Anza Borrego Wildflowers and Cactus Bloom Update

I took another scouting trip to the south end of the Anza Borrego Desert to see how the wildflowers and cactus blooms were progressing. It looks like we have another couple weeks for a peak bloom in the southern areas. There are many cacti with buds that are ready to explode.

This beautiful Barrel Cactus near Indian Hill was getting a jump start on its neighbors.

We also noticed a few small Fishook Cacti with tiny rings of flowers.

Penstemon pseudospectabilis(?) nestled between the rocks.

Unfortunately on our search for wildflowers near Arroyo Seco del Diablo and Arroyo Tapiado we noticed a large amount of Sahara Mustard in areas that were previously covered with Sand Verbena. From doing some research I found out that Sahara Mustard is a real problem in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. This fast going invasive plant smothers native wildflowers by steailing sunlight and soil moisture. 

Another thing that really bummed us out were these illegal ATV tracks up near Indian Hill.

This yahoo basically took his ATV right through an area of cholla, beavertail and other cacti and tore things up pretty bad. It sucks to see someone with such a blantant disregard for the environment, harm the desert  this way.

If you want to become an expert on the various wildflowers in the Anza Borrego Desert or just interested in learning more, I recommend the field guide Desert Wildflowers of the Sonoran Desert. If this guide doesn't have it , it probably does not exist.

Photo Slideshow from this trip

Piedras Grandes and the search for desert wildflowers

Mary and I left early Sunday for a day trip out to Anza Borrego. Our destination was Piedras Grandes in the southern end of the park. While Saturday's heavy rains had  dissuaded us from doing an overnight trip, Sunday had dawned with blue skies and warm temperatures. Perfect weather for an Anza Borrego trip.

After a quick stop at the Subway in Jacumba we dropped down into the desert around 9:30 AM. We drove up the S2 scanning the vast desert for any sign of desert wildflowers. A few budding Ocotillo and some yellow Brittle Bush flowers but not much else blooming. As we bounced up the Mortero Wash trail, we caught up to a 4Runner who had stopped to take pictures of an incredible Agave. Not ones to miss out on a good desert flower picture, we grabbed our camera and began snapping away.  The Agave or "Century Plant" has an average lifespan of 25 years, all of those preparing for its' culminating display of brilliant golden flowers. It is always fun to be on hand to witness such an event.

Our next stop was the trailhead at Piedras Grandes. Suprisingly, there were a couple of trucks already there,  so we drove a little further up the trail and parked. The Piedras Grandes "Big Rocks" area is well known for its abundance of cultural artifacts and habitats. Hiking up the former jeep trail, we were amazed by the sheer number of cave shelters and amazing rocks. We found the deepest mortero we have ever seen as well as the largest Yoni. There were also numerous water cachments carved out of the large boulders that held water from Saturday's rain.

About 1.5 miles up the trail we came upon the famous "Horse and Rider" pictograph. The pictograph depicts a figure of a man on a horse which according to Diana Liindsay's Guide is the only "known representation of horse and rider in Kumeyaay rock art". This had led archaeologist to deduce that this pictograph may have been drawn to record the Kumeyaay's first encounter with Juan Batista De Anza back in 1774. 

Unfortunately this amazing piece of history was no match for careless campfires and much of it is damaged and hard to make out. Luckily, there is a small sign that recreates the drawing from an archaelogical survey done back in the 70s.

It is nice to think that in this technologically obsessed world , a place like this even exists.

As we hiked back to the Landcruiser on a trail that we have driven in years past, we realized that some places in the Anza Borrego desert are better traveled on foot.

Photos are here

Slide Show is here

Journey to the Railroad Construction Camp in Anza Borrrego

   Our trip began with a late afternoon stop at the Lazy Lizard in Ocotillo. Mary and I had planned to head straight out to the campsite but Linda would have none of it. "We are stopping at the Lazy Lizard, aren't we ?",  she inquired as we started to drive up the S2. Hard to argue with that so, three beers, two t-shirts and a few dollars lighter the three of us were heading up the sandy washboard road of Mortero Wash.

After our last  failed attempt to find the railroad construction camp, I was determined to try again. This time I was lucky since recently I had been sent a scan of a topographic map with an "x" marking its' location.

Now, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I am pretty new school, and need a GPS with a waypoint to pretty much find anything. Consequently when I received the map from a member of our forum my first question was "OK how do I get this onto my iPhone".  

Our hike to the railroad construction camp took us through some of the most beautiful areas of the Anza Borrego Desert. Numerous Ocotillo and other desert flora are in abundance here. The temperature was perfect, and the intense blue sky seemed to accent the large boulders prolific in the area. The Ocotillo were covered with bright green leaves and a few even had bloomed with beautiful orange flowers.

We took a quick detour to check out the pictographs at Indian Hill, and then continued north through the Desert using the map and the GPS to guide us. The first thing we found were thousands of old rusted tin cans, which I assume were discarded by the railroad workers. Pretty incredible to think that many of the cans were over one hundred years old and were still intact.  

The camp was constructed to support the railroad workers who were blasting tunnels through the Carrizo Gorge a century ago, so standing amongst the dilapidated wood structures is like getting a glimpse back in time. There is one wall of the camp still standing constructed of old blasting powder cans and held together by mortar.  There are also the remains of an above ground gravity feed water system which was quite necessary in the arid work conditions the workers had to endure.

The railroad construction camp is not easy to find , but if you are interested in the history of this area it is well worth the journey. Who knows I may even send you a map with an "x" on it. 

While we were hoping to see more flowers on this trip, it seemed we were 2-3 weeks early.  There were signs that this years flower bloom could be a good one. The Ocotillo looked very green and healthy, and we saw a few Chuparosa bushes that were beginning to bloom.

Guess it means we have another excuse to head out to Anza Borrego in a few weeks. 

Photo album is here

Slideshow beta here (using PicasaViewer)

Desert Bighorn Sheep in Anza Borrego

Just when I feel like I have seen everything there is to see in the Anza Borrego Desert, I read a BLOG or catch a book entry about someplace new and exciting. This time around it was an abandoned railroad camp in the southern end of the park. The ruins are almost 100 years old and were built to support the construction of the Carrizo Gorge Railway.

According to Jerry Schaad's book, the railroad camp ruins are located NW of Indian Hill so I felt pretty confident we could find them.

With this fresh on our minds, we packed up the LandCruiser in the late morning on Sunday and headed east. The straight week of heavy rain in San Diego had also brought a lot of snow to the local mountains. Traffic heading up Sunrise Highway towards Mount Laguna was completely stopped. Seems a lot of people wanted to go play in the snow and were busy purchasing Adventure Passes and putting on their tire chains. I breathed a sigh of relief that we were continuing east, far from the hordes of snow lovers.

  An hour later , we found ourselves driving up the sandy washboard trail of Mortero Canyon. A couple of lifted jeeps passed us on their way out but otherwise this area of the Desert was empty.

There was evidence of water everywhere. Parts of the trail were completely submerged, and as much as I wanted to test the capabilities of our diesel Toyota LandCruiser, Mary my voice of reason said otherwise.

Since our normal departure point to Indian Hill was a bit "crowded" (2 cars), we stopped for lunch at the end of the trail and tried to figure out the best route. No sooner did we cross the tracks to head up the wash when a herd of Desert Bighorn males appeared.  The group moved silently along the cliff above us and occasionally would stop to make sure we weren't making any sudden moves. Their movements along the crumbling cliff were nothing short of amazing. They moved nimbly from rock to rock just as you or I would step up a curb. Finally, the one large male that appeared to be the leader led the group of seven up the cliff and out of sight. 

We continued our hike, still in a state of awe and commenting that we need a better camera. In our 15 years coming out to Anza Borrego we have only seen one Desert Bighorn, which illustrates how rare these animals are. To see a herd of seven moving up a cliff in unison is just amazing.

We never were able to find the railroad construction camp which at this point seemed somewhat trivial, but vowed to come back one day and find it. Who knows maybe we will get lucky again.  

 

Our Desert Bighorn photos are here

Desert USA Desert Bighorn Page

The plight of Anza Borrego's Desert Bighorn Sheep

How not to cook a turkey in the Desert.....

Our annual Thanksgiving tradition is to spend Thanksgiving with our family and then head out to Anza Borrego the following day for a couple days of desert fun. This year turned out to be one of the more memorable trips we have had, so sit back and I will try to explain what transpired.

Friday morning found Mary and I heading out to Carrizo Gorge to meet Jan, Gina and crew at one of our favorite campsites. Jan had left the night before to get the Imu Pit ready. Imu Pit ? you ask. Well yes, this year after 5 successful years of grilled turkey perfection we opted to try the Polynesian method of cooking the turkey in a pit in the ground. The process itself is a bit more complex and requires banana leaves, burlap sacks, chicken wire and 4 or five hours of patience.

When we arrived Jan informed us that our preferred campsite was occupied. We were a bit disappointed, but our group had set up camp a little ways down the canyon which was fine. We quickly prepped the turkey which meant, wrapping it in the banana leaves, covering it with chicken wire, and placing it in the pit underneath the wet burlap sacks. Plywood was placed over the pit and dirt shoveled over everything to keep in the heat. We even brought one of those fancy turkey thermometers with a remote so we could monitor the temperature sitting comfortably sipping refreshments.

As with the grilling method, the "Imu Pit" method also requires a lot of waiting. We passed the time playing bocci ball, harassing tarantulas and munching on some awesome grilled tacos prepared by Steve and Kat.

After 4 hours, numerous games of bocci ball and the occasional adult beverage the turkey thermometer hit 160' . With great anticipation we pulled the concoction out of the pit and begin to unwrap it. What we saw laying between the banana leaves was something I won't soon forget. Instead of a grilled brown turkey, our bird looked whiter than when it had gone into the pit. As was eloquently put by one of the members of our group,  "It looks like a white, wrinkled baby butt !".

Seems there is a reason you won't find many references to an Imu Pit turkey on Google. The traditional Imu Pit method relies on steam created by the coals and held in by the various layers of leaves. While this works for a pig, it proved to be ineffective on our two turkeys. 

Funny thing is that I think the turkey was actually cooked at this point but the ghost white appearance was hard to get past. We quickly threw it on a grill and charred it. 

The next morning we were woken up by some strong gusts of wind and light rain. Let me clarify; the wind was strong enough to blow my new REI sleeping bag out of the rooftop tent and alight it perfectly on top of the lit Coleman stove which resulted in a flaming explosion of down feathers. The resulting mess ended any hopes of a mornng cup of coffee. It was at this point we decided to cut our losses, finish packing up the Landcruisers and say our goodbyes.

Mary and I had originally planned a trip to the Arroyo Tapiado Mud Caves but the rainy weather thwarted our plans. Instead we pointed the Landcruiser north towards Borrego Spring. Our destination was the "creature desert" just outside of Borrego Springs. Thunderstorms punctuated by periods of sun created an amazing display of rainbows along the S2.

We dropped down the S3 into Borrego Springs wondering how we were ever going to find the sculptures, when suddenly off to our right we spotted what looked like a prehistoric mammoth! We quickly pulled the LandCruiser off the road and grabbed our camera....

The Creature Desert
     The creature desert is the creation of  sculptor Ricardo Breceda who was commissioned by Dennis Avery of Avery lables fame. Breceda's creations vary from turtles, to farm workers, to life size dinosaurs and are scattered throughout the Borrego Springs area.
As Mary and I drove through the desert looking for the sculptures we felt a bit like like dinosaur hunters from the movie "Jurrasic Park".Our favorite were the raptors and the life size Tyrannosauruses.

While the sculptures themselves were impressive, seeing them in the context of the timeless Anza Borrego Desert made the experience that much more authentic. 

If you find yourself in the Borrego Springs area I highly recommend you check out these amazing sculptures.

 

 

Trip Photo Album is Here.

Creature Desert Slide Show

 

 

Flooding in Ocotillo and a mystery train at Dos Cabezas

Believe it or not a week after my solo Torote Canyon trip I found myself camping in Mortero Wash with Mary. We were actually trying to scout out some places for our post Thanksgiving trip.

Hilights of our overnight trip were :

• Flooding in the desert town of Ocotillo
  
• The mystery box cars in Mortero Wash
• Incredible red moon rising over the Salton Sea 
• Numerous jackrabbit sightings in Carrizo Creek. 
• Pie in Julian on the way out. :-)
  

The evening temperature was perfect and the semi-full red moon was surreal. Wish I could figure out how to take moon pictures with my cheap Canon camera.

Photo album is here.

Desert solitude in the heat of the summer

While most people were trying to escape the record high temperatures by heading to the beach, I decided  to head out to Anza Borrego for the day. This trip would be solo since my claims of a fun desert adventure fell on deaf ears. Mary simply wasn't buying it. She said something about triple digit temperatures and that was that. She was right, the weather had been over 110' for the past week out in Ocotillo but that failed to dissuade me. 

I dropped down into Ocotillo around noon figuring if I was going to experience the desert in the summer why not do it at midday when temps would be peaking?

As expected, Ocotillo was a ghost town, without a soul around. Seems those residents that live out here year round were holed up in their homes watching their satellite TVs with their air conditioners cranked.

Heading deeper into the desert, I did see one brave sole on a motorcycle. He had stopped in the shade of an Ocotillo at the Carrizo Badlands overlook but he was the exception to an otherwise deserted highway.

Further along S2, I turned off the road at Indian Gorge. I shifted the transfer case into low, more for fun than necessity, and lumbered up the sandy, rock strewn trail. While the trail into Indian Gorge can be traversed in a high clearance 2 two-wheel drive vehicle, the soft sand and boulders do require your attention. Getting stuck out in the midday desert sun would not be fun, and could be downright dangerous.

The trail head to Torote Canyon is less than a mile up the jeep road and is marked by a small weather-beaten sign. It was here that I parked the LandCruiser and proceeded up the canyon.

The hike is a relatively easy hike up a sandy wash. Almost instantly the canyon walls rose around me and I found myself fully immersed in the solitude of Torote Canyon.

About a 1/2 mile up I came to the first "Elephant Tree"  which seemed to be growing directly out of rock. The Elephant Tree's twisted trunk gives Torote Canyon its' name, 'Torote' being the Spanish word for twisted.

At this point I opted to turn around. I would leave the rest of the hike for another day when the temperatures were a bit cooler.

 

 

Check out the photos here

Hiking to the top of Combs Peak

In an effort to escape the Memorial Day beach crowds, Mary and I left Leucadia and pointed the LandCruiser east. Our destination was Combs Peak located in the northern end of Anza Borrego.

At 6193 ft or 1888 m Combs Peak has the distinction of being the highest mountain in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park as well as one of the highest, most remote peaks in San Diego County.

 

For reference here is a list of the top 10 mountain peaks in San Diego 

Rank	Peak Name	ft	m
1.	Hot Springs Mountain	6533	1991
2.	Cuyamaca Peak	6512	1985
3.	Mount Laguna	6378	1944
4.	Mount Laguna-West Peak	6299	1920
5.	Monument Peak	6271	1911
6.	Wooded Hill	6223	1897
7.	Stephenson Peak	6200+	1890+
8.	Combs Peak	6193	1888
9.	Hays Peak	6160+	1878+
10.	San Ysidro Mountain	6147	1874

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our two hour drive led us through some beautiful parts of the San Diego backcountry, and after an additional 5 miles off road we arrived at the junction of Lost Valley road and the Pacific Crest Trail. Lost Valley Road, while unpaved is a fairly easy drive as was made evident by the various assortment of vehicles we saw heading in the opposite direction. At one point we both did a double-take as a SUV towing a huge Airstream camper came bouncing down the road towards us. 

We parked next to a Toyota Tacoma with Alaskan plates, grabbed the Delorme GPS and headed north up the PCT. The trail itself is in great shape and we were surprised to see a fair number of wildflowers as we made our way towards Combs Peak.

The hillside was dotted with the burned remains of Coulter pines, their branchless, blackened trunks still standing upright.

After 2 miles the hike turned into a scramble as we veered left off the trail and headed for the summit. There is somewhat of a worn path leading up the mountain, but at times we found ourselves scratching our heads trying to figure out the best approach. Using the various ducks (trail markers) as guides we were able to reach the summit in thirty minutes or so.

Once at the top, we unwrapped our sandwiches and sat down to relax and enjoy the 360' view... or so we thought. Suddenly I heard "Hey I think these flies are biting me!". Mary was right, these were not merely annoying house flies but some type of morphed devil flies that were intent on sucking our blood. We quickly wolfed down our sandwiches and high-tailed it back down the mountain.

We will do this hike again at some point, but next time we will bring the bug repellent.

Pictures are Here

Carrizo Gorge East Fork To Carrizo Palms

We left the coast on a sunny Sunday morning and pointed the LandCruiser east out to one of our favorite areas of Anza Borrego. A quick stop at Starbucks and Subway to fuel up and we were our way. This time we had a couple of Anza newbies, our friends Steve and Haeja.

Late April the temperatures begin to approach triple digits out in the Anza Borrego Desert so we knew this was one of our last trips of the season. Our plan was to hike from the East Fork of Carrizo Gorge out to the seldom visited Carrizo Palms. The palms are located in a remote location below the Carrizo Gorge Railway and are a bit difficult to get to.

Our hike began with a short 4wd trip up the Carrizo Gorge/Creek wash to reach the East Fork turnoff. 4-Wheel drive is not really necessary for most of the drive althoughyou have to make sure to stay clear of the softer sections of the trail. Tubbs our new diesel Landcruiser had no problem traversing the sandy wash in 2 wheel drive and we occasionally slipped him into 4 wheel drive to test it out.

We parked and rigged up the Brunton Solaris to run our Engel Fridge while we were hiking. There is pretty much nothing better than a cold beverage after a hot, dusty desert hike and the solar panel lets us run the fridge with no fear of killing our battery. Water bottles were filled, hiking boot laced up and we were off.

The hike up East Fork is relatively easy although it is slow going due to the soft sand and the ever so slight incline. There are numerous dry waterfall sections to navigate but nothing too technical. 

There was a decent breeze which made the 90' heat bearable and after about an hour and a half we arrived at the first group of palms.There was a substantial amount of water and suddenly Steve looked down and announced, "Hey there's a frog in the water!".  After picking him up, we quickly realized it was two frogs and scolded ourselves for disturbing their intimate moment.

After an hour of relaxing in the shade of the palms we decided to head back to the truck. Unfortunately, the breeze that had cooled us on the hike up had now subsided and the temperature felt much hotter. Our pace quickened as it was now a race to get down the trail to the waiting lunch and cold beverages.

Until next time....

Bob

Pictures Are Here.

Exploring Canyon Sin Nombre

The Anza Borrego flower season is coming to a close so we decided to take a day trip out to explore the Canyon Sin Nombre area with a group of friends. Canyon Sin Nombre translates to "Canyon Without a Name" which makes it sound a bit more ominous then it really is. Sure there are some deep sand sections and some boulders to negotiate, but in general a stock 4WD can traverse this section of the Carrizo Badlands without any problems.

We left behind overcast skies on the coast and by the time we reached the Tecate divide the sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue.  

Our first stop was the overlook just south of Canyon Sin Nombre, which offers a specatcular view of the Carrizo Badlands. The wind was cranking at the top and didn't subside until we jumped back in our vehicles and started descending down the jeep trail into the canyon. I opted to put the transfer case in low range to get a feel for how low the gearing is. I was impressed at the snail like pace the LandCruiser was able to maintain without stalling. The common theme in all of the LandCruisers we have owned (5 in all), is how comfortable they feel once the pavement ends. 

We arrived at the mouth of one of the larger slot canyons and parked our vehicles. What initially started out as a wide trail quickly turned into a twisting, rock scrambling hike up a narrowing gorge. In a few places the walls were so tight you actually had to twist  sideways to squeeze through.

The crew did great negotiating the trail and we eventually arrived at the top which gave us a chance to take in the view of the surrounding badlands area.

After hiking back down to the canyon floor, we sat in the shade, had lunch and watched the "Dust Devils" whip by.
It was a bit hard to keep the sand out of our sandwiches due to the wind, but hey isn't that what the Desert is all about? 

Pictures are here.

Hike to the pictographs at Indian Hill

What started out as a quick day trip to see the wildflower bloom in Anza Borrego, turned into a trip back in time.

Our original plan was to do some hiking and take pictures of wildflowers but at the last minute I decided we would try to find the pictographs at Indian Hill. There are numerous sources on how to find this magical place but most are sketchy at best. Many feel that the less exposure this area gets the better.

That being said this is not a post on “How do I find Indian Hill and the pictographs?” . Rather it is a virtual tour of the area that you can take from the comfort of your computer chair. If you do decide to venture out to the desert to find Indian Hill, do the research, study the history and most important leave no trace that you have been there.

The weather could not have been more perfect. Brilliant blue desert skies with barely a hint of clouds welcomed us as we headed north up the S2 into the Park. We turned off at Mortero Wash and proceeded to the trailhead. The desert seemed strangely quiet, and I remarked that most are probably up near Borrego Springs hunting for wildflowers.

The hike took us straight up a large wash which was covered with tiny yellow desert wildflowers which I believe are called "Wallace's Woolly Daisy" or Eriophyllum wallacei. We really had to pay attention to where we were stepping in order to avoid crushing them.

After a mile or so large mounds of rocks began to appear. I knew one of these was  Indian Hill so we began to look around.  Kaiel and I climbed up some of the huge boulders to see if we could find anything. No luck; the problem was there were numerous rock hills in this area. Which was the correct one ?

Finally after going back and forth between various hills in the area, Mary spotted a rock that looked similar to a picture we had found on the Web. Bingo!,  we were getting closer and after some more searching found the "Blue Sun Cave".

The cave was truly incredible! Numerous pictographs covered the wall in an attempt to tell a story of long ago. I counted three "sun" paintings of various colors including the "Blue Sun" which gives the cave its' name.

While this area was used by Indians as far back as 3000 BC, the pictographs themselves are a relatively recent addition of the last 300 to 400 years.We spent some time taking pictures and exploring the other caves and rock carvings  before hiking back to the FJ Cruiser.  

This is an awesome hike and one that is relatively easy......

Photos are here

Anza Borrego WildFlower Report

I have been reading multiple reports that the wildflower season is starting out in Anza Borrego.

Even though we were out there less than 2 weeks ago for our hike to Goat Canyon, it looks like Mary and I are going to do a day trip to scout out some of the lesser areas known to put on impressive wildflower displays.

Something like Spring 05 would be nice where we came around the bend in Arroyo Tapiado and saw this.... 

Stay tuned.

Goat Canyon Trestle Revisited

Goat Canyon Trestle has been called the highest wood trestle in the United States. It was constructed in 1932 after an earthquake collapsed one of the railroad tunnels in Goat Canyon and is 600ft. in length and 180ft. tall at its'highest point. Due to the complete remoteness and volatile nature of the terrain, the Carrizo Gorge railroad is nothing short of an engineering marvel.

It has been 4 years since we have hiked out to the Goat Canyon trestle from the Mortero Palms trailhead. I have been itching to do this hike again and finally it looked like things were falling into place. This time we were accompanied by my sister Linda and later by our friend's Jan and Gina .

We arrived in Ocotillo around 2PM and after a quick beer at the Lazy Lizard ,  found a nice camp spot near the junctions of Mortero Canyon road and Jojoba Canyon road.

We had actually camped here years back and it was great to see that nothing much had changed. OK well there was now a huge face on the side of the water tower at Dos Cabezas and someone had built a make-shift wood table at our site but besides that it looked the same as it had 4 years ago. 

What is nice about this location is that it has a 180 degree view to the east and a lot of big rocks to climb if you get bored. That night we feasted on Tandori chicken grilled on the open fire while occasionally gazing upwards in the hopes of seeing some falling stars.

Jan and Gina showed up the next morning to join us on the hike, so we all headed over to the Mortero Palms trailhead. Unlike last time, we now had a Delorme PN-40 GPS to guide us to the trestle. I was also able to download a GPX file so we could follow a route right to the trestle. 

We parked and immediately headed up the northwest wash. For the first 1.5 miles or so it is a strenuous non stop climb until you reach the crest between Mortero Canyon and Goat Canyon. Half way up you enter the dense Mortero Palms grove which is really spectacular. We stopped for a bit to rest and enjoy the shade of the palms knowing we still had some more climbing to do. There were signs of water everywhere around the Mortero Palms grove and the desert plams looked extremely lush and healthy. After numerous trips to various desert palm groves out here, I am starting to prefer palm trees with their natural "skirts" and not the trimmed version we have on the coast.

Cresting the hill and exiting  Mortero Canyon we were greeted with a huge rolling desert meadow of cholla, agave and numerous barrel cactus. This was the only flat part of the hike so our pace quickened in anticipation of seeing the trestle. The trail is a bit hard to follow at this juncture but with the help of the GPS and the numerous "ducks" people have left, we soon began descending into Goat Canyon. After about 3/4 mile the trestle came into view.

Even though I have seen the trestle 4 or 5 times the first glimpse always put me in a state of awe. The fact that this was built out here in this inhospitable terrain is amazing!

We stopped at the overlook to rest and have lunch. It was decided that we would turn back at this point which is about 300 yards or so from the trestle. Problem is from this point on there is a precipitous drop-off that must be carefull navigated and it was getting late in the day.

We were satisfied with the view for now and would leave the Goat Canyon Trestle for another trip.

Link to Photos.

Goat Canyon Hike Slideshow

GoatCanyon.gpx (15.37 kb)

Rock_In_Mortero_Wash.kml (1.30 kb)

Indian Valley to Sombrero Peak - Anza Borrego

At 4229 feet Sombrero Peak is the highest point in the southern end of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. We have observed this impressive mountain over the years from various vantage points but never made the trek to the  top.  As Jerry Schaad describes it :

"Climbing Sombrero Peak is a feat attempted by relatively few people, but not because of its height (4229 feet above sea level), which is quite modest. Rather, the peak is remote from paved roads, and its boulder-guarded flanks discourage those who are not willing to put up with either a long march to its base (from the west) or a shorter but sweaty eastern approach up from the desert floor."

With this quote fresh in my mind, Mary and I left San Diego with Indian Valley as our initial destination. We dropped down into Ocotillo around 3PM and headed north up the S2 towards the Indian Gorge turn off. The turn off itself comes up really quick so if you blink you will miss it.

We pointed the FJ Cruiser west and negotiated the sandy narrow trail through a thick forest of smoke trees which in the Spring will be covered with an impressive display of purple flowers. To the right is the turnoff to Torote canyon which we will check out someday, but today our goal was to find a camp site before dark. Indian Gorge opens up into the vast expanse of Indian Valley which is surrounded by large mountains on 3 sides. The jeep trail itself is pretty easy and for the most part can be navigated by a car. There are some soft sandy sections and the occasional boulder to keep it interesting, but we stayed in 2-wheel drive until we reached our campsite. Interestingly enough for how huge this area is there are limited camping areas due to the thick Desert flora on both sides of the trail. We found a sandy section nestled next to some rocks and set up camp.

The desert sunset was amazing and became more intense as the sun dipped behind the mountains. We cooked dinner, had a few beers and turned in early in anticipation of the hike the next day.

The next morning we decided to to get an early start, so after breakfast we drove to the end of the jeep road donned our hiking boots and were off. The approach to Sombrero Peak is basically straight up the mountain. You find yourself climbing over huge boulders while trying to avoid being impaled by the various species of cholla, agave, and other cacti.

As we climbed further up the mountain we were able to see huge expanses of the southern Anza Borrego Desert. On one side you could see both forks of Indian Valley, while on the other side you could see Bow Willow, Mountain Palm Springs and Carrizo Creek in the distance.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Wisps of clouds floated above the otherwise clear desert sky. Lizards who had been peacefully sunning themselves on rocks quickly darted away in alarm upon our noisy arrival.

After two hours of bouldering, avoiding cholla and agave, and crawling through narrow crevices of catclaw,  I found myself summiting Sombrero Peak. (Mary opted to stop about 400' below) To my surprise there was a geo-cache at the top bolted to a rock. I signed the guest book contained inside the worn green cannister, snapped a couple photos and proceded back down the mountain.

The trek back down was a bit faster since we took a more direct route, still we found ourselves covered with numerous scratches when we arrived back at the truck. 

Not what I would call an easy hike but well worth it. 

Check the photos here. 

 

 

Christmas time in Anza Borrego

Anza Borrego Desert sign outside of Julian

I guess there is a little sliver of Anza Borrego Desert State Park that comes up the mountain between Julian and Cuyamaca. I had never noticed this sign until a recent day trip to find snow.  

Thanksgiving 2008 in Anza Borrego

Our post Thanksgiving trip out to Anza Borrego has become an annual affair that we really look forward to. This year we invited Linda and the plan was to meet Jan, Gina, Mike and crew out in Carrizo Gorge. 

Amazingly we were on the road by 8AM on an overcast  Friday morning. We (Bob, Mary, Diesel and Sadie) in the BJ70 and Linda, Kaiel and Jake in her Honda CRV.  Being the courteus drivers we are, we told Linda to go on ahead to Ocotillo. It is no fun driving 40 mph behind a BJ70 sucking in diesel fumes once the hills start.

Once we dropped down the pass into Ocotillo the weather cleared and we were greeted with bright blue, sunny  desert skies. While I love the flowers of Spring, early Winter out in Anza Borrego is one of my favorite times to journey out here. The temperatures are amazing and the air is crisp and clear. 

Somehow we arrived in Ocotillo ahead of Linda, which probably had something to do with the starving teenage boys begging her to stop at Subway in Jacumba. Once Linda caught up with us at the trailhead we headed down the canyon to our secret campsite.

 

I had expected to see at least a few people camping due to all the desert bound traffic, but the place was deserted. 

We had barely begun to set up camp when the familiar sound of Jan's HJ60 LandCruiser came reverberating up the canyon. Behind him was Michael in his right-hand drive diesel Troopy followed by Chris, Clodagh and Jeff in their Hondas.

Once everyone settled in we cranked up the rooftop tents, setup the chairs, tables and prepped the fire ring. Some opted to sit and have a drink while a few of the group hiked up the canyon with the dogs. 

As the sun began to dip the smell of grilled turkey began to permeate the campsite. The night was spent around the camp fire enjoying a delicious meal and great conversation.

Things started off a bit slow the next morning so Michael put together an awesome breakfast that would put any caterer to shame. Actually he even had one of those catering metal food containers to keep everything warm. 

After breakfast we all said our goodbyes. Part of the group was heading home via a short detour to the Salton Sea, while Linda was heading back with the boys after a short trip to the palms at Bow Willow.

 

 

 

 

 

Mary and I opted to spend another night out in the desert with Diesel (our Rhodesian Ridgeback).The next morning we headed north up S2 in an attempt to find Ghost Mountain and Yaquitepec. With a map this is easy but unfortunately I lent my map to the Salton Sea group so we only had the sporatic iPhone to guide us. Luckily once we got closer to Blair Valley the iPhone got a signal and we were able to use the built in maps to find Ghost Mountain.

I had heard the story of Marshal and Tanya South who, back in the 30's, carved an existence out of this rugged landscape.  Yaquitepec was the name they gave to their adobe homestead on top of this windswept peak, and it would be their home for 17 years.  In that time they lived off the land in much the same way the Kumeyaay Indians of the area did. They were finally forced out in 1945 by the Navy, but in that time raised three children and authored close to 100 articles for "Desert Magazine".

I simply had to check this out ! The hike up to the site is only about a mile but it is a decent climb up a switchback. I ended up running up the trail since Mary was waiting with Diesel at the car. Sorry no dogs are allowed on the trail. 

The ruins are pretty amazing and you get a really good feel for what it must have been like to live up here. The views of the surrounding desert are incredible. As I began running back down the switchback to the waiting Landcruiser, I thought to myself "Hmm maybe I should sell off a couple of my 4x4s". 

Until next time,

Bob 

Photo Album 

Carrizo Gorge trail to Goat Canyon

Well I have been studying Google maps as well as my GPS map software and it looked like it was possible to hike along Carrizo Gorge/Creek trail to the mouth of Goat Canyon . If you have been reading my BLOG you know that Goat Canyon is home of the world famous Goat Canyon Trestle. At two hundred feet tall and 750 feet long, it is one of the  tallest, longest wood trestles ever built often described as an engineering marvel or "the impossible railroad". 

Previously, when it was somewhat legal, we hiked along the tracks from Dos Cabezas to reach the trestle and in another adventure, Mary Kaiel and I did a 3 hour hike from Mortero Wash to reach the trestle. This time I wanted to try to access it from along the canyon floor. Armed with my new Delorme PN-20 GPS and steadfast confidence Mary and I jumped in her Toyota Tacoma and drove out to Anza Borrego. We hit some pretty strong winds driving over the Tecate Divide but once we dropped down into Ocotillo the wind settled down.

 

Pulled off the S2 at Carrizo Creek, put the Tacoma in low range and headed down the trail.  The trail heading south through Carrizo Gorge actually goes pretty far in and there are a few somewhat technical 4-wheel sections towards the end. Let me clarify, technical for a stock, non-lifted Tacoma. I don't think the modified  jeeps that drove past us had any trouble, but then again they were running 35" tires and we were still using the useless 30" Dunlops that came with the truck..

According to my GPS we were about 3 miles from the mouth of Goat Canyon from where we parked . That distance is a bit misleading in that it is "as the crow flies" and I knew we would be scampering over boulders, squeezing through marsh reeds (carrizo) and trying to avoid the prolific cholla in certain areas. Still Mary and I were game and headed off along the canyon floor.

The trail was pretty obvious in some places and at times would completely disappear. The GPS was very helpful in keeping us on course  as were the "ducks" (trail markers). This seldom explored area of Anza Borrego is beautiful and amazingly quiet. We were constantly scouring the surrounding mountains in hope of seeing  Bighorn Sheep. No sheep but we did get an impressive view of the Carrizo Gorge railroad high above the canyon floor.

After about an hour and a half of hiking the trail disappeared and we were confronted by a somewhat impenetrable forest of catclaw. Up to this point we had been collecting scrapes and cholla thorns so the thought of squeezing through yet more vegetation was not that appealing. We opted to turn around this point which was unfortunate since the GPS showed we had 7/10 of a mile to go.

I would love to know if anyone has completed this hike to Goat Canyon so let me know in the comments.

Until next time,
Bob

| Link to Photo Album | (Link To Slideshow) |

Windy Anza Borrego

Rounded up the crew for an overnight trip to Anza Borrego's RockHouse Canyon.
Great sunny weather but the wind at night proved to be a little much. Casualties were Kaiel's REI tent and a sleepless night for most of the campers.
 
Coffee and breakfast helped us recover and after breakfast we did a late morning hike up to the RockHouse Canyon linehouse where we were able to check out the numerous cactus blooms and desert wildflowers.
Seems the wildflowers have reached their peak in this area and are starting to disappear but the cactus blooms are beginning to show.

Beavertail blooms in RockHouse Canyon	HedgeHog Cactus with blooms

On the way back to the campsite, we were lucky enough to see a flat-tailed horned lizard thanks to eagle-eye Linda. He was camoflauged so well you couldn't even see him with the camera view-finder.

Can you spot the flat-tailed horned lizard?	BJ70 Base Camp

Another wildlife encounter came in the form of a rattlesnake moving down the jeep trail in Carrizo Gorge. Mark's son Tim was able to snap this picture as the rattler moved away. 

More to come....

View the SlideShow  or the PhotoAlbum

Anza Borrego SOLO

Since free weekends were disappearing faster than the money in my checking account I decided to take a solo mid-week trip out to Anza Borrego . I had read that the flower season was going to be "peaking" in the first two weeks of March so I was really anxious to check things out.  

I left Leucadia around 3:30 PM on Wednesday, topped off the BJ70 with bio-diesel in El Cajon and dropped down into Ocotillo around 5:30PM.  Not bad considering the Bj70 with its' 90 hp diesel motor does not like hills and the trek out via Interstate 8 is nothing but hills. Basically the 8 will take you from sea level to 4500' then drop you back down to sea level around the town of Ocotillo..

I ended up camping on Egg Mountain which is near the mouth of the Carrizo Creek / Gorge jeep trail. What's nice about Egg Mountain is that at an elevation of 900' you get a 360' view of the surrounding desert. The area was blanketed with flowers as far as the eye could see. Since it was dusk the lighting was pretty good but I decided I would wait until morning to take flower pictures.

Ocotillo Bloom at Dusk	Sunrise at Egg Mountain	Morning at camp

The next morning I had barely brewed my first cup of coffee  and looked down and saw a scorpion. He was busily heading on a path that would have taken him directly over my foot. I managed to snap a few pictures but he was a bit camera shy and very fast.

Scorpion that charged my foot	Desert Dandelions.	Chuparosa

After breakfast I drove down Carrizo Gorge trail and parked at the entrance to Rock House Canyon. I was really anxious to try out this new GPS I purchased off Amazon. I set a waypoint at the start of my hike and headed up the wash in the direction of the cattlemen's line house. The flowers were intense. Everywhere you looked the ground was carpeted with colors of yellow, pink or blue. I didn't notice too many flowers on the cholla and other cacti so i am guessing that will happen later.

The hike up to the linehouse took about an hour and was around 2.7 miles according to the GPS.

Desert Sunflowers frame the linehouse		Desert Sunflowers

Hiking mid-week in the Anza Borrego Desert by yourself is interesting. The only sound you hear besides your foot steps are the various creatures going about their routines and birds sounding an alarm that you are approaching.
Using the GPS made all the difference. Although I have hiked this wash before it is really nice to know how far you are from your truck and what direction it is in.

Pics are here

RockHouse Canyon

I read about a spot called RockHouse Canyon so I convinced Mary to take a trip out to Anza Borrego to try and find it. Apparently it is accessible off Carrizo Canyon which was perfect since it is one of our favorite areas in the Anza Borrego Desert. 

On the way out there were still plenty signs of snow from the storm that came through a few days back. People were actually stopping off the 8 freeway to play in the snow. We had actually planned on stopping in Pine Valley on the way out to get our snow fix but decided a beer Ocotillo's Lazy Lizard was a little more enticing.

 

Looking up Carrizo Canyon

We spent the night on the West side of Carrizo Canyon at a spot I THOUGHT was the RockHouse Canyon trail head.  Turns out it wasn't and we ended up having to do a lot of "overlanding" through fields of cholla and ocotillo until we found the correct tributary. Bob vows to work on his math skills and reading his odometer correctly in the future.

 

 

Sea of Cholla.

Once we found the correct trail, which is basically a huge wash, the hike was easy. The canyon is beautiful and you find yourself surrounded by rock cliffs as you hike up the sandy trail. The silence is amazing. The only sounds we heard were the occasional planes flying high overhead.

 

Our goal was to get to the old cattlemen's line shack which we finally did find.  The shack is built next to a huge boulder and inside are the remains of a fireplace and a rusted bed. The rotting wood door still works which is amazing. It was pretty cool to sit inside and look out the painless window overlooking the valley. We both also noticed that the temperature inside the tin roof covered house was much cooler.

Mary in the Rock House.

We probably could have spent a few hours exploring the area but with only one bottle of water and no food, we reluctantly headed back down the wash to the FJ Cruiser for lunch. Hike up took us close to two hours while the hike back took us about an hour since we had figured out the correct trail.

Link to photos