Big Split Rock Canyon - 3.6.2019
From the city of Mecca, California... drive east on 66th Avenue (aka Box Canyon Road)... shortly after crossing over the Coachella Canal, turn left onto Painted Canyon Road... then drive 4.5 miles to the end of the road and park.
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We will walk back down the road from where we parked for less than a quarter mile and turn left into the first obvious large canyon... it is the first large canyon east of Painted Canyon.
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Big Split Rock Canyon is very large at the beginning of the hike.
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BarbE and Denali Girl hiking up Big Split Rock Canyon.
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Stay to the left at the first canyon split (not in photo) and quickly come to another split canyon... we stayed to the right here (where BarbE is standing) and will eventually loop back out on the left where Denali Girl is standing.
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The canyon is getting more narrow as we continue up it.
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Working the canyon... a person has to get up and over occassional boulders that tend to clog the canyon.
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Denali Girl has found the first ladder.
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Ladder #2.
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Interesting rock here.
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Continuing up Big Split Rock Canyon.
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BarbE tops out on ladder #3.
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Not every scramble spot is aided by a ladder.
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Ladder #4.
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I can't remember if Denali Girl is using a ladder here or just scrambling up.
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Continuing up Big Split Rock Canyon.
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Denali Girl heads up ladder #5.
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Ladder #6 awaits.
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BarbE tops out on ladder #6.
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The top of ladder #7... note that a person has to do a little scrambling after they get off of this ladder... with ladder #8 just beyond.
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Denali Girl on ladder #9.
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BarbE heads for ladder #10.
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BarbE at the top of ladder #10... with ladders #11 and #12 just above her.
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BarbE tops out on ladder #11.
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Denali Girl tops out on ladder #12.
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Ladders #13 and #14 don't have much of a tilt... but they were incredibly helpful in dealing with the loose terrain near the top of the canyon.
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Out of the canyon and looking at part of the Mecca Hills in the foreground... with the Santa Rosa Mountains on the horizon.
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BarbE looks down into the canyon that we just came up from... we will continue up to the high point in the center of the photo.
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Looking down into Big Split Rock Canyon.
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High enough now to see the Salton Sea in the left-center of the photo... with the Santa Rosa Mountains on the right horizon... the Orocopia Mountains are on the far left horizon.
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Time to make a loop hike by dropping down into another leg of Big Split Rock Canyon.
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Having fun in Big Split Rock Canyon.
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Continuing down Big Split Rock Canyon.
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Down climbing ladder #15... watch where you step when you get off of the ladder.
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BarbE watches Denali Girl down climb ladder #15.
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Ladder #16 was kind of interesting... it was more of a 'ladder bridge' that I have just crossed after scrambling down from where BarbE and Denali Girl are in the photo.
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BarbE uses the ladder buried in the water and mud to step over to the ladder bridge... the ladder in the left foreground goes nowhere.
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Denali Girl was having trouble scrambling down... so I picked up the 'ladder bridge'... handed it to BarbE... and she placed it so that Denali Girl could down climb the ladder instead of scrambling down to the water.
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After Denali Girl climbed down the ladder she handed it to BarbE who put it back to be used as a 'ladder bridge'... and the rest is history... but this begs the question, does this one ladder count as two ladders?
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Continuing down Big Split Rock Canyon.
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Perspective!
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The canyon is so narrow that we took our packs off to help us get through the slot.
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Tight quarters in the slot.
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Ladder #17 was a very tight squeeze... it had virtually no tilt to it... virtually straight up and down... but it was very secure and going down was fairly easy.
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Down climbing ladder #17.
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Still in the slot... hope that rock doesn't fall any further.
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Are we having fun yet?... getting ready to drop into the abyss.
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Down climbing ladder #18.
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BarbE down climbs a very helpful yellow rope.
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Denali Girl starts to down climb the yellow rope.
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Packs off and still working the slot... my guess is that the slot is a quarter mile in length.
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We have completed the loop portion of our hike/scramble... BarbE points to the canyon leg we used going in on the right... while Denali Girl is standing in the canyon leg that we used to come out.
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Heading down Big Split Rock Canyon.
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Continuing down Big Split Rock Canyon... almost back to our car.
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Back at Painted Canyon Road... less than a quarter mile hike will get us back to our car up at the end of Painted Canyon Road... our loop trip was 4.5 miles, gaining 900 feet of elevation.
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