Agua Caliente Canyon (north of Berrendo) with its hot spring, hot and cool mountain streams, all in the same place, is pretty wild...
Because the ranchers (or marijuana growers) sometimes put fences across the canyon entrances, it is good to have an alternate destination... and Valle
Chico has many canyons facing it to visit.
Unlike 2006, the sand was washed away exposing big rocks and narrowing the passage. Without another person along as a spotter or for a pull if hung up
on rocks, it is best only for big tire/lifted 4x4s until the sand returns.
I get concerned when I only see motorcycle tracks.
I park and have a walk to see if there is a chance. Looking back to my truck.
It only gets worse.
The actual squeeze is really narrow with the sand level so much lower than before.
This last photo is looking back upstream at the narrowest part.
A week or two after I was here, Pappy Jon in his greatly lifted 4Runner got through. He posted some videos of that part! Listen to the crunching!
We have camped at the Matomi Rancho many times. The most challenging trip was when I broke a rear trailing arm on the way out. That required a trip
out to the South Campos and bringing in a 16' flatbed trailer. We had to build rock ramps to get over the boulders. Instead of noon, we hit the
highway at 10 PM. Long day. Now we prefer Cajon or Diablo Canyons.
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes
"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others
cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn
"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law
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