The Calcite Mine Trail and Wildflowers in the Anza Borrego Desert

 This month, we took a hiking/wildflower/wildlife viewing trip to a unique mine located in the Anza Borrego Desert of Southern California.  Of course, we usually prefer to go to an area where we can bring home some more great rocks, but this particular site is worth the trip even without the plus of rock collecting.  As this old mine site is located inside the boundary of the Anza Borrego State Park, no collecting is allowed.  The calcite from this mine is optical grade, and was used in gun sights during World War II.  Traces of the original mining operation consist of some vertical trenches cut into the mud hills, a few scattered rusty nails and bits of glass, and evidence of digging on the oddly colored rocky peak just above roads end.  The hills themselves are littered with small calcite crystals, looking like broken glass in the sun.  A few of them are very clear, but there is nothing really very large laying about.  Apparently there were much larger clear crystals found during the mining years.  It is an easy 1 1/2 mile hike from S-22 to the calcite mine along the jeep trail, located just a short distance north of the transmission tower  which is at the Imperial County/ San Diego County line. S-22,  also called the Borrego-Salton Seaway, takes you through an area of slot canyons and scenic vistas of the Borrego Badlands on one side and views of the Salton Sea on the other side. There are many great day hikes in this part of the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, listed in several good hiking books about the area, such as by Jerry Schad. 

We ate lunch atop the rocky peak of the calcite mine while enjoying the clear air and  excellent views of the Salton Sea in the distance.  It was such a beautiful day, with many wildflowers along the way to be admired.  We found several patches of desert Lilies in bloom, with quite a few Ocotillos in bloom in the background.  Orcutt's Woody Aster was also in full bloom, with its beautiful lilac flowers standing tall among the branches.  Desert Lavender, Poppies, Lupine, Brittlebush, and many other flowers accompanied us  along the way to the mine. 

After our mine "tour", we headed back down the trail 1/2 mile to the entrance of the slot canyon which joins up with Palm Wash back near highway.  I am not sure why it is called Palm Wash, as we saw no evidence of any palm trees.  Perhaps there were some there years ago, when rain was more plentiful in this part of the desert.  I have never hiked a slot canyon before, so this was a new experience for me.  What a treat was in store for us---it was cool and shady in the canyon, with dry waterfalls, tenajas, seams of calcite crystals, fanciful rock formations, and Desert Tobacco plants in abundance just putting out their blooms. 

We found a cute Horned Toad, a Western Shovel-nosed snake, and some red and black blister beetles which were perched high on the flower stems of the poppies.  There were fanciful rock formations which reminded us of ogres and cartoon characters, among other things.  All in all, it was a great way to get some exercise and see nature's bounty too.