I had made arrangements with Rick from Rick & Paulette's RV Travels to hike out to “The Painted and Ladder Canyon” just outside of the Town of Mecca at the south end of the Coachella Valley, about a 40 mile drive from our Resort. When Rick showed up to pick me up this morning he had a guest hiker with him… Jeanette from RV Voyageur was ready to join us on our hike. Her and her Husband, Rene, are staying up at The Sand’s RV Resort also. Off we went!
Twas a beautiful day for a hike, 70 degrees F.
I knew we would be climbing ladders so I did not bring my digital SLR and opted for Judy’s little NIKON COOLPIX. A lot easier to carry!
This is the start of the Painted Canyon…
Right off the top we found a little cave that went nowhere…
We split off into ladder canyon, and as you can see, not much of a trail to follow, but it was there!
Some climbing skills required!
Right off we were into the ladders… remember that game we used to play… snakes and ladders… you got it!
This was the first major hike Jeanette had been on, and she was a champ! No problems for her at all! Check out the neat rock formations…
Here is Rick climbing out of a corkscrew… sure would not want a flash flood right now!
Yes, the trail goes right into that narrow crack at the bottom of this picture… could not believe it… one shift of these rocks while you are walking in on the trails and you would turn into a hamburger!
Pictures do not do it justice, but can you imagine walking through the crack below… we did it!
Finally we made it out of the canyon, and started climbing up the mountain!
The views from the top were very good, you could see the Salton Sea, along with Mount Jacinto and San Gorgonio of course!
All the rain we had a couple of days ago caused this Ocotillo Cactus to bloom!
We found a few other flowers growing in the desert!
We came back down off the mountain and down into Painted Canyon… it was very cool with lots of different rocks…
Rick found a hidden stash of quartz…
Lots of different rocks and things…
People were practicing their rock pilling skills…
Jeanette navigates her way down another ladder on the way out of the canyon… check out what the lady in red has in her arms… (woof woof)
It was a perfect day and a perfect hike… I really enjoyed it…
Thanks Rick and Jeanette for a great day! If you want to see some more great pictures of the hike, click on Rick and Jeanette’s blogs… RV Voyageur and Rick & Paulette's RV Travels
Till tomorrow…
great day for bloggers!!!...good work on the hike!!
ReplyDeleteSeems like you had an interesting hike. Seems to me that any challenges along the way would be worth it.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite ways to spend a few hours for sure. The exercise, the fresh air, & a good rock scramble are hard to beat. I haven't met a slot canyon I haven't liked yet, Great magical places to explore. Not a good place to be during a rain storm or an earth quake though. Good for all you guys in getting out to see & do something different:))
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great looking hike! Even without the DSLR, your pictures were just fine and fun to look at.
ReplyDeleteJohn
relaxedrush.blogspot.com
Nice pics John and a great recap of our day hiking in the canyon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming along it was a fun and enjoyable day.
Wow what wonderful pictures and your description of the hike was great. I hope I can do some hiking like that when we are in the area next winter.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteGreat photos of our day out hiking. Thanks to you and Rick for the companionship on this day, in this rugged, yet most beautiful, area.
I will post my photos and thoughts on our blog tomorrow - Thursday.
Jeanette