Painted Canyon & Ladder Canyon: 11.15.20
11/16/2020
Hiking
What a truly epic hike! Painted Canyon & Ladder Canyon is located in Mecca, CA. It is adjacent to the Salton Sea (I will also cover this in a future blog). This 7.35 mile hike (partially due because we initially started the wrong way. I will get to that in a minute) has a small opportunity to be enjoyed during the year due to extreme heat, or alternatively, the trail leading into the trail head gets washed away. Which, then leads to a secondary concern, a very real threat of flash floods. Sunday, November 15, 2020 seemed to be a perfect day with a high of 80, no clouds, and more importantly to me, few people. The few people we did encounter were either at the very beginning of the trail or a the very end so hardly an inconvenience. For this journey, I brought two frozen water bottles, an unfrozen water bottle, and some fig bars. This was sufficient for this length of hike and temperature. Plan accordingly.
Once you turn onto the road, THE road that hangs in the perils and often gets washed away, you will notice one of two things: 1) you're patting yourself on the back because you listened to recommendations of fellow adventurers and are in a truck or a vehicle with four wheel drive, or 2) you have your tail between your legs desperately hoping that your decision to drive this road in a regular car doesn't leave you being the goat of the situation because you try to wing it and get stuck. Overall, to hedge your bets, like so many others, I definitely recommend a truck and/or vehicle with four wheel drive. The road the day we went was well groomed and hard with some soft spots, but absolutely drive-able. We were also in a truck. We did see two cars make it without issue. We drove in slowly for about five miles.
During the drive, off to the right, you will see these really unusually shaped mountains that really looked like something Hollywood threw together to some 1930's alien abduction movie. They were so unusual looking, they looked fake. When you really looked at them and embrace the weird, you will notice that they have deep meandering veins. These aged veins create a unique texture that creates the appear that each crevice is constructed of individual, rough, strands that are all layered onto each other. These layers then, looked almost like candle wax melted over the same tracks for hundreds perhaps thousands of years.
After driving the bumpy five mile road, you come upon an giant opening. It was at this juncture, we were most concerned that we would get stuck (we prepared and brought a shovel and some short think boards just in case) because the ground was so soft, not with moisture just a lot of soft sand-like rock. Here, I recommend parking on the hardest, least sandy area possible. There were no designated parking spots so you can park any which way you want, any direction.
Ok, so now for pro-tip number one. When facing the trail head marker, you can go left or right. Left is interesting in its own right and worth exploring, however, it is not why you came on this detour. Take the right trail. Once you start on the trail, you entrance will be on the left. Pro-tip number two, there will be a giant arrow on the ground pointing left. It will be pointing an area that looks like there was a giant rock slide that lodged a giant bolder between a skinny cavern. Slight climb towards the base of the rock where you will then lower yourself into a hole to climb the first ladder. Or, you can keep walking past the top of the ladder. The end points are the same for this first ladder. Pro-tip number three, it is better to do the ladders first (climbing up; don't let this scare you there is only 450 feet of elevation gain across the entire 5.6 mile hike) and then descend down into the canyon that you started in.
This is one of the coolest, both in temperature and in aesthetic, parts of the hike. These are the slot canyons. They are narrow in some parts so if anyone is claustrophobic, is very broad, or has a gut, this part of the journey may be challenging or even undo-able for them depending on their level of distress tolerance and willingness to embrace the suck. The second ladder is about as small as the first, about six feet high. The last ladder, which is missing the second to last rung on the bottom, is about eight feet. Once you clear the three ladders, you will not hit another ladder until the very end of the hike. The first three ladders are in the slot canyon.
One of the most unique features about this particular set of slot canyons is how deathly silent it is. My theory is that the soft sand of the ground combined with the very soft, sandy canyon walls absorbs all sound. I would guess that the really skinny channels are make it hard for sound to travel and disrupt the sound waves in some fashion. Anyway, my party members got about ten feet in front of me and I couldn't hear them nor could they hear me walking around nor could we hear each other talking. I personally found this intriguing and relaxing, but, again, if one is claustrophobic, this may actually make the experience worse for them. The way the light gets trapped and escapes the narrow slots is equally soothing. It is like being a candle whereby the flame isn't vulnerable to the wind thus only moves when blown, rather, the shapes of the walls dictate which way the light bends, moves, or is extinguished all together. The folds of the rock, the actual composition (sand/mud), and crevices of the walls also changed the composition of the light in terms of how much was absorbed (i.e., bright light versus dim light). The third layer of the light's entrance into the slow canyon was also determined by the size of the above opening. During most of the slot canyon portion, you can only see strips of blue when you look up. The opening is maybe only one to three feet across, which, then focuses the light into the slots. These slot canyons were really pretty deep. I would estimate that they were at least 30-40 feet tall most of the way.
Once out of the canyon, you are spit out into an opened canyon where you can clearly see the sky and you are not doing unknown gymnastics and contortions to adjust to the minimal space in the slots. From this point you can pretty much go either way, continuing straight, or hang a left at the giant rock to head towards "The View Point." We took a left towards the View Point. When you take this route, you will follow the path and it will let you go straight or turn right. There is a white arrow painted on a rock guiding you right...right up the side of the canyon semi-bear-crawling to the top. It is not a hard trek at this point because there are plenty of exposed and secure rocks to brace yourself against as you find your footing. Like the hand placements, find your footing is not challenging. Just be mindful and place your foot with purpose and intent so that you do not slide with some of the softer dirt.
Now that you made it to the top, look to your right and you will see what looks like a labyrinth of paths atop mountains. You will also see the expansive ecological disaster known as the Salton Sea. It looks pretty, shimmering from a distance, but I can assure you, it smells like sulfur and you should e thankful not to have to inhale that as you're trying to enjoy your current experience. After taking in this view, the path is very clear. You will be walking towards the white towers. There are also a couple arrows made from rocks on the ground also pointing you towards the towers. Once you get closer to the towers, you will turn right and start heading down into the canyon.
This third part of the hike is completely differently from the previously two parts explored so far. This will make up the remaining two or three miles. It is all downhill. Soft sand and extremely tall canyon walls. As you walk deeper into the heart of the canyon, the rocks changes from light brown, tow pink quarts, to striped black and white rock, to dark brown almost black rock. It was incredible to see the rock change in contrast with the little vegetation in the riverbed. While going through this part of the hike, it becomes incredibly apparent that should there we a flash flood, there would be absolutely no way to escape. The riverbed was so wide there was no reprieve, there was no way to get to high enough ground in a timely manner, most access was on the opposite side of the canyon and even then, it would take a lot of effort to get to the safety points. Towards the end of this part of the trek, there is one rope to parlay down (lean back, hold on and move your feet backwards as you give yourself slack). It is about seven feet off the ground and even if you fell, you would fall on soft ground and would be fine. The rope was in good shape so it did not hurt one's hands. There were also knots tied into the rope every 4-6 inches or so to help with grip. Towards the almost absolute end of the loop, you will shimmy down the last ladder. The remainder of the hike has you walking back towards the entrance to the slot canyon.
Keep taking those detours!
