Painted Canyon Loop - 12.17.2024
We parked at the end of Painted Canyon Road in the Mecca Hills Wilderness... and started hiking on the main trail.
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Painted Canyon starts out very wide.
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After hiking a half-mile we will leave the wide canyon and head over to a ladder.
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Denali Girl nears the ladder in the previous photo... three choices here... use the ladder, or scramble up the terrain to the right of the ladder or go into what looks like a cave and use a different ladder to go up.
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We decided to ignore all ladders and scramble our way into the canyon.
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Dealing with another ladder after entering the narrow canyon.
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And another ladder in the narrow canyon.
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No ladder here... so scramble up.
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Looking back after dealing with the ladder in the previous photo.
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The canyon gets really narrow in places... and will be this narrow for the next quarter mile.
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The canyon gets a little wider in places.
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Another ladder that helps us keep going up the canyon.
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Denali Girl deals with the ladder from the previous photo.
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Continuing to hike north in Painted Canyon.
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Getting closer to where we will exit Painted Canyon.
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Leaving the canyon after hiking approximately 1.25 miles... here looking back at some of the Mecca Hills... with part of the Santa Rosa Mountains on the horizon.
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We have left Painted Canyon and heading up for a nice view.
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Still gaining elevation after leaving the canyon.
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Not quite at our high point just yet... but the views are broad... with a lot of the Mecca Hills Wilderness dominating the photo... with the Santa Rosa Mountains on the horizon.
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The rocks tell us the correct way to proceed as we decide to make a loop hike out of the trip.
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Almost at our high point up there in the middle of the photo.
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After having hiked a total of 1.9 miles we have reached our 1,335 foot high point... we can see the Salton Sea (236 feet below sea level) on the far left horizon... with the Santa Rosa Mountains on the middle horizon... with the San Jacinto Mountains on the right horizon... with the San Bernardino Mountains on the extreme far right horizon.
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A short distance from our high point we decided to give up 70 to 100 feet of elevation and drop down into Little Painted Canyon.
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Still working our way down to Little Painted Canyon.
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Returning to our car by hiking south in Little Painted Canyon.
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Returning to our car by hiking south in Little Painted Canyon... and there are no ladders in this canyon.
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Returning to our car by hiking south in Little Painted Canyon.
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Returning to our car by hiking south in Little Painted Canyon.
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Returning to our car by hiking south in Little Painted Canyon.
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Our car is a stone's throw away... and the total hike was 4.4 miles, gaining 944 feet of elevation.
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