Friday 11/13
We didn’t really have an exact plan for this trip, just a couple spots we definitely wanted to see after watching/reading the book Into the Wild. We left at around 4:30 on Friday, a little after I finished my last class for the day.
It was already getting dark and we weren’t sure where we were sleeping for the night. All we knew was that we were going to be heading towards Anza-Borrego Desert and hopefully finding a free campsite somewhere. We pretty much drove through pitch black windy roads in the mountains following maps on my phone hoping we wouldn’t lose service. We drove on a single road through the mountains for about 2 and a half hours. We finally stopped once we saw a dirt road named “Culp”, which we had read about on the way there. It turned out to be a small camping area with around 5 camping spots. We pulled into one of the campsites and set up the mattress pad on top of Big Blue. It was freezing cold but it was worth seeing a billion stars, the Milky Way, and a shooting star every few minutes. We ended up falling asleep on top of the car. Not long after we went inside the car to sleep.Saturday 11/14
The next morning we woke up at around 6:30 (I was hoping for earlier but Cody never likes to wake up). We climbed up the small mountain behind Big Blue and sat on some rocks to watch the sunrise. It was our first time actually seeing where we were, considering we arrived when it was super dark.
Then we left for a short hike called “Slot Canyon.” It took us about 45 minutes to get there and was down a random dirt road. Once we arrived we walked down into the canyon and started the hike. The hike looked like a mini grand canyon. There were spots that were opened up and then spots that were so narrow that I had to turn sideways. Cody did some climbing up on the rocks that sat on top of the canyon.
We finished the hike pretty early and decided to drive into town (Borrego Springs). On the way we stopped to look at the metal animal sculptures. There were ones of fighting horses, birds, dinosaurs, etc.
Here we went to the Visitor’s Center to find more information and decided we would go to an oasis next. But, first we parked and took a nap in the parking lot of the Visitor’s Center. It took us less than 5 minutes to drive to where we would start the “Hell hole” hike which would lead us to the oasis. The hike was around 7-8 miles. The first 3 miles were just flat desert surrounded with plants/cacti. We left around 2 which was kind of sketchy because we didn’t think we would make it back in time with some sun, but we did it anyway.
(A sign about a mile into the hike read “THEY DIDN’T BRING ENOUGH WATER”)
After about half an hour of walking through the desert, we started to get impatient and a little skeptical considering we saw ditches where there should have been water but there wasn’t. We kept walking and saw palm trees in the distance and finally made it to the oasis.
We rushed the hike back because it started to get dark and we were starting to get cold. But on the way back we saw a lot of cool scenery.
We finally made it back and started to search for a camp ground before the sun completely set, because again we didn’t know exactly where we were going to sleep. We made it to a campground that was named Yaqui Well. We backed into a small turnout facing the moon. Signs specifically said not to build a campfire unless in a metal pit, but Cody made his own anyway.
We basically had been eating pub mix, mixed nuts, some chips, and hamburger slims with peanut butter the whole trip. So we treated ourselves to some “s’mores” that got sickening after a couple bites. After eating dinner and relaxing by the fire, we finally went to bed.
Sunday 11/15
We woke up around 7 and headed to Niland where we would visit Salvation Mountain. When we arrived in Niland, we parked near Slab City out in the middle of nowhere and took a nap before walking to the mountain.
Inspired by Into the Wild, we were excited to visit Salvation Mountain. Leonard Knight, the creator of the mountain, made it out of adobe mud and straw. The original mountain he made was unsuccessful and he looked at it as if God was telling him the mountain wasn’t safe. He then started the second mountain that turned into Salvation Mountain.
Around Salvation Mountain and Slab City were a lot of random trailers and hobo-like people walking around. Slab City was the “last free” place in the U.S. People go here to run away, escape from their lives, or just start a new one.
After heading out of Niland, we headed toward the Imperial Sand Dunes. In Glamis, we walked and played around in the dunes when we got the idea of taking the mattress pad out of the car and trying to mattress surf. However, it wasn’t very successful.
After messing around in the sand dunes we had to finally head home 😦
We finished with some In-n-out in El Centro and got back to our apartment where it was freezing cold and raining. I also had an 8 AM class and a quiz the next morning 🙂
But overall, it was a great trip and there wasn’t one time we wished we were somewhere else. The overall experience was one we’ll never forget.
Road Trippers 
Loved your Road Trip…….. thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person