Travelogue

Lolo enjoying Five Palms Hot SpringThe southern entrance to Joshua Tree was only an hour and 45 minutes away, but Herb had discovered some interesting side trips around the Salton Sea kind of along the route, which would make the driving closer to 5 hours. That’s okay. That’s why it’s called a road trip.

It all started when Herb read about a place called the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness in one of his photography books. How could Herb, the desert aficionado, not have known about the largest dune system in California. Could it be that it was out in the middle of nowhere, or that it had no easy way to access it?

Herb loves a good hot springWell, that wasn’t going to stop us from trying. So instead of going the more direct route to Joshua Tree along the western shore of the Salton Sea, we went way, way south and east of it.

As Herb dove deeper down into Google Maps along the route, he stumbled upon something called the Five Palms Hot Springs. Now there is only one thing that can compete with a desert for Herb’s heart, and that’s a Hot Spring.

So, that’s how we found ourselves turning right on an unmarked sandy road, and driving until we saw palm trees. No mirage, but a real live oasis with palm trees surrounding a lovely hot spring, with no other soul in probably 20 miles.

Time for a soak! Herb felt pretty smug about his discovery.

Next, we continued on CA-78 towards the Algodones Dunes Wilderness. South of the Highway was the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, an off-highway vehicle park where thousands of noisy dune buggies raced up, down, and through the dunes.

Imperial Dune Recreation AreaThere is a scenic viewpoint on CA-78, halfway across the width of the dunes where we stopped for a panoramic view over the dunes to the south, covered with tracks from the dune buggies.

To the north of CA-78 is the pristine North Algodones Dunes Wilderness area, but they are not easily accessible. The average hike to the crest of the dunes is 2 miles each way.

Hoping to get closer to being able to get out on the dunes, we decided to take the Niland-Glamis road (also called the Ted Kipf Road) north along the east side of the wilderness area.

Dune buggies at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation AreaWe missed the turnoff the first time, because we were expecting a paved road, not the sandy washboard road which went on for 15 miles. Every time we crossed a wash, which was about every 50 yards, we would bounce and practically get whiplash - and still, the dunes got no closer.
I really was not enjoying this and regretted not going straight to Joshua Tree; although then we would have missed the lovely Five Palms Hot Spring.

After 15 miles of bouncing, Google Maps told us to make a right turn across the railroad tracks and then a quick left, paralleling the road we had been on. I think that road eventually petered out, but it might have gotten us closer to the dunes. At this point, I no longer had any interest in these dunes.

Niland Geyser FieldAfter about another 20 miles on dirt roads, we eventually came out onto CA-111 on the eastern side of the Salton Sea.

At this point I was ready to just hightail it to Joshua Tree, but Herb had another quirky spot he had discovered that he wanted to see - the Salton Sea Mud Pots, also known as the “Niland Geyser,” because it is located near the town of Niland. This was turning out to be quite the Valentine’s Day.

We entered “Niland Geyser'' into Google Maps, and found that it was right along our drive on CA-111. When we got there, we saw a solitary man walking towards us across a muddy field, dotted with volcanic-looking mud cones, and a large industrial complex in the background.

Niland Geyser FieldWe later learned that this was the Davis-Schrimpf Seep Field, and that it had gotten quite a bit of attention in the scientific press, which I’ll get to in a bit.

Ignoring the “No Trespassing” signs, as Herb never seems to think they are intended for him, we wandered out onto the field, where there was an obvious packed down path that indicated we were not the only ones to ignore the sign.

I was a little bit nervous, because around the cones the ground seemed soft in spots, and I worried that it might break through and I would get a scalded muddy foot. So, I kept my distance a bit more than Herb did.

Niland Geyser FieldHowever, even from a distance I could hear bubbling, gurgling, and burping coming from inside the cones, which were actual live mud volcanoes. It smelled like rotten eggs, which is actually hydrogen sulfide gas escaping.

We had seen mud pots before in Yellowstone and Lassen National Parks, but these were unique in that they are actually moving about 20 feet each year, carving a 24,000 square foot basin in the ground, causing quite a bit of concern because of what is in its path. Currently the mud is creeping in the direction of the Union Pacific freight railroad tracks, a petroleum pipeline, fiber optic telecommunications lines owned by Verizon, and part of Highway 111.

Strolling along the Salton SeaSo far, attempts to stop the mud pots’ relentless march have been futile. The Union Pacific Railroad even built a 100-foot wall that extended 75 feet underground to stop the mud from reaching its tracks, but undaunted the mud just oozed beneath the wall. Their next thought is building a bridge to go over them.

This was the stuff of science fiction. Reminded me of a movie that used to terrify me as a kid, “The Blob.”.

I have to give it to Herb. This was an interesting stop.

At this point, we were starving. We knew enough about the desolation of the Salton Sea area, especially the eastern shore, to not expect many fine dining options, so we had smartly packed sandwiches, which we ate at the Salton Sea State Recreation Area.

That and a quick walk on the beach and we were on our way to Joshua Tree.