South East California

After Quartzfest I went to Palm Springs like last year for their amateur radio event. Just south of Palm Springs is the Anza-Borrego State Park, the largest state park in the country which is bordered by the Salton Sea. Both sounded interesting and I ended up spending more time there than I had planned, but not for the reasons you might be thinking.

I road my bicycle one day to this interesting spot. It is where, in ancient times, people would grind their grain on these rocks to the point where depressions were created.

The area is pretty high up and near a pass that ancient people used it is believed. I camped a few miles away and I can attest that there is some elevation here. The temperatures dropped down to the mid 20's at night. I wasn't expecting that. I'm was only 60 or so miles from the Mexican Border for crying out loud!!

There were some petroglyphs nearby, but I decided after riding the bicycle to the trailhead that it would be best to come back another day for the hike.

OK, True Confessions

I didn't make it back for the hike.

Let's just say that I did two really stupid things which resulted in me hurting my lower back..... again! So much for doing much of anything for a couple of months.

After a few days I managed to load up the rig and moved down from the mountains for some warmer temperatures. This is a bluff just east of Salton City were I spent the next few days resting. I'm the rig on the right

And this was the view out the door. If you have to be laid up for a while, you might as well have nice weather and a good view.

Next I went to the north east end of the Salton Sea and camped right next to the beach. I don't know how to describe Salton Sea. It isn't exactly a place for water sports. I was there 2 days and saw one boat. If you've been to the Great Salt Lake then you've been to the Salton Sea. and vice versa.

One thing though, there are millions of birds along the shore. I did enjoy just sitting and watching all the bird activity, especially in the morning where they all seem to have the need to be someplace else on the beach.

This was typical of the mornings.

One of the other things about the eastern shore is it's one of the major railroad corridors in the country. About every 15 minutes or so, one of these 120 car trains would go by. After counting cars for several of these trains I can attest that there are exactly 120 cars. Trust me on this one!

And all these birds need to eat something. It was really creepy walking along the beach on fish skeletons.

So, I'm glad I went to these interesting spots. I'll come back to the Anza-Borrego State Park with a healthy back and do some hiking, bicycling and motorcycling.

I think I'll skip camping on the Salton Sea next time.