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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/6/2013
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The day after Christmas I headed out to Anza Borrego Desert State Park to meet up with a few friends and backpack for a few days and explore the Fish Creek area. We started the trip with a 3 day backpack trip that would take us from Indian Valley out into Canebrake, over to The Potrero and then thru Squaw Canyon going into Agua Caliente. Our first night in Canbrake yielded 24 degrees on our thermometer and I believe it, most of us had frost and ice on our sleeping bags in the morning and my mosquito net was covered with icy frost.
Here is a very large sand berm in Canebrake, you can see this easily on Google Earth
From the berm we needed to hike all the way to the end of Canebrake where we would go up and over the easiest pass we could find and end up in The Potrero below Monument Peak.
Some finds along the way included this old canteen
I asked Joel if he wouldn't mind showing us how it was done....
There are a few old water troughs still out in the wash and this windmill helped pump water into them probably not too many years ago but it is now defunct and it's pieces are scattered about on the ground
Here is the gang as we head up towards the long and always uphill wash
Joel found some nice obsidian flakes and an arrow point
I checked in on an arrow point I found out there last year and it seems to still be in good shape, right where I left it
This is looking up towards the end of Canbrake Wash. We climbed over the pass you can see straight ahead but just to the right of the boulder outcrop
At the end of Canebrake wash looking back at where we hiked in from. The Pepperwood Trail is straight ahead in the far distance going up the draw into McCain Valley.
We spent most of the 2nd day ascending and descending this pass and then finding a place to camp out for our 2nd night. On our 3rd day we headed down the old jeep road and passed over the small saddle between Vallecito Valley and the Agua Caliente campground.
Weather was still a bit cool and the skies were gorgeous
The cross over into Agua Caliente from Vallecito is another one of those deceiving treks where you are trudging uphill the whole way. At the top it turned into a really nice bouldery canyon, I would recommend hiking this up from the Agua Caliente campground.
There are numerous springs in this area and signs of wildlife were everywhere. I am guessing this coyote scavenged something from a trash can at the park, looks like plastic of some sort
This herd of Bighorn Sheep seemed comfortable with us watching them for awhile. Look at the natural camouflage of them...just amazing....
One older Ram, maybe 4-5 years was with the group but they were mostly all ewes and a few late lambs
This guy was munching very happily on the bottom of knocked over barrel cactus, if I was thinking at the time I would have recorded it with the video option on my camera but I was not.....next time....
We ended the backpack trip at Agua Caliente after 3 long days. This gave us a few days to head over to the Fish Creek area and explore. From our campsite in Fish Creek we saw this beautiful sunrise light on Whale Peak
We spent one day hiking up thru Sandstone Canyon and around it's many drainages and a second day exploring the east side of Fish Creek Wash. Each side had very different terrain characteristics. The west side seemed harsher with more steep walls and the usual desert vegetation whereas the east side seemed to have more gentle slopes and lots of concretions and less vegetation.
Our Sandstone Canyon hike included passing by Diablo BM, here is a view of Sandstone Canyon from one of the ridge lines
This looks to be a pile of concretions someone has put together up on a small hill
Edrotes- Black bristled desert beetle walking on the alluvium. He was about the size of pencil eraser
On our last day we stopped and checked out the Elephant Knees. This area is very cool, highly recommended
After we climbed to the top of the Mighty Knees we were able to see in all directions, just an amazing place. This is looking at the entrance to Split Mountain and to the south are the Fish Creek mountains and CIA
Here is a link to a 360 degree panorama Virtual Tour from the top of the Elephant Knees I made. I recommend you go Full Screen once it loads.
https://sites.google.com/a/sefcik.com/virtual-tours/elephant-knees
Here is a link to a 360 degree panorama Virtual Tour from the top of Fish Creek near our campsite, it has the morning sunrise on Whale Peak. I recommend you go Full Screen once it loads. If you zoom in close enough you can see the Laguna Observatory and snow that has blanketed the east flank on the mountains.
https://sites.google.com/a/sefcik.com/virtual-tours/whale-peak-sunrise
Fish Creek is known for it's fossilized remains and Paul Remeika has a document on the National Park Service website describing some of the features in Fish Creek and we were able to view some of these amazing fossil prints on our trip.
Here are some avian prints
Elephantoid ceiling cast
Feloid prints
Llamoid Prints
For more information about Anza Borrego fossils you can check out Paul Remeika's book on Amazon Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert
This was a great trip with some really good company, I look forward to our next trip together in the desert.
Total Mylar Balloons - Probably 20+, I had 13 just in my pack.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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DRT Lakeside Posts: 62
1/6/2013
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Super cool trip!
The sheep are awesome. How close were you to them, and how did they react? (looks close but maybe you have the super camera) I have still never seen any....although they may have seen me
Those fossil prints are great, I will probably pick up the book you mention.
Just cold, no rain?
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tommy750 Posts: 1040
1/6/2013
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Wow. Like those panorama shots. What program do you use? Really like the Whale Peak sunrise. Agree, those fossilized footprints are amazing. Tom
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billd987 Posts: 6
1/6/2013
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great stuff!
thanks for sharing.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/7/2013
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@DRT:
We had rain I think on Sunday night...the last 4 miles or so of our Sanstone Cyn hike was in the dark and in the rain and cold but that is another story. The BHS were probably a 100 yards or less, I have a 300mm lens. I am not sure I can say I have ever "seen" BHS first, usually you hear them and then you look around and see them. This trip I was out ahead of our group some ways and kept hearing a noise off to the side of me, I finally stopped and looked around and there they were, just watching me.
@Tommy750:
I use Hugin to stitch photos together.
Here is the full 360 of the Whale Peak sunrise
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1362
1/7/2013
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Daren that is an awesome TR
The fossils are amazing!!
I would like to head out to Fish Creek sometime to check those out.
let me know when you are up for a mid-week trip?
Bob
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/7/2013
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Great trip Daren! The bighorn munching on the barrel cactus reminded me that I've recently seen a lot of munched barrel cactus at the bottom of 'mile 41 canyon' that leads to IP, along with bighorn scat / tracks. This is coincidentally where my daughter and I saw bighorn last week. My girlfriend was wondering if the bighorn might purposefully dislodge barrel cactus on the steep slopes above 'canyon 41' , where they would bounce down the slopes, crack open, and be ready for the eating when they came to rest. Those fossil cat tracks are great too. Never been to the Fish Creek area. I was wondering how you guys were going to traverse from Canebrake over into Potrero, thanks for posting an image of the pass.  Was Joel happy to be reunited with his old canteen?
edited by ziphius on 1/7/2013
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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harmono Posts: 71
1/7/2013
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Awesome photos. A friend of mine is into fossils, I'll show him this stuff.
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IMG_1032 by harmono619, on Flickr
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/7/2013
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Follow-up question: what are the sizes of the feline fossil prints?
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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hikerdmb Posts: 423
1/7/2013
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Another great trip for you Daren. Great pics as usual. Lots of very nice finds.
David
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rockhopper Posts: 668
1/7/2013
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Looks like an awesome trip! love the fossil paw prints!
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waning moon Posts: 34
1/7/2013
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So very nice Daren, the Inner Pasture, last time I was up there it had water, good water. Sad to see it has been abandoned, but open grazing stopped some time ago in ABD, no need to maintain it I guess (I saw the same thing happen on the Arizona strip, where cattle had to be removed for environmental reasons, waterworks left to vandals). It seems so little time ago that ferrel cattle and burro tracks were everywhere in ABD, all the way out to Carrizo Marsh. But it is so nice to see the Borrego in your photos, more than an even exchange I think. I can see cattle at the grocery store cold case anytime I want.
Highly unlikely I will ever walk those trails again. So more photos
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anutami Posts: 491
1/7/2013
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Paul Remeika should put you on commission! I went ahead and purchased a copy
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/8/2013
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Jim (ziphius) wrote:
Follow-up question: what are the sizes of the feline fossil prints? Regular 50-60lb dog size in the mud....I think the Remeika document has details of them. I think Joel humored me for the canteen photo as he hiked on and left me in the dust, he is tougher,smarter and in better shape than most people I know.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/8/2013
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One of the two steel troughs in Canebrake still has drops of water. The trough bottom is broken so it collects no water but the pipe from the spring still drips and could be a water source if needed. I know of another cement trough in Canebrake that is dry but water is nearby. Gorgeous area and always a pleasure to go hike thru. I plan to revisit the area many more times.
waning moon wrote:
So very nice Daren, the Inner Pasture, last time I was up there it had water, good water. Sad to see it has been abandoned, but open grazing stopped some time ago in ABD, no need to maintain it I guess (I saw the same thing happen on the Arizona strip, where cattle had to be removed for environmental reasons, waterworks left to vandals). It seems so little time ago that ferrel cattle and burro tracks were everywhere in ABD, all the way out to Carrizo Marsh. But it is so nice to see the Borrego in your photos, more than an even exchange I think. I can see cattle at the grocery store cold case anytime I want.
Highly unlikely I will ever walk those trails again. So more photos
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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waning moon Posts: 34
1/8/2013
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It is so beautiful, and all I am is more envious, lovely photos, still trying to figure out how to make mine larger, any advise?
dsefcik wrote:
One of the two steel troughs in Canebrake still has drops of water. The trough bottom is broken so it collects no water but the pipe from the spring still drips and could be a water source if needed. I know of another cement trough in Canebrake that is dry but water is nearby. Gorgeous area and always a pleasure to go hike thru. I plan to revisit the area many more times.
waning moon wrote:
So very nice Daren, the Inner Pasture, last time I was up there it had water, good water. Sad to see it has been abandoned, but open grazing stopped some time ago in ABD, no need to maintain it I guess (I saw the same thing happen on the Arizona strip, where cattle had to be removed for environmental reasons, waterworks left to vandals). It seems so little time ago that ferrel cattle and burro tracks were everywhere in ABD, all the way out to Carrizo Marsh. But it is so nice to see the Borrego in your photos, more than an even exchange I think. I can see cattle at the grocery store cold case anytime I want.
Highly unlikely I will ever walk those trails again. So more photos
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rockhopper Posts: 668
1/8/2013
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Very envious. Beautiful phography. The big horn sheep photos are excellent.
I need to plan a trip into Canebrake. I know that are is HUGE! How does is compare to
like hiking into Rock house canyon the first time?
btw What is the origin of the name Canebrake? Ol' Ranchers name?
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/9/2013
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dsefcik wrote:
Jim (ziphius) wrote:
Follow-up question: what are the sizes of the feline fossil prints? Regular 50-60lb dog size in the mud....I think the Remeika document has details of them. I think Joel humored me for the canteen photo as he hiked on and left me in the dust, he is tougher,smarter and in better shape than most people I know.
Daren, you ought to consider growing a huge beard so you fit in better with that backpacking crew. I'm envious that you get to spend time with such a knowledgeable and experienced desert gang.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1362
1/9/2013
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Funny,
I was thinking the same thing about the beard.
I am wondering how long it takes to grow a beard like that?
I have had mine since November and my wife is ready to shave it off while I am sleeping 
Jim (ziphius) wrote:
dsefcik wrote:
Jim (ziphius) wrote:
Follow-up question: what are the sizes of the feline fossil prints? Regular 50-60lb dog size in the mud....I think the Remeika document has details of them. I think Joel humored me for the canteen photo as he hiked on and left me in the dust, he is tougher,smarter and in better shape than most people I know.
Daren, you ought to consider growing a huge beard so you fit in better with that backpacking crew. I'm envious that you get to spend time with such a knowledgeable and experienced desert gang.
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/9/2013
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waning moon wrote:
It is so beautiful, and all I am is more envious, lovely photos, still trying to figure out how to make mine larger, any advise? That depends on how you host the photos. Usually you have size options to link to them with, where do you upload them to?
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/9/2013
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rockhopper wrote:
How does is compare to
like hiking into Rock house canyon the first time?
btw What is the origin of the name Canebrake? Ol' Ranchers name?
RHC is a bit different, they are 2 different places but worth spending some time hiking around in but both are vast and remote. No vehicles to get in there with. I remember reading somewhere the origin of the name for Canebrake but it escapes me now but I suspect it's origin may have something to do with it's meaning of large growths of reeds.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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waning moon Posts: 34
1/9/2013
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Thank you for responding Daren,
I have an "on line" identity? that came with my google email, this allows me to upload photos (as per FAQ instructions to public domain), but I am sorry to say after that, I click and drag to post. I do not know how to link? I have tried increasing pixels, resizing in google upload etc. (was successful once), but last post was small size again until I see Bob edited, (Thank you Bob)
So I think I need a step by step, would appreciate it.
Thank you
dsefcik wrote:
waning moon wrote:
It is so beautiful, and all I am is more envious, lovely photos, still trying to figure out how to make mine larger, any advise? That depends on how you host the photos. Usually you have size options to link to them with, where do you upload them to?
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/9/2013
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Jim (ziphius) wrote:
Daren, you ought to consider growing a huge beard so you fit in better with that backpacking crew. I'm envious that you get to spend time with such a knowledgeable and experienced desert gang. How about this.....
I suspect once I leave the office enviro I will return to my roots. I am very grateful I am able to spend time hiking with the crowd I do.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/9/2013
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waning moon wrote:
but I am sorry to say after that, I click and drag to post. I do not know how to link? I have tried increasing pixels, resizing in google upload etc. (was successful once), but last post was small size again until I see Bob edited, (Thank you Bob) Yeah, Google kinda jacked up the simplicity of it..you could try clicking your image so it opens up bigger then *right* click and select the "copy image url" or similar and use that code.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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tommy750 Posts: 1040
1/9/2013
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Nolan (anutami) wrote:
Paul Remeika should put you on commission! I went ahead and purchased a copy
Paul Remeika will be giving a two-day course on Anza Borrego geology the weekend of Feb 9-10. Thinking about attending. Sat morning in a lecture and the rest of the weekend out in the desert. Here's the link:
http://theabf.org/event/driving_tours/anza_borrego_land_rain_shadow_0
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/10/2013
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tommy750 wrote:
Paul Remeika will be giving a two-day course on Anza Borrego geology the weekend of Feb 9-10. Thinking about attending. Sat morning in a lecture and the rest of the weekend out in the desert. Here's the link:
http://theabf.org/event/driving_tours/anza_borrego_land_rain_shadow_0 That looks like a good course, thanks for posting. It is a little out of my price range but if you go be sure to let us know how it was.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1362
1/10/2013
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Maybe we could make this a separate topic but another way to manilulate the image sizes in Google - Picasa is to change a portion of the image url
See attach
dsefcik wrote:
waning moon wrote:
but I am sorry to say after that, I click and drag to post. I do not know how to link? I have tried increasing pixels, resizing in google upload etc. (was successful once), but last post was small size again until I see Bob edited, (Thank you Bob) Yeah, Google kinda jacked up the simplicity of it..you could try clicking your image so it opens up bigger then *right* click and select the "copy image url" or similar and use that code.
edited by surfponto on 1/10/2013
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/10/2013
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Awesome. Jerry Garcia on a bike! dsefcik wrote:
Jim (ziphius) wrote:
Daren, you ought to consider growing a huge beard so you fit in better with that backpacking crew. I'm envious that you get to spend time with such a knowledgeable and experienced desert gang. How about this.....
I suspect once I leave the office enviro I will return to my roots. I am very grateful I am able to spend time hiking with the crowd I do.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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tommy750 Posts: 1040
1/10/2013
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Is that a B-M-W you're on, Daren?? Isn't that a little too bourgeois for that look?
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/10/2013
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tommy750 wrote:
Is that a B-M-W you're on, Daren?? Isn't that a little too bourgeois for that look? That is "Beemer" to you...probably early 90's. I used to fix anything with two wheels and BMW motorcycles were a favorite. They were pretty hip at the time with old Harley's and Triumph's....I fit in with the crowd and had good customers....notice the one finger brake action...
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1362
1/11/2013
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That is a good look on you.
Here's to leaving the office enviro 
dsefcik wrote:
Jim (ziphius) wrote:
Daren, you ought to consider growing a huge beard so you fit in better with that backpacking crew. I'm envious that you get to spend time with such a knowledgeable and experienced desert gang. How about this.....
I suspect once I leave the office enviro I will return to my roots. I am very grateful I am able to spend time hiking with the crowd I do.
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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anutami Posts: 491
1/13/2013
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Went ahead and looked up the patent on the canteen. It appears to only be a design patent. I'll bet if Mr. Boyle were still alive he would be proud to see a great find in ABDSP.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
1/14/2013
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Nolan (anutami) wrote:
Went ahead and looked up the patent on the canteen. It appears to only be a design patent. I'll bet if Mr. Boyle were still alive he would be proud to see a great find in ABDSP. Yes, just a patent date...we could not find an actual manufacture date on it. It was all metal, no plastic liner or anything but Joel sure looked good holding it..!
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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AdventureGraham Posts: 170
1/14/2013
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Looks like quite the adventure! I'd love to spend seven days out in the desert. Thanks for the trip report, Daren!
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