By Miriam Raftery

December 27, 2017 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – Hi ho! The Jacumba Hikers and Walkers are hitting the trail to Carrizo Gorge and Walker Canyon on December 30^th.   This six mile hike is rated hard due to a steep down and up trek across the gorge, where hikers will see an up-top view of the “Impossible Railroad” at De Anza Resort, then head north on an old road to an abandoned railroad settlement in historic Walker Canyon.

A reader sent links to an amazing video shot during a ride on a freight railway line through the rugged Carrizo Gorge, across Goat trestle , through tunnels and the Seven Sisters bridges.  This line is not open to the public, so enjoy this rare footage!   

The Carrizo Gorge portion starts about 32 minutes into this video, westbound from Plaster City in Imperial County, then through the rugged Carrizo Gorge in San Diego's East County:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYt91UpxH6U

By Miriam Raftery

February 26, 2013 (San Diego's  East County) -- A colorful chapter from East County's past may soon come rumbling back.

Ernest Dahlman, chief executive officer of Pacific Imperial Railroad, has announced that he has signed a 99-year-lease with the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company. He is raising funds to restore and operate tracks on the Desert Line to run through mountains and deserts in San Diego, Imperial County and Baja, Mexico. 

Dahlman hopes to link the freight line up with trolley and train lines in San Diego, as well as a transcontinental railway route to the East.

The route through East County includes the rugged Carrizo Gorge.  An amazing feat to complete, the line was dubbed the “impossible railroad” by engineers when it was first proposed.

October 28, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – Construction of the Tule Wind project in McCain Valley has not yet begun, though developer Iberdrola has pledged to preserve the most scenic portion of views across the Carrizo Gorge.  But photographer Tom Lemon stopped by  McCain Valley’s famed Carrizo  Gorge Overlook this weekend in McCain Valley, discovering to his dismay that wind turbines at Pattern Energy’s Ocotillo Express wind project in Ocotillo are plainly visible across the formerly pristine vista, gateway to three designated wilderness areas. 

BLM rules do not allow the agency to consider lost views when determining siting of energy projects, unfortunately for the many who cherish wilderness.

Above is the new view, with turbines across the horizon: