Modern Hiker

Two short hikes in some of the best Slot Canyons in Southern California. Lots of squeezing through walls, scrambling in and out of canyons, and generally feeling like you’re in an Indiana Jones movie. The Calcite Mine area is also home to a historic WWII-era mining area, with other man-made features to explore.

I’d brought my trusty REI Half-Dome tent to the camp, and although I did need my hiking buddies’ help to keep it from blowing away while setting up, the winds weren’t too bad when we all finally decided to turn in for the night. My companions, on reading the high wind advisory, decided to sleep in the great outdoors on an inflatable mattress. We all took one last look at the starry sky and went to our respective beds.

Some time later, I was jostled awake by the walls of my tent thundering inward, pressed by the wind so much that one of the walls was pushing against my head. While I’m sure it wasn’t terribly noisy from the outside, from inside the tent the sound was deafening.

I awoke in the full sunlight, covered in a fine layer of sand but otherwise all right. Unfortunately, no one woke up at sunrise like we all thought we would. So much for being early risers.

We packed up and drove toward town, stopping at the Red Ocotillo for breakfast. Our dinners the night before consisted of microbrewed beer and granola bars. While we all enjoyed them, we were in a serious mood for some more substantial food. Thankfully, the Red Ocotillo delivered, in the form of eggs, omelettes and home fries. Definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area.

Since none of us woke up as early as we were planning, we had to change our agenda for the day. We’d wanted to climb Villager Peak, a 13 mile, 5000ft gain that would probably take 11 hours or more. At this point, we could still conceivably do it, but we a). wouldn’t have time for anything else, b). would have very little time to rest on the hike, and c). would run the risk of having to hike back down a mountain in the dark, or worse - having to turn back before we reached the peak.

We were all pretty psyched about getting to see some slot canyons, as none of us had been in one before, so we all agreed we’d rather try to get in a few shorter hikes in the canyonlands. And off we went.

This desert looks deceivingly flat when you casually glance across it. Then, as you walk, you start to notice smaller ridges and valleys. As you get closer and closer to the valleys, you see they actually run pretty deep.

There’s a vast system of old wash canyons and fault lines beneath the park that’s torn the ground into a labyrinth of canyons. Water rushes through the cracks, gorging out these deep gashes … which are then further carved by wind and seismic activity.

We decided to climb down one.

Granted, we mistakenly thought it was a trail, but it was still a great hike. Not even any tracks in the sand, it looked like we were the first people down there in months.

We wandered up the canyon, exploring each branch and offshoot as far as we could go. I don’t know about the others, but I was definitely leaving heavy footprints in the sand at canyon forks in case we got lost in there. That ain’t paranoia, though. Just sensible thinking.

Eventually, we reached a section of the canyon that’d been caved in with large boulders.

The old, trail-hiking me regarded this as the end of the road, and a sign to turn around and head back. But my boulder-scrambling friends barely stopped walking before ducking underneath this monster and crawling out the other side. So I took off my backpack, pushed it through, got down on my hands and knees and followed suit.

We went beneath two more of these boulders before I decided I’d rather try my hand at climbing over them instead. Call me old-fashioned, but I like my 5 ton boulders beneath my feet, not on top of my head.

We refilled water and drove a few more miles to the Calcite Mine Trail, the site of the only operating calcite mine in the U.S., put into emergency operation after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Yes, I found a way to shoehorn a history lesson into the adventure. What, did you think I wouldn’t?

The trail to the mine followed the old service road, and was pretty uneventful for the first few miles. At one point, though, the road dropped to the canyon floor, where a large wash canyon intersected it. We took a detour on the north wash, and walked into our first slot canyon.

Carved more by water than wind, the slot canyon is much smoother than the wash canyons, and comprised more of tougher sandstone than loose layers of dry mud. Also, as the name would suggest, the canyons got extremely narrow, which led to some great Indiana Jones-style scenery.

Eventually, the slot canyon opened up again, and we decided to scale up the walls to get back on the mine trail. We found a fairly steep section and started up.

This was by far the most challenging climb I’d done so far. The incline was teetering on the edge of vertical, with loose gravel and long sections of brittle walls - so not too much to grab on to. I had to take my time with this one, and stopped a few times to clear gravel and search for grips.

I realized I liked this wall-scrambling for some of the same reasons I dig hiking so much - the clear challenge, the reliance on endurance and balance, and the massive feeling of achievement when you’ve reached your goal. It also activates my deep-seated Yankee work ethic - if you work hard and smart, you’ll eventually win out.

In a world where so many of our gratifications are delayed, it is refreshing to stand at the bottom of a mountain or canyon, set your sights at the top and tell yourself you’ll be up there soon. You know it won’t be easy, but you know if you just ignore the pain in your feet or the sun beating down on you, and focus on the scenery, the scent of the trees, or the feel of sandstone, you’ll make it.

And when you reach the top and look down at where you started … man, there is nothing like it. This picture doesn’t really portray the scale or the slope of the canyon wall, but when I pulled myself up over the edge, all I did was dust my hands off, clap them together, and let out a loud yell.

We hiked up to the old mine site, which was totally abandoned and empty, although you could still clearly see the areas where miners had dug shafts into the canyon walls. We explored some of the otherworldly eroded land near the summit before sitting on a cliff and looking over the entire park.

We hiked back to the car, stopped off for a quick, light lunch before heading down another gut-wrenching dirt road to The Slot - a jagged papercut of a canyon in the center of the park.

I really wish I had taken more pictures in this canyon. But there were many, many sections where the passageways were about 2 feet wide, so everything had to stay packed up for most of the trail. I did snag this one before I started sidestepping and holding my breath, though:

Recently, I also stumbled upon this YouTube video of the Slot. It gives a great feeling of what it’s actually like to walk through these canyons:

After that hike, all of our feet were just about ready to give in. There were still plenty of canyons to explore and mountains to climb, but they’d have to wait until next time. We packed up the car, pumped up the tunes and - in the grand tradition - hit the road.

Total Apx. Distance Hiked Over Two Days: 22.4 miles
Total Footsteps Taken: 44,473
Amount of Park Fees Paid: $0.

The (extra basic) Basics:

Calcite Mine:
- Distance: A little over 4 miles.
- Elevation Gain: Negligible
- Trail Condition: Good. You’ll be hiking partially on washes, but the canyon system is small and narrow, so you shouldn’t have trouble getting lost. If you venture off the road to the mines, bring a map.
- How To Get There: Drive about 13 miles northeast of Borrego Springs on S-22. There is a roadside dirt lot at mile 38.

The Slot:
- Trail Condition: Good. Definitely bring a good topo map with you on this one. The twists and turns can wreak havoc on your sense of direction.
- How To Get There: Head south from Borrego Springs on S-3, veering left to keep onto Borrego Springs Road at the fork at mile 7. Turn left onto 78 toward Octotillo Springs. At mile 87, there will be a turn-off on the north side of the road. Head down this dirt road, keeping left at the fork. There will be a small dirt parking area near The Slot.

- Map the Calcite Mine
- Map the Slot

Originally hiked May 28, 2006.
- Additional information available at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park web site.
- Pictures on Flickr.