Salton Sea Expedition We first went to Orocopia Mountains, which, by the way means "full of gold" in Spanish. The entrance is at the Red Cloud exit off the Interstate 10 east of Mecca. After driving on a graded road for a few miles, we came to our destination in the mountains, Red Canyon, which is distantly reminiscent of the red rock country of Utah. Along the canyon bottoms we did see some colorful brittlebush. The canyon walls echoed with the mysterious song of some type of swallow, who remained unseen. In the flatlands approaching the canyons, the occassional phainopepla could been seen. Phainopepla is a small black bird with whitish wing patches that tends to the parasitic mistletoe and helps propagate it. Ghost Flower Phacelia Once out of the canyons we went to the shore of the Salton Sea to have lunch. I managed to stop this butterfly while feeding. We next proceeded to the Mecca Hills area and Painted Canyon. The goal here was to try to find and hike the slot canyons that are found here. After an easy drive on a graded road of a couple of miles, we hiked up the main canyon, whose walls quickly grew high and steep. The entrance to the slot canyon was hidden behind a huge rockfall at the mouth of the canyon. There is a hidden path around the right of the blockage and you can see our guide (my daughter) if you look closely. What appeared to be a difficult entrance was nothing more than some large steps into the slot canyon, called "Ladder Canyon" by some. After a very short hike and two ladders placed at steep descents, thanks to a local hiking club, we entered the slot canyon proper. It was an amazing experience akin to entering the bowels of the earth. My daughter Nicole is showing a ladder in the photo to the right. Copyright 2001 Hank Hogan Copyright 2001 Hank Hogan Climbing up the canyon are Hank Hogan and Warren Kato. Others enjoying the canyon follow. The ladder was put in place by the local hiking club. Copyright 2001 Nicole Kato Copyright 2001 Nicole Kato At the top of Painted Canyon, Hank and I take a much needed break. We found that we did not have to backtrack down the same way we came but could return through a different canyon. We all agreed that Painted Canyon was the best site of this trip. Copyright 2001 Hank Hogan All photos herein Copyright 2001 by Warren Kato unless indicated otherwise.