen minutes or so before we reached the next ladder lobby, and you can see a movie of this "lobby" using the player below:

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I've put a picture of me climbing up the ladder out of this lobby off to the right here, so that I can describe what these places were like. You can see clearly in the picture that the trail through the narrow canyon has come to a dead-end in an almost circular "room," and that the ladder is the only way out and the only way for the trail to continue.

These natural formations were very intriguing; we tried to figure out just how they had been formed. The conclusion we have come to (and one which we can't really verify from information found on the Internet) is that at one time (or perhaps periodically) there had been a lot of water flowing down through these narrow canyons. It seems clear that at points in the watercourse, dense hard rock bordered on softer formations, and so over time the water carved a waterfall over the hard rock, eating away the softer rock below. This led to the formation of a circular depression where the water swirled around and then took off in a different direction. We have seen waterfalls like this often, but since they have always been full of water, it's been impossible to see what shapes the rock is actually being carved into. And here, there must have been a dramatic difference in the hardness of the rock, or else the waterfall would have constantly lowered, or perhaps never got started in the first place.

We could see markings on the walls of the ladder room that clearly showed strata, as if at some times there was a lot of water, and at other times not much. These strata ran entirely around the walls of the room, but they were most obvious on the wall opposite the waterfall. I think we encountered three or four of these formations on our trip up Ladder Canyon, and they were certainly unlike anything we'd seen before.

In this particular ladder room, there were some old ladders that had broken, and so the volunteers had brought in a new aluminum ladder, and anchored it to the wall, so I guess this one will last a lot longer. Below are thumbnails for three pictures we took of this ladder room; to view the full-size images, just click on them:

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As we came up the last ladders, we came out into sunlight again, and I thought that the slot canyons might be done, but I was wrong. As we continued along the trail, the sides of the canyons got higher again, and the canyon narrowed again. Even the sunlight was getting blocked out again, and soon we found ourselves at the beginning of a deep slot canyon where we were walking along in twilight. Then things really got interesting. The canyons continued to narrow until we sometimes had to go through sideways, and the walls got higher and higher until it was quite dim as we were walking along.

It's hard to describe what walking through these slot canyons was like; even pictures don't do it justice. So both Fred and I switched to movies, both because the light was so dim that flash pictures would have washed out the surreal nature of the scenery and because only movies can really show you what it was like. Here are the five best movies that we took; you can watch them with the movie players below:

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Our trip through these deepest and darkest of the slot canyons led to another "ladder lobby," this one with a wood ladder leading up to what we thought was the sunlit surface and the end of the slot canyons. Fred went up first, and then I followed, emerging into the sunlight but facing a continuation of the trail through some more narrow canyons.

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We continued walking through more of these narrow canyons, but they never got so deep and dark as those we'd encountered earlier. They were interesting though, even though they were not so narrow and we were usually in sunlight. You'll get a good idea of what these canyons were like by watching the movie I took of them using the player at right. You can also look at the pictures we took while walking through them; thumbnails for these pictures are below, and you can view the full-size images by clicking on them:

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The trail ascended steadily up through these canyons. Eventually the canyon widened out, and we reached the through a single end of the canyon and found ourselves on top of the Mecca Hills.

Hiking Across the Mecca Hills
 

Fred Atop the Mecca Hills

Pretty quickly after climbing up out of the last crevasse, we found we'd left the canyons behind and we were on top of the mesas above them- the Mecca Hills. The trail guide we'd found on the Internet told of a series of trails that we had to take across the hills to find the way back down into Big Painted Canyon and the hike back to the parking area.

These instructions, once we reached the top of the mesas, now seemed to be confusing. There were lots of trails going off in different directions, and I knew we'd eventually be put to a guess. But before we hiked off in the way we thought would be right, I thought it would be a good idea to show you what the landscape was like. So I took a 360-degree panoramic movie of the views that we could see from our perch atop the hills, and you can watch this movie with the player below:

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At the point we were standing, we were right beside Big Painted Canyon and, although we couldn't really see down into it from our vantage point, we could see the opposite walls of the canyon, and we took a couple of pictures which you can see here and here.

Then, using the trail information we had, we made our best guess and began following the trail system across the top of the Mecca Hills in the bright sunshine. I've included four of the best pictures from this part of the hike here. The thumbnails for these pictures are below, and you can view the full-size images by clicking on them:

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As luck or good instructions would have it, we finally connected with a trail that led back down into Big Painted Canyon, so we left the mesas behind and descended into Big Painted Canyon.

Hiking Big Painted Canyon
 

Well, this is our goal- the picture at the right. I recall that just after we finished with the first, erroneous attempt at the slot canyons, and started hiking up Big Painted Canyon towards the REAL turnoff for the Ladder Trail, we looked back and saw this sentinel rock at the side of the canyon. We thought at the time it would make a good landmark, and that when we saw it again we would be almost home. So this is the view we were aiming towards, but, before we could get there, we had quite a bit of ground to cover.

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Our first task was to leave the mesa of the Mecca Hills and find a trail down into what we hoped was Big Painted Canyon. We came down a trail through this ravine, seen here through one of the few trees we saw all day. When we got down to the floor of the canyon, we could see that the canyon ran in both directions, and that, in fact, there was yet another canyon joining this one at the place we came down. Fred took a movie of our hiking choices that you can watch using the player at left, but it seemed pretty clear which way we should go (assuming, of course, that we were actually back in Big Painted Canyon. We didn't think we should go this way, because the way the sand and gravel were patterned on the canyon floor it was pretty clear that, if there were water here, this would be upstream, not down. Since we'd been climbing higher all the way along the Ladder Canyon Trail, it seemed that we should now have to go downwards to get back to the car. So, we pretty quickly made our choice and began our return hike (use the player below to watch) in what we hoped would be the right direction.

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The first half-hour of our hike was uneventful as we simply walked along the canyon floor. Big Painted Canyon exhibits many mineral deposits in hues of rose, pink, red, purple and green. The canyon runs in a general north-south direction, and is distinguished by sandy washes sprinkled with Ironwood, Smoke Trees, and Palo Verde. Along the rim of the canyon and the tops of the mesas, there is a good deal of Ocotillo. Our information told us that Bighorn sheep sometimes cross over from the Orocopia Mountains on the east looking for water. Like in any desert area, there's probably a multitude of lizards, snakes, and the like.

We had relied on our trail information. It told us that once we got through the Ladder Trail and across the mesa, we should look for a trail that sloped down into Big Painted Canyon on our right, which we did. Then, once down in the canyon, we were supposed to go to the right and stay right at any junction. This is exactly what we did for the first mile or so. Here are the thumbnails for some of the pictures that we took along this first mile of the hike back; to view the full-size images, just click on the them:

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After about a mile, we reached several more ladders. What we discovered was that we had been hiking in what is known as the upper canyon, and that these ladders would lower us into Big Painted Canyon proper. I couldn't help but wonder whether, during the rainy season (such as it is here) there would be a waterfall here. I am inclined to think not, since the ladders would probably be damaged every year. One of them was pretty bent, but whether that was due to water or usage I couldn't tell. But at some point there must have been a large amount of water flowing over these rocks; I would like to see what it looks like when that is happening.

We took a number of pictures here at these ladders, and they are all pretty self-explanatory. So, to view the full-size images, just click on the thumbnails that you will find below:

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If the information we had was correct, we would be on level ground for the rest of the hike, so all we had to do was keep walking, and you can see us trudging along by watching my movie using the player below:

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The canyon was really beautiful- stark, but beautiful. It was hot, but we didn't sweat much since the humidity was so low. So, all in all, the rest of the hike was pleasant enough. Here are the thumbnails for the pictures we took on this final portion of our hike; just click on them to view the full-size images:

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After about a half mile, we rounded a turn in the canyon and saw a welcome sight- the sentinel rock.

From here, we knew the parking area was just around the turn up ahead, so our hike had come to an end. The slot canyons along the Ladder Canyon Trail were really amazing; we'd never seen anything like them. The views from the mesa were amazing, and the hike back through Big Painted Canyon was really pleasant. This was a great hike, and maybe we can do it again sometime with someone who hasn't been here. But for now, it's back along the sandy access road and then the trip home to Greg's.

An Evening Hills Hike Near Greg's

This evening was Brad and Will's last night in Palm Springs, and Greg had planned for all of us to go to dinner downtown with some of his other Palm Springs friends. When we got back to the house, and found that we wouldn't be leaving for dinner until late, Fred and I took a late afternoon hike up into the hills directly at the end of Greg's street. All we had to do was walk up to the end of Santa Elena, cut through a vacant lot and then walk up Paradise Road. Eventually, we found a yard that we could walk through to get out onto the open Indian Lands. As I've said before, the Indians don't allow fences bordering their lands and so, as long as one is careful and respectful of people's property, it is easy to walk quickly through a side yard from the street and ot onto the hills.

There is no particular story attached to the pictures I took this evening; I just stopped every so often as we climbed into the hills to stop and look back at the changing vista. So I'm just going to include thumbnails for the eight pictures I took on our hike; they are in order, left to right and top to bottom. To view the full-size images, just click on these thumbnails:

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I also took a couple of movies, and you can watch them using the movie players below:

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Dinner was at a very good Mexican place down in town. Greg's friends were interesting and we all had a great time.

	June 24, 2005: Palm Springs Trip Day 7
	June 22, 2005: Palm Springs Trip Day 5
	Return to Main Index for Palm Springs Pictures