NEW YEAR'S WINTER JOURNEY III: SLAB CITY, SALTON SEA MUD VOLCANOS, CLARK DRY LAKE ANZA-BORREGO
Report by Desert Frog
After some easy map work, we found the mysterious mud volcanos in a soggy field not far from the shoreline. Standing there, in a strange display of geological hubbub both fascinating and grotesque, several conical masses of viscous earth hiss, bubble, and occasionally spurt blobs of mud into the air. I immediately cleared my mind of any thought of trying to soak in one of those things or its effluvial spew, although I did put my hand in one, quite hot to the touch.
We eventually slogged our way out of the mud zone and drove onward to Brawley where we had a great Mexican dinner in a restaurant with no less than 20 pool tables, then wrapped our way north along the west coast of the Salton Sea, scoping the map for possible campsites.
Besides cold temperatures, one of the drawbacks of winter exploration and camping in the desert is losing the sun at an early hour. This trip was no exception, and joined our long list of others in which we drive random roads and endlessly search for the perfect campsite in the chilly darkness. Having a 2WD vehicle did not help matters, since we feared going straying too far from the highway and getting stuck. It wouldn't be the first time in Anza-Borrego.
 Doom at the Landing, Slab City |
 More glorious mud |
 Frog at Salvation Mountain |
We were considering making the ultimate surrender and driving to an official park service campground, when we decided to backtrack and search for a dry lake we had missed in the darkness before. We were glad we did. We found a solid track leading several miles off the highway to a ready-made fire ring tucked away in a nice windbreak of smoke trees. We quickly set up camp and built a roaring fire. After a chilly night, we woke the next day to great views of Clark Dry Lake and the surrounding mountains and badlands. We spent the rest of the morning shooting photos and video and finally rolled our way back to Redlands, stopping at the Wheel Inn restaurant in Cabazon for an overpriced breakfast and to fix a flat tire in the shadow of the legendary dinosaur sculptures.
END OF REPORT