BajaNomad

Valle Chico Trip, March 2005 (Part II)

Arthur - 5-5-2005 at 10:05 PM

Tuesday, 3/29/05

What was a strip of wet sand in the arroyo when we went to bed at Canyon Barroso last night is a clear creek again this morning. We figure we?re probably seeing the snowmelt created yesterday somewhere way up in the Sierra San Pedro de Martir, although Dick will advance several alternate theories in the days to come. Hummingbirds dart past us, doves coo from far away, and the occasional red-tailed hawk patrols the sky.

After breakfast we walked two miles along the base of the mountains ? mainly following cowpaths past cactus and under drooping desert trees ? to Canyon El Novillo, which can be identified by a single pyramidal peak with its point shaved off and several vertical slits on its face. The wooden cow fence across its mouth is much less elaborate than the one in Canyon Barroso; it terminates in kind of a cave at the north end. Like Barroso, this canyon is relatively flat, but quickly gets into vast slabs of bedrock. These water-worn slabs provide innumerable bathing spots, but this canyon has darker rock, infused here and there with marble.

We walked up quite a way, passing the remains of several cows who probably perished while seeking water. ?El Novillo? can translate as ?the young steer,? so I guessed that this canyon got its name from people referring to it as something like ?the place where Juan lost that steer that he was so proud of.? We turned back at a spot where the canyon makes a hard right and continues with its broken iron-stained rock up toward the summits. The stream flow seems to follow the same advancing and retreating pattern that we noted in Canyon Barroso. The hike back to camp from the canyon mouth across the parched desert was more of a slog; when we regained Canyon Barroso we each repaired to a favored spot up the canyon to cool off. The afternoon was cool in the shade, and I spotted a nice rattler heading back from the middle of the wash toward his home in the rocks as the sun began to sink behind us. The night was clear and cold.

Wednesday, 3/30/05

The moon hadn?t risen by the time we went to bed last night, but it was still up in the sky after sunrise this morning. This accords with generally acknowledged astronomical principles, according to Dick. We?ve been turning in around 9:00 and getting up before 6:00 ? just before sunrise. Followed the creek downstream to see how far it went. Not too far.

Packed up and headed south past Algodon. Noted that Canyon Rubi seems to be directly above the gate at Algodon, which is one end of the fenceline that apparently parallels the Huatamote Wash ? a titan among washes that according to the Almanac shoulders its way through a break in the Sierra San Felipe and marches clear to the Sea of Cortez. No water, or sign of recent water, in this impressive channel.

Passed what is apparently Linda Vista (a big shop area and a bunkhouse on the east side of the road) although it appears that the road to Bella Vista that the Almanac has drawn north of Linda Vista is actually south of it. Back when we were thrashing around north of Algodon, we passed a spot that we were sure had to be Linda Vista ? a bare spot beside the road with an old metal chair sitting in front of the rusting remains of a junk pile. The place did have a Pretty View, but it was a stretch to think that people had bothered to give it a name.

After overshooting the village that David K describes as abandoned (though there were a number of people around) we managed to get turned around in a mile or two without getting stuck, and took the fork heading west. That takes you out onto an old airstrip with several big rocks on it and trenches dug in it ? presumably to keep midnight aviators from landing. Drove on up into Canyon Agua Caliente and stopped just short of the creek, which was flowing well. It?s a flat, open canyon with plenty of room to camp, some fine rocky pools upstream to cool off in, and long stretches of thick black plastic pipe along one wall, festooned with ragged shreds of clothing that the locals had probably tied on as insulation. There was also lots of deep sand to hassle the Prerunner; we had just enough space to turn around and get parked out of the road. While we were making lunch, a full-sized 2WD Ford pickup with a hay rack and about a dozen people in it passed by, forded the creek, and soon had disappeared up a road that I would hesitate taking a 4WD on. The creek at the second crossing is no problem, but the hill when you?re climbing out is deep, deep sand in addition to being steep for a short way. There?s another fine spot a half-mile or so on up, with slabs of rock lying one on top of another to make a kind of rough staircase. Small potatoes for a 4WD club, but challenging for the average pickup. At this location, as at several along the road, someone had had a little fun incinerating a steel-belted tire beside the road, just to spruce things up a bit. Maybe they were punishing it for giving out on them right there.

In the afternoon, we walked up the road it ended, blocked by the big pickup. There?s a beautiful undulating slab of marble in the creek nearby, and that?s where they were swimming. Just beyond the truck was a mishmash of deep, deep gouges with big slabs of rock lodged in them jagged side up, so we thought that must be the end of the road that David K had spoken of (meaning that we had made good progress) but it soon became apparent that trucks have gone farther up that way. After another half-hour or so of footing it along an easy road, it seemed to give out again at a wide spot where a trail dives into the underbrush and the creek is down an embankment to the left. Some kind of vehicle had ploughed ahead, though: down toward the creek this time, through a morass where big slabs coming off the mountain drop into a swamp teeming with, rank grass, willow, and thornbush. We negotiated this on foot, occasionally veering into the rocky streambed, happy to see occasional rock ?ducks,? and leaving a few behind for reference, as the day was fading fast.

The trail from that wide spot starts out on kind of a bench before you?re forced down to water level, but my advice for anyone hiking up to the springs is to watch for the second bench ? the site of the extensive ?cilantro farm? that David K mentions ? and stick to it until it gives out. This allows you to bypass much of the swampy areas that slow you down. Not knowing this yet, we checked out the farm but mostly just forged on upstream until the white dikes that David describes appeared on the right and the stream turned warm. The thornbush had been left behind by now, and everything seemed to get gentler.

We reveled in the warm, thick, fragrant water coursing through the willow and over the rocks, and looked around for anything like pools, but we weren?t able to follow the water much farther upstream to see if it got hotter, as the sun was dipping behind the mountains. We regretfully hightailed it back down the canyon, taking full advantage of the bench this time, and made it to camp before dark. While the evenings in the smaller, drier canyons had been silent except for our jazz and blues CDs, this time we had a full froggy serenade as Dick put together a late dinner.

(To be continued)

Copyright 2005 by Arthur Comings

Neal Johns - 5-5-2005 at 10:42 PM

Great trip reports, keep them coming!:D

David K - 5-5-2005 at 11:43 PM

Great Arthur!

The point where you felt the warm water stream was only a short ways from the source... where a tub was built (but too close to the 140 degree spring... Now the cold water mountain stream is only a few dozen meters from that tub and the hot spring... If enough hose is brought, one could have hot and cold running water! Isn't Baja great!?!


This photo is looking north, down stream... The source spring is on the bench to the left... that is the 'too hot' tub in front, and the hot stream is frowing away to where you felt it. The cool mountain stream is to the right, out of the photo. The 'cilantro' growing farm bench is just off the photo in the distance, to the right...




This aerial photo is looking east, down stream... I did not go as far as the palm... just to the hot springs both times. Thanks to BajaLou for the photo!...

Arthur - 5-6-2005 at 06:33 AM

Great aerial map and pic of the spring, David. That puts things in perspective. What about that white dike that was supposed to be the marker for the spring, though? That's where we stopped.

Did you drive up to the wide cleared place where the trail dives into the brush? Next time I want to be able to drive in that far -- taking the alternate (left) fork in the road, I guess. Got to see that palm up beyond the spring, too. What a place!

[Edited on 5-6-2005 by Arthur]

bajalou - 5-6-2005 at 08:45 AM

The reason I marked the palm is it's the only one in the flat open area where the two branches come together. Farthur up the right branch is a fence and small corral. We stopped there on that trip up the canon.

:biggrin:

Arthur - 5-6-2005 at 08:53 AM

A fine map, Lou. How far up did you hike, and where did you park your truck? I guess people must have driven up to that corral.

bajalou - 5-6-2005 at 09:09 AM

Huricane Nora in Sept of 1997 did in the road in many places. No driving to the corral in these later years. We parked where David K did on his trip. At at water crossing (thought I could get thru but didn't). We drive 2WD desert buggies for these trips. AGCEND is where we parked.

David K - 5-7-2005 at 04:04 AM

Yes, the point where we could drive no more is where I put 'end of road' on the aerial photo and Lou has AGCEND on his GPS track satellite image. From there it was a 1.1 mile walk to the hot spring.... about 30 minutes. STAY ON THE NORTH SIDE of the canyon... and walk through the nice tree shaded bench where the 'cilantro' farm was (in 2000/2001). The hacked up drip tubes is the indicator. The same thing was seen near Rancho Parral.

I heard others (Barry A, etc.) say they easily drove right to the hot spring years ago. But in Dec. 2000 and again last year in April, 2004 the rocks and shrubs blocked the canyon at the same place, for driving.

There is enough pieces of drip hose, that if you brought some couplings, we could make a piece long enough to bring the cool water from the mountain stream over to that hot tub. Who wants to party?

[Edited on 5-7-2005 by David K]

David K - 5-7-2005 at 04:28 AM

Oh, where Lou's GPS track begins, on the right of his sat. map: See where the sharp turn is (south to west)? That is where the 'abandoned' ejido is. I always refered to it as Ejido Agua Caliente (AAA calls it A.C. as well)... but the Almanac has it as PLAN NACIONAL AGRARIO. There was an old couple living in the house at that west turn... to continue south is the way to Parral or Matomi. The other homes in that ejido all seemed empty my last few visits.

In the 1980's, that was a busy village... kids, dogs, etc. They were told to grow grapes in the desert... Grapes don't grow well in the desert... all that money, all the effort, gone.

On the Almanac, Linda Vista is the next abandoned farm to the north. It has a destinctive elevated water tank and buildings on the east side of the road. The road goes south from there straight to Plan Nacional Agrario. The Almanac only show the much older road next to the sierra. From Plan Nacional Agrario, the 'new' road (since 1978) goes directly to (just north of)Carricitos, then turns sharp east (not shown in Almanac) and then bends south, past the littlle mountain (by the 600 meter elevation contour). There, the junction with the fence line road cuts east, across the valley (not shown) for the Canada el Parral pass to the sulfur mine area, on the old Puertecitos road. SCORE named this 'Azufre Pass'.

David K - 5-7-2005 at 08:00 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Arthur
Great aerial map and pic of the spring, David. That puts things in perspective. What about that white dike that was supposed to be the marker for the spring, though? That's where we stopped.

Did you drive up to the wide cleared place where the trail dives into the brush? Next time I want to be able to drive in that far -- taking the alternate (left) fork in the road, I guess. Got to see that palm up beyond the spring, too. What a place!

[Edited on 5-6-2005 by Arthur]


Sorry I didn't answer your question first,Arthur... The 'white dike' is where I said you could first detect that the stream at that point was thermal... ie. from the hot spring and not from the canyon/ snow melt... There was a bar of soap in the rock where a pool in the stream was deep enough to bathe... at that point. H2O temp. I estimated around 100* F... PERFECT!

The source spring and the big 'too hot' tub was just a short distance upstream from there... maybe 200 yards (I don't have my GPS with me as I type this).

Sorry I ramble on... this part of Baja is so very cool (or hot) to me!