Borrego's Slot Canyon...

My utmost favorite aspect of camping in the desert is its glorious awakening!

There is no way I am ever going to miss this spectacular performance.


Plus, one needs to arise early if any hiking is going to happen and we had a destination that warranted getting out before it got too hot.
The Slot is our favorite hike. "Discover this 2.2-mile loop trail. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This is a very popular area for hiking, so you'll likely encounter other people while exploring. The best times to visit this trail are September through May. The parking lot here can get closed off when it is full and there is a long line of waiting cars, so try to arrive early. Slot Canyon is an unmaintained trail off a sand road and far from most visitor traffic. Flash floods formed the breathtaking slot canyon. At points, forty-foot-high walls arch above a foot-wide canyon floor."
Since we did arrive early and that it was a Monday in February, we were the only ones on the trail. It gave us all time to ogle, appreciate, and photograph at our leisure. I loved it all.
The trail briefly heads uphill before making a turn to the left and dropping down into the slot canyon. At first, the walls are low and the canyon is wide. It doesn’t take long until we entered the best part of the slot canyon. Walls of siltstone rose up around us. As we headed deeper into the canyon, The Slot narrowed, the walls became scalloped and curving, making this a thrilling place to explore. The grands loved every nook and cranny.







This etched graffito from 1916 reminded us that we weren't the first to love this place.

Towards the end of the hike, where the loop heads up the Jeep trail, we saw this memorial which read Aloha Jade. I had to know more. Jade Kaiwalani Stice (1970- 2024) and her son, Jet, were hiking here this past June. The hike was during the day; the pair apparently got off track, traveling in a wrong direction, and temperature was as high as 120 degrees. Jade got overheated, but Jet located a cave with shade for his mom, and he sought help since there was no cell reception where they were. Jet eventually made it back to the car, himself overheated and struggling to remain lucid. At the trailhead, he called 911 and a helicopter rescue was ordered. They found Jade at the bottom of a washed out area of the canyon. We have never been to Borrego in the summer. Being locals, we know how hot in can get but Jade being from Hawaii had probably never experience the heat only the desert can produce. So tragic.
We all exited The Slot safely and happily. The temperatures were now 85° and it was time to leave the desert.
“The desert tells a different story
every time one ventures on it.”
– Robert Edison Fulton Jr

posted under |

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Get new Blog Posts to your inbox. Just enter name and email below.

 

We respect your email privacy

Blog Archive


Recent Comments