A Drive Through Split Mountain

(Clicking on the pictures will open them larger in a new window.)

We are still in Borrego Springs as I write this. 

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Split Mountain is part of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and according to there information sign one of the most dramatic examples of geology in the park. We had read Doug's post, Miss Adventure Travels, when he and Yuma visited the area and knew we needed to see it in person. From the moment we turned into Fish Creek Wash we knew the views were going to be wonderful. We did not go as far down as Doug and Yuma did or do the hiking but the walls, the rocks, the mountains, all of it as we road through as far as we did was unbelievably beautiful. Without a doubt we will be taking this ride again we feel like we just scratched the surface of what there is to see. In the parks brochure they recommend this as a what to do if you have a half a day. What we found out today is that is only enough time to do a preliminary look see. It is not enough time to even begin to explore and see what is in the Split Mountain area.

From their information board.

They are being totally honest about the road being rugged. It is a wash board in some spots, rocky in others, there were a couple of places the "step down" was a good size, plus more then once over the large rock sticking up was the only way to go, and we could see what looked like areas of soft sand just off the road. In our opinion this is definitely a road for a high clearance vehicle and 4WD as recommended. 

Without a doubt I took a lot of photographs on this ride. I am sharing quite of few and I hope you enjoy them. 

Just starting down the wash and looking ahead at what is to come.

Turning the corner and heading into the split.

We did a lot of looking up

and to the sides.

The view and colors of the walls was ever changing.

So many rocks embedded in the solid earth.

We saw plants thriving in nooks and crannies.

After reading this I took the four pictures below.

Walking to get a closer photograph of the wall below, I looked down and
thought even the sand on the floor is beautiful.

Looking to the left, of the formation above, there clinging
 to the side of the wall is this lovely green flowering plant.

Looking back at the split we just road through

and forward to the openness ahead.
I believe just around the corner was the Wind Caves hike.
We did not do this today, we now know we both need hiking boots and
good solid hiking sticks for these hikes. 

The Elephant Knees.

To think that water and wind carved all of this out is amazing.

As mentioned on the board information it is constantly changing.

A turtle?

A monk taking his leave.

A wall collapse. 

Crumbling down it is still beautiful.

We stopped here as we felt it was time to turn around.
First we decided to take a walk and see what was behind this mound.

You could see were someone had driven in and made several circles
and possibly camped as there were signs of a fire.

Instead of stones and mud this looked like wood but it is dirt.

The Jeep patiently waiting for our return.
From here it looks clean.

Back in the Jeep we decided one more corner and then we turned around.

Heading back and looking from a different perspective
we see a whole new world.

Up close it looked like someone had a hand in adding the eye.

Looking straight up.

An ancient face.

The earth/mud above the face.

One of many other roads/washes that are there to explore.

Every corner is a new and wonderful view.

Some areas looked so smooth.

We are about to drive back through the split.

More than once we wondered what kept the rocks in place.

Could this be a giant's covered jar discarded after it was not longer useful?

The "waves" on the wall looked beautiful.

We could see the path the water takes as it flows through the wash.

We are just about back to Split Mountain Rd.

Then we turned right to check out
 what was listed on the map as Gypsum Mine.

This was as far as we could go.
At this point we turned around and headed back home.

The sun was still above the mountain tops but behind the clouds
when we arrived back at the Stinger "B". I decided this is
tonight's sunset picture.

"Once a year go somewhere

you have never been before."

                                                ~Dalai Lama

We thoroughly enjoyed this Jeep ride. It is a ride we would take again.

If you would like to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.