Perception

The Slot, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, CA...........hikespeak.com talks about The Slot: Simply named The Slot, this narrow... more

by Laurie Search

Title

Perception

Artist

Laurie Search

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

The Slot, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, CA...........hikespeak.com talks about The Slot: Simply named The Slot, this narrow siltstone canyon provides one of the most exciting hikes in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This 0.8-mike trek is capped off with a passage beneath a gravity-defying rock span. There is only 100 feet of elevation loss on this short hike, but the memory will be much more profound..........There is no trail marker for The Slot. From the parking area, look for footprints leading down into the ravine below. Left of the trailhead, just to the right of a dirt road continuing east, there is a wide path that appears to descend into the canyon. This is not the way. The winding trail cliffs out above a dry falls in a side canyon above The Slot. The correct route is the narrow steep-looking track that drops right off the rim of the ravine, straight ahead from the parking area..........Slowly descend into the trench. The trail is steep, but not nearly as steep as it looks from above, dropping less than fifty feet. There are no more optical illusions from here, just eye-popping natural wonders..........Turn left and venture down to The Slot. The siltstone walls grow taller and closer together. A tenth of a mile from the start, the canyon becomes quite narrow. Hopefully you did not eat a big breakfast, because you will need to squeeze through course walls that are shoulder width apart, and less in places..........The shaded slot provides cool relief from the desert above. Progress through the narrows for 0.3 miles to the highlight of the trek, a slanted rock slab bridging a narrow gap in the canyon. This scepter-shaped block appears to have broken off one wall and come to a comfortable resting place between the two. The precarious feature could fall at any moment, but it remains lodged overhead, trapped in some loophole of the earth’s gravitational pull..........Not far below, the canyon widens and the trail meets the top of a jeep road. One option is to walk down this road a ways to a junction, and turn left to loop back to the start, adding over a mile to the hike. It is probably better to turn around when you meet the road and hike back up through the slot. The trail is enjoyable a second time (and several times more).

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January 14th, 2014

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