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Ever since I read about Mecca Hills in Adrienne's "Away From the Crowd", I have expressed a wish to go there. Wes Shelberg said he would take me. So I rounded up a small group (DPSer Bill Stevens and his fiancée, Marlys, plus my friend, Suzanne Roth) and off we went. There is a nice camp spot 4.0 miles up Painted Canyon where we spent Friday night. At 4.6 miles, the sandy road bifurcates at a sign, "END COUNTY ROAD". We took the road to the left, about one mile, to a spot Wes recognized as the trailhead. My car (Chevy Chevette) got stuck twice in the soft sand, but with two 4WDs along it wasn't any problem to pull me out. The route is a convoluted maze of washes that an experienced orienteer would have trouble with because the scale of the map isn't sensitive enough. We found the ducks that Wes put there ten years ago. After 11/2 hours we reached the benchmark "Mecca Hills", which marks the high point, and found the register that Wes originally put there. Only ten pages have been filled since, mostly by rangers who fly in and monitor the earthquake equipment near the peak. We next drove to "ladder Canyon" in the Mecca Hills for a two hour jaunt (Wes helped furnish the wood for the ladder ten years ago). We hiked north out of the canyon and came back via the wash in which we were parked. The rock and sheer walls make this trip very delightful. I would like to see Mecca Hills added to the DPS list. Wes had to leave us on Saturday, but the other four climbed Orocopia via the Salton Sea the next day. This is an excellent route that is easy to find and only needs 2.7 miles of a high clearance vehicle. From Mecca take #111 SE along the northern shore of the Salton Sea 10.1 miles to Parkside Rd. (opposite visitor's center and headquarters). Left Parkside Rd. 1.7 miles to end. Left on excellent dirt (Desert Aire Rd.) 0.5 miles to canal. Right 3.5 miles on canal frontage road to Siphon #28. A high clearance jeep mine road takes off to the right on the north side of the siphon. Park after 2.7 miles (we only went 1.9 miles before Suzanne cried, "Hold enough!", but the road wasn't that bad. It added 500' and twenty minutes of walking by stopping short). We left the road where the 1200' contour meets the road and |
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