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Orocopia Mountains

hikerdmb

Posts: 423

11/26/2013

hikerdmb

Posts: 423

My friend and I did the Bradshaw Trail a couple of years ago. When we did the trail we pretty much went straight through, west to east. While on that trip we saw lots of roads joining the trail and vowed to go back and check some of them out. This was our first trip back to that area. On this trip we circumnavigated the Orocopia Mountains. It was a beautiful loop. We were in a Toyota Tacoma and it was just the right size for the Red Canyon Jeep Trail section of this trip. My Dodge would have made it but there were a few spots that would have been way more difficult in a full size rig. Even though the majority of the trip was outside ABDSP, we did spend the first night of this trip in the park, so I posted the TR in this section of the forum.

School was out at 2:23 on Friday and I was out of the parking lot by 2:30. Is that wrong? We were on the road by 3:30. Stopped in Borrego Springs for a burrito and then off to find a spot to camp. Palo Verde Wash was a bit wet so we headed down the Truckhaven Trail to find a spot to spend the night. When we got to our campsite it was still raining but not too much. There was little to no wind on Friday night and once the rain stopped it was a very pleasant night. Here is the view down to Clark Dry Lake in the morning. If you look closely you can see snow covered Toro Peak just above the clouds on the right side of the picture.

On Saturday morning we headed east to the Salton Sea and then around its north end to Mecca. We took the road through Box Canyon and made our way to Interstate 10. The clouds were beautiful as we made our way through the canyon.

Once we reached I-10 we went a few miles to the east on the frontage road and then took off south on the Red Canyon Jeep Trail. We were headed toward the Bradshaw Trail. This was the first time I had been on this trail and the views were spectacular the entire length of the trail.

After a couple of hours and lots of stops to enjoy the scenery we finally got to the edge of Red Canyon. Here is a shot looking back up to the Orocopia Mountains from the rim of the canyon.

Here is a pic from the same spot, looking east to the Chuckwalla Mountains.

We found a nice place to camp at the junction of the Red Canyon Trail and the Bradshaw Trail. The Eagle Mountain Railroad goes right through here and we went over to check it out. There was a nice washout visible from our camp. The culvert that went under the tracks on the left was plugged with silt on the other side of the tracks. The water followed the path of least resistance and took out all the earth from under the tracks. Here is a shot of the tracks and then from on the tracks looking across the washout to the west.

A little bit west of our campsite was this incredible cliff. On the backside you could walk right up it. It is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Red Canyon and Salt Creek Wash.

We enjoyed a nice sunset and another night with little to no wind.

Woke up Sunday morning to another beautiful day with no wind and warmer temps. My tent was totally wet from moisture in the air but it dried quickly.

After a slow morning around camp we headed west on the Bradshaw Trail and enjoyed great views to the south into the Chocolate Mountains. These mountains are closed because they are in the center of an aerial gunnery range. But they are very rugged and beautiful.

We saw a few smoke trees that were blooming and some nice green ocotillo but no blooms on them. Here is looking back to the north to the Orocopia Mountains.

As we neared the western end of the Bradshaw Trail we passed under the bridge for the Eagle Mountain Railroad.

We stopped here for lunch and I took a little walk and found some nice bighorn tracks in the mud.

Once we went under the bridge, the Bradshaw Trail follows the Coachella Canal for about 10 miles back to highway 111.

Here is a picture of our route around the Orocopia Mountains. We went clockwise. The Red Canyon Jeep Trail is the section heading south from I-10 near Chiriaco Summit.
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A great trip to start the Thanksgiving break.

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Orocopia Mountains