Dora's Way: Where Is That Trail????

Dora nestled in at Anza-Borrego State Park

I really didn’t think I would post today. It was a frustrating repeat of yesterday. We got up early with resolve to find the Palm Canyon Oasis Trail. It seemed so easy, according to the area map. We walked from the Visitor Center, an extra 6/10ths of a mile, to the Palm Canyon Campground, to find the trailhead. Everyone we talk to agrees that trail signage is not good here, but I really didn’t think we could screw this up. We did though. We walked through the campground up to within ¼ mile of the trailhead, and then managed to lose our way. We walked across the desert toward what I thought would be the right canyon. We were actually walking in the wash that was littered with dead and broken California Palms, from the devastating 2004 flood that washed boulders and 75% of the palms from the oasis up in the canyon and left them scattered about the wash at the base of the mountain. We were walking downhill, outbound from the mountains, along this wash, and still I was pretty sure I was going the right way, toward the Palm Canyon trail.

I really need to take this whole map thing a lot more seriously. We got a good hike in the desert, but again got extremely frustrated at missing our stated goal. The only thing we have learned for sure is that when we see a picture of a dog with a red line slashed through it, that marks the beginning or continuance of a trail.

Again we bumped into our new Canadian friends. They were in the campground packing up for a move to another site. They don’t make reservations. They just show up and take whatever is available for the night, knowing they may need to move the next day. With a Mercedes Sprinter camper, moving isn’t much of a challenge. We told them, again, that we had failed at finding the trail we wanted. They pointed up the campground road and said, “Its right up there, at the end of the campground. You can’t miss it.” Just as they had done for us yesterday in regards to the Hellhole Canyon trail.

We headed that way and found the trail, and vowed to return to hike that trail when we return from Hawaii. I also vowed to never hike again without a map in my hand.

Aside from that, the day started out well with the sunrise, and ended well with the moonrise. We got lots of photos, some of which we’ll share here.