No matter which route you
choose to access the cache, make sure you take the time to
hike through The Slot. You will need 4WD and some off-roading
experience if you want to start at the bottom of The Slot.
Please make sure you drive only on designated
roads.
The easiest way to get to the
cache is to get off Highway 78 at Buttes Pass Road. This is a dirt
road located at N 33 09.543 W
116 13.120. When the road forks, take the road to the left called
Borrego Mountain Wash (If you go straight, you will still be on
Buttes Pass Road).
First Parking
Area
If you have 2WD or if you have 4WD and are not an experienced
off-roader, you should park at N 33
10.929 W
116 12.844 which you will reach
shortly after you take the left at the fork. If you do take a 2WD
vehicle, be careful because some areas are sandy, but you should be
able to make it. After finding the cache, if you want to hike
through the slot, hike downstream in the canyon that is right below
the parking area. If you want to keep hiking down the arroyo past
the end of The Slot, you may want to check out my
Thread the Needle cache.
Second Parking
Area
My preferred place to park is at the bottom of the slot. If you do
this, you will walk up through the slot to get to the cache. You
will not get a GPS signal while in the slot. To get to the bottom
of the slot in your vehicle, you will need 4WD, high clearance and
some off-roading experience.
Keep
driving on the Borrego Mountain Wash road past the First Parking
Area. You will come to a large drop-off at
N 33 11.136 W 116 13.430.
This is a steep, sandy and rutted drop-off. Do not attempt to
drive down this drop-off unless you are comfortable driving
your 4WD on this type of terrain. Also be warned that the
drop-off is one way and there are some rocky areas to
negotiate as you exit through Borrego Mountain
Wash.
When you get to
the bottom of the drop-off, drive a short distance and take a right
to drive up the canyon to The Slot. There are some tight areas on
the way to the slot, so be careful. Also, there is only room for
about three vehicles at the base of the slot, so if you are with a
larger group, you will have to park downstream.
As you
exit through Borrego Mountain Wash, you may want to check out my
Thread the Needle cache. The Borrego Mountain Wash dumps you
out at N 33 12.742 W
116 12.799. From there, you can
take a right to head back to Buttes Pass Road on your right or
Ocotillo Wells both of which will put you back on Highway 78. If
you go left, you can either take the long way up Borrego Sink Wash
which will eventually get you to Route S22, or you can go the short
way up San Felipe Wash which will dump you out on Borrego Springs
Road at N 33 09.862 W
116 15.286 (This is the route I prefer).
You may
also note that if you have 4WD and you want to drive to the base of
the slot without going down the drop-off, you can come up Borrego
Mountain Wash from one of the exit routes mentioned
above.
The cache container is a small
ammo box. There is some premium initial geoswag, which I will let
you discover for yourself.
Happy Geocaching,
Rocket Man