Part 7 - Hike almost a washout

The hike called the 'Never Ending Canyon' will have to wait as today when we attempted to hike the trail and found out that 'Box Canyon Road' does end.  Washed out to be exact so it will be a few weeks before we can hike in the Mecca Hills. 

Five years ago there was another big rain storm and the road was washed out so we headed north toward Palm Springs and hiked into the Coffee Bean Canyon. 

As you can tell by the colour of the hills you are entering the world of Coffee Bean Canyon... actually I lie because to go into the actual canyon you have to hike down the trail another couple of miles.  I said to my hiking partner "This looks just like the CB Canyon lets check this one out."

The first indication we were in a similar spot was the nodules of mud and rock.

These nodules roll off the surrounding hills and pack so tight that the water that washed them down through the valleys don't break them apart.  I tried to break this one open and it took quite a few tries to break it apart.

I am showing this photo so you get the idea how the hills zig-zag downward.  We continues up this line of hills going right and then left until it got too difficult for the dogs and us to walk in the runoff trench.

As you may see in this photo someone thought it would be fun to use an upturned iron board to slide down the slope.  I think that finding the board halfway up the slope would indicate that the attempt to participate in the extreme sport of iron board sledding was a failure.

 The dogs tried to walk up on the side of the hills but the aggregate of mud, sand and rock would not support their weight.

Bryan, Shiraz and Chip are humouring me with a pose just after we decided we should turn back. 

Chip is investigating a water channel that is about 100 feet long.  It is amazing the water's ability to find a path through all the rock and mud.  We could tell that there were no animals using this tunnel as Chip showed no interest in searching any further.

On the way back to the truck we walked along the top of the Coachella Canal.  The canal extends from just north of the US-Mexican border where it tees off of the All-American Canal and ends in Indio.