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David K
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EXOTIC DESERT CANYONS (Part 3, Agua Caliente)
Part 3, Easter Sunday Morning April 11, 2004
A great night?s sleep for a great day of exploring? and hot tubbing! Weather was perfect, blue skies, and no wind. The end of the road was just 2/10
of a mile from our camp, so we didn?t drive to it. The stream flows almost to the mouth of the canyon 2.7 miles away and we follow it into the
mountain in this deep canyon.
The road ends near where the canyon turns from south to west. The canyon runs almost a mile before it bends south again, near the hot springs.
Because the vegetation is so thick in the arroyo, the trail is hard to follow, but stays to the right (north) side of the canyon. I added several
?ducks? (cairns) to mark the route.
The site of the ?cilantro farm? of three years ago was abandoned, with all the drip irrigation tubing hacked up into ten thousand pieces! The terrace
is on the right (north) side of the canyon where this planting field was. The trail to the springs goes through the tree-covered terrace then back
down to the arroyo. Ahead, stay to the right side as the canyon bends left (south). Large rock dikes go from the canyon wall to the creek. The one
dike with a large quartz vein along its length goes right to the stream? feel the water? it?s HOT! About 105 degrees at this point GPS: 30-38.90?,
115-12.44 (elev. 2,017?). The source of the hot stream is 336 feet away at AGUA CALIENTE CANYON HOT SPRINGS* at 30-38.85?, 115-12.41? (elev. 2,041?).
(* Sometimes called Valle Chico Hot Springs).
Jide dug a tub in the sand and diverted the hot stream to fill it, I soaked in the creek by the quartz stripe (a bar of soap was there). The tub near
the source spring was far too hot to use. One book says the water temperature of the springs is 144 degrees! The springs (at least three) are on the
terrace and the steaming water flows down to the arroyo. Photos from last time here: http://davidksbaja.com/baja_2001/page2.html
Reluctantly, we returned to our camp, 1.3 miles and 33 minutes away for lunch and to pack up for our next objective? El Cajon Canyon?`
TO BE CONTINUED?
Photo of steaming creeks from 12-31-00 visit with LdB:
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burro bob
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It has been many years since I last went up Agua Caliente.
About six years ago A couple of buddies and I did drive all the way to the hot springs and a little beyond to the corrals.
When we got out of the truck at the springs we heard a 22 shot.
Dan (another gringo ) and I wanted to leave but Estevan (an Ejidotarian and Kiliwa native ) insisted on checking it out. I think he thought it might
have been some friends out hunting.
We drove on up to the corrals and encountered 4 people in a little red truck. Estevan stated right away that they didn't belong there. He didn't
recognize any of them. We hung out long enough for Estevanb to satisfy himself that they weren't poaching cattle.
As we were heading back out of the canyon I spotted a small convoy of SUV's heading towards us. Dan found a wide spot in the trail and pulled over to
let the other rigs pass. Instead the fist car pulled right up on out front bumper and the second pulled along side so Dan couldn't even open his door.
Suddenly we were surrounded by about 20 men with guns. Lots of guns, everything from Usi's to sawed off pump shotguns. A couple of the men had shirts
with PJF on them so we knew we were not in the hads of drug runners but rather the Mexican version of the DEA.
After a very through search of ourselves and the car they were convinced we had nothing to do with the real drug runners up the canyon.
We had driven into the middle of a major drug transaction/bust. We never did find out what happened to the guys in the red truck.
It is also possible that the authorities have closed this road to cut down on the flow of combustibles coming out of there.
Oh yeah also on the way out Estevan says look at the Borrego. Dan and I a looking everywhere for the borrego and can't spot it. Finally Estevan points
it out, way up the canyon side almost to the top. I could just barely pick out the white dot that was the borrego.
I guess when you depend on these kinds of animalks for food you train yourself to spot them. Just like I can spot a set of golden arches well before
the off ramp to them.
burro bob
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David K
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Great story, Bob!
Back 3+ years ago, as well as last Sunday, the road was just closed by thick vegetation, water, and terrain... nothing man-made. Perhaps there was no
thick vegetation more years ago (due to a flash flood), and the road was in the water? I believe Barry A told me he drove right to the springs many
years ago. No way today, but a mile hike isn't so bad.
I plan on writing the final part (Agua Caliente to El Cajon Canyon, and home) tonight, which will include our surprise meeting with you!
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bajalou
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Today's trip
David, you make this sound so inviting that Jim-Bill and I are heading up there this morning for the day. Have to do it this spring as don't know
what the storms might do in Sept. Thanks for the latest report.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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jide
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Hey Bajalou, while hiking up, make sure you stay on the right side of the canyon the whole time and look for that tub and dam I recently dug, it's
wide enough to lay flat in there.
It's about 1-2 feet deep, and best of all, the water is cooled down to perfect temperature (the creek @ this point is too hot: 120-130 degrees F)
Have fun!!!!
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Barry A.
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David----It is interesting that you say "stay on the right bench as you approach the spring". As I remember, in 1996 Nov. the road to the hot spring
spent much of the time on the left bench, only occasionally dropping down to the stream. This might partially explain why you did not see the road we
took in to the hot spring in '96. After reading everyone's posts, I feel convinced that the "cilantro" garden was there when we were there, but we
just did not know it. It helped that we had my son's huge German Shepard that did scare away the one visitor we had in the middle of the night while
camped at the hot spring. I think we were lucky. What a great trip you had-----I sure want to get back into that country----your hike up El Cajon we
did not do back in '96, or again in 200l when we were last in that country. I need to do that. Barry
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Barry A.
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Mission San Pedro Martir via Agua Caliente
Bud Bernhard, of Coronado, claimed that there was an established trail up Agua Caliente canyon from the east, to the Mission site. He further claimed
that there was a less obvious trail up El Cajon Canyon to the mission site. The El Cajon trail was more direct, but a rougher go. I believe that he
backpacked into the Mission site using both trails. This would have been back in the late 50's, and 60's. That is a long time ago, so my memory may
be faulty on this, but that is my recollection. Bud walked (backpacked) all over the San Pedro Martir plateau, and the desert canyons on the east,
many, many times. The closest to the Mission I ever got was La Grulla. There is a trail down to the Mission from La Grulla, also, but I did not have
time to try it. Bud did. This was in 1954 when I was in La Grulla. Bud visited the Mission site at least 3 times, approaching from 3 different
directions, but never from the west, as I recall.
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bajalou
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The spring
Thanks for the worde jide, but we went before I got that. the markers were good except we missed a few and wint down the middle-left part of the way
- came back via the (right-in) side and it was much better. found the pool and the 3 springs as well as the pool of cooler water with the soap.
I really beleive (and intend to investigate) that there must be another spring much nearer the mouth. Why? The water flowing into the pila at the
mouth of the canyon is about 100 deg. It can't be piped the 3 + miles from those springs and remain that warm. Also, with all the tubing, hose and
pipe cut up at the farm, don't beleive they would have left one to come clear down there. Berry A, the pila is fairly new - 3-4 yrs? and on the
right side of the canyon above some corrals. The road now goes right by it, 2 years ago the road went up the riverbed at this point. Any thoughts on
this??
I'd post a picture but never figure how to get them small enough.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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Barry A.
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water pipe location???
Baja Lou------Boy, you are really taxing my memory. As I recall, there was a pipe running up the right side of the canyon, on the bench, for a long
way up from the mouth of the canyon, but I never discovered where it came from. We did not see it (the pipe) around (near) the Hot spring in 1996, so
I always figured that it's source was further down the canyon a little way, somewhere in the jungle that was in the canyon bottem. I am not sure what
a "pila" is, tho. I do know that the pipe went all the way our in Valle Chico to the Agrario, and that was a long way. The water in it was not hot in
1996----in fact it was very cool. I do not recall corrals anywhere in the canyon except just above the Hot spring, and we camped right beside the
corral which was up on the north bank, maybe 6 feet above the level of the canyon bottom. This corral had been there a long time, and was under some
pretty big mesquite trees. Because it was within the apex of the turn in the canyon, it had not been hit with a flood for years. All the water from
floods swept past it leaving it untouched, or at least it looked that way to me. The way David K. describes the water temp. at the hot spring, I think
that it may be hotter now than when we were there in '96. It was hot, but it cooled off enough to get in it about 200 yards downstream, after it mixed
with the small cool water stream in the bottem of the canyon. The canyon bottom below the hot springs was an incredible jungle when we were there. The
road came into the corrals from across the stream, in other words the road was on the left bank as you came up the canyon, and you had to drop steeply
down into the stream and climb the right bank up to the corral. Barely made it up the sandy bank in our 4x4's to reach the corrals. This is probably
more than you wanted to know, but I thought I would pass it along anyway. Cheers, Barry
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bajalou
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Water pipe and pila
Thanks berry I like to get all the information I can about these canyons. Go out somewhere in the Vale Chico or Sierra San Felipe almost every week
with a few friends that are here most of the year. A pila is a water tank (cistern). This one is just a few years old from the looks of it. The
water comes in hot and cools and another pipe goes out to go down to the correls here as well as to the community out on the road.
The pipe is wrapped in rags in one area it is above ground, I suspect to keep the sun from destroying the plastic pipe as it does in just a few years.
It's about a 2 inch pipe coming down.
We went up the canyon from the hot spring and pool to the fork in the canyon. It's pretty wide at that point and a lone palm is standing in the
middle of the canyon. We took the right fork for a quarter mile or so and came to a fence in reasonably good shape - only down in the center of the
sandy wash area. Ran out of time and headed back down. I looked at a photo we took from a plane about 3 - 4 years ago and could see the forks and
from that could figure where the spring is in that photo. Have 3 more but can't open them??? just show "file" not jpeg or anything that I can figure
what to do.
If I get ambitions and have (take) some time I'll post a arial view with my track showing where we went (similar to BajaTaco's for the hike to
Mission San Pedro Matir,
Thanks for all the info from your recolections. If I get back up and find anything else out, I'll let you all know
I try to post photo's but havent figured how to make them small enough - HELP
Well I got a small enough pic to post but will have to do another as can't see how to add a pic to a edit.
[Edited on 4-19-2004 by bajalou]
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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jide
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Hey BajaLou,
the tub I dug was half way between the pool with the soap and the hot springs, did you find it, and is the dam still standing?
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bajalou
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Dam
Jide
Yes we saw the pool and dam it was still there. You made a nice tub.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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bajalou
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The pila
This is the pila at the mouth of the canyon with hot in - cool out
Some more pictures I took of this and other canyons are at
http://photos.yahoo.com/boojums01
if you want to see a bit more of it.
[Edited on 4-19-2004 by bajalou]
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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bajalou
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From the air
Here is a shot we took flying over the canyon in early 2001. the arrow points to about the spot where the Palm tree is and the springs are just to
the left (in the picture) and on the bottom side of the canyon.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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David K
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Posts: 65178
Registered: 8-30-2002
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Wow, this is fantastic! Lou, I will email you a question... but will thank you right here for the aerial and other photos!
The photo is looking east, southeast. The arrow is upstream (south) from the hot springs, which are between the canyon bend to the right and the next
bend at the arrow. The end of the road is at the top of the photo where the arroyo bends to the left, a mile from the springs.
I am now curious if there are two more sets of hot springs? Bruce Barber mentions another location and Lou found the pila water at the canyon
entrance, was hot. 
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Barry A.
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FLASH FLOODS SINCE 1996??
Looking at the 2001 photo from the plane, I think that there has been a major flood since I was there in 1996. I don't remember the large areas of
white sand and rock back then. The canyon was mostly choked with brush and tules in 1996, but a clear road did exist thru the jungle. Now it looks
like much of the jungle is gone, and that means that the canyon is probably drastically altered, thus explaining why the road no longer shows up, or
exists. Interesting. Thanks mucho for this great photo. Barry
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David K
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Here's Lou's aerial photo with notes added...
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bajalou
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Great notes on the photo David, exactly right on.
And as you know, I beleive there's got to be more
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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bajalou
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Location: South of the broder
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Another view
Here's an shot of my track on a copy of pacg 14 of BA. the kind of heavy lines on the left end of track are where I had GPSr on both in and out.
The little mari going up about halfway up the canyon is where I forgot to take the stream bed and tried the old road. About 3 years ago, we met 2
workers with shovels in just about this spot walking up canyon. They were the ones that told me to take the stream bed at that point. Were they
going to fix the water line to the pila?
We never saw them again as we drove up and back out of the canyon.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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bajalou
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Location: South of the broder
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Floods inthe canyon
I beleive you're right about the changes in the canyon. We had hurricane Nora here in 97. 24 in rain in San Felipe one afternoon-evening. and thats
when the canyon got washed out. I think from last Fridays walk, part of the white is again being covered by the jungle of mesquite, tules and other
brush.
Around 99 or 2000, some of us were talking about hireing locals to open the road back up but didn't raise the money so idea was dropped. Really wish
we had followed thru at that time.
(aint it a shame that I've got time to just sit around and think of more things to post instead of getting out and seeing it!)
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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