Alpine says "We don't want the Sunrise Powerlink"

Although the Sunrise Powerlink has been re-routed to avoid the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, the battle continues for many residents of San Diego's backcountry. One such community, Alpine is being faced with having 6 miles of  12 ' trenches dug along its' main artery to accomodate the 2 parallel 230KV lines. Representatives from SDG&E  state that the "undergrounding"  of the Alpine portion of the Sunrise Powerlink, will take two years to install; one year for the conduits and another year to pull and splice the massive cables.

According to San Diego County supervisor Dianne Jacob, Alpine will be "significantly impacted" by the construction.

Many Alpine residents who attended last nights town hall meeting expressed concerns with traffic flow obstruction, EMFs from the powerlines, noise from the construction and the disruption of businesses along the route.

One particular Alpine resident, Michelle Steinbuck, questioned the intelligence of routing the two 230KV lines in such close proximity to the Alpine Elementary School.

I left the meeting with a renewed hope that the Sunrise Powerlink is not a done deal. There is staunch opposition from backcountry residents who feel this project is being ramrodded down their throats.

Currently the BLM approval of the Sunrise Powerlink is being challenged in court, and the U.S. Forest Service has not issued a decision on whether or not to allow the line to go through federal lands.

If you haven't contacted Cleveland National Forest Supervisor William Metz please take the time to send him an email at wmetz@fs.fed.us. Tell him that Forest Service lands should not be sacrificed for this unnecessary project.

If you prefer regular mail Supervisor Metz can be reached at;
Supervisor William Metz
Cleveland National Forest
10845 Rancho Bernardo Rd.
Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92127

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 soul 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

Summer temperatures in Anza Borrego

People sometimes ask me how come we don't spend much time out in Anza Borrego in the summer months?

Well to answer this question I looked at this nifty little iPhone App and checked out next weeks temperatures in Ocotillo (the gateway into southern Anza Borrego).

 Death Valley has nothing on us.

SDG&E using threats and coercion to force their way onto private property

Even though the legality of the Sunrise Powerlink is still being questioned, SDG&E is wasting no time in sending survey crews out along the proposed route.
In some cases,  according to this KUSI video they are using threats and coercion to gain access to private property.

Check out this "Turko Files" video from KUSI (You need Flash Player)

Free Property Rights Workshop for those in the path of the Sunrise Powerlink

Even though the Anza Borrego Desert State park has been spared from the destructive path of the Sunrise Powerlink ; the battle is far from over. 

SDG&E's Southern route goes through portions of Cleveland National Forest as well as land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. Formerly untouched areas such as the Carrizo Gorge Wilderness Area will forever be marred by 150 foot steel towers.

Wilderness aside, what about the East County residents who live in the rural San Diego backcountry? It is estimated that the Sunrise Powerlink will affect 3000 east San Diego county residents. This destructive impact can never be mitigated.

That is where the ECCAC comes in. On June 11 , the EEAC along with the Protect Our Communities Foundation and Backcountry Against Dumps will be hosting a free property rights legal workshop for affected property owners. The workshop will be conducted by knowledgeable attorneys who are familiar with the issues involved.

Impacted property owners can register for the workshop by contacting the ECCAC via email at info@eastcoutyaction.org or call 858-627-1426

Download Workshop Flyer (PDF 89.94 kb)

Governor wants to close Anza Borrego Desert State Park

If the Governor has his way the Anza-Borrego Desert will be off limits due to state budget cuts.

Anza Borrego is on the chopping block along with 219 other parks in the California State Parks system. According to an article in the Union Tribune, the parks being targeted do not have enough visitors to offset the costs associated with keeping them open.

Governor Schwarzenegger's budget would cut $213 million from the state parks budget over the next two years.

So let me get this right, Californians who have had to trim back on their vacation budgets can no longer take a weekend mini-vacation to their local state park?

Please take a minute and sign the petition rejecting this proposal and save our state parks.

Thanks,

Bob

Fundraiser to 'Sunset the Sunrise Powerlink' this weekend.

If you are local to San Diego don't forget to stop by Hazy Meadows Ranch in Lakeside on Saturday May 30 from 11:00AM to 4:30 PM.

The fine folks over at the East County Community Action Coalition are putting on a awesome fund raiser to help with the legal expenses in the fight against the Sunrise Powerlink. There will be fantastic live entertainment during the event along with some great raffle prizes.

The Hazy Meadow Ranch is located at  15466 El Monte Rd in Lakeside. Please see flyer below for more information.

Download Flyer (135.72 kb)

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 

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.

"Sempra is sold on Solar" article

I just caught this article in the San Diego Union Tribune giving Sempra a big pat on the back for expanding its' solar presence in the Nevada desert.

While this looks all warm, fuzzy and green on the surface we have to take a step back and look at the shortcomings of this approach.

1. Once again the Desert is being used as a sacrifice zone.
2. We will need more transmission lines to get this power to the population centers.
3. It maintains Sempra's control of energy production and distribution to the consumer.

Environmental issues aside, we as consumers should be asking our politicians, "Why can't we have financial incentives in the form of rebates and buyback credits to install local PV technology on our homes and businesses?"
Currently solar pioneers can at best break even and they are forced to give any excess energy back to the grid for free.

Maybe if this was addressed it would negate the need for these massive solar installs in the Deserts of the southwest.

Bob

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.

Sunrise Powerlink SDG&E Town Hall Meeting in Alpine

I drove out to Alpine after work to attend the town hall information meeting that SDG&E was holding to answer questions about the controversial Sunrise Powerlink.

SDG&E had all the bases covered here. Besides cookies and drinks, residents could get color GIS printouts of where the line would run in reference to their property. You simply had to give the technician your parcel number and voila you get a map printout with an ugly green line bisecting it.  You know green for"Green Energy".

Many residents seemed caught off guard with various portions of the approved route especially with how close it ran to some property lines.

None were more surprised then Rick and Candy of Lakeside who learned that the powerline was to be routed directly behind their house in Lakeside obstructing their scenic mountain view. They also were surprised to learn that SDG&E had marked a access road/staging area on an easment  adjacent to their property. According to Rick this was the first time he had heard this.

It is unfortunate that East County residents are being asked to bear the brunt of this project. The burning question that comes to mind is, "What if this was suppose to go through Del Mar or Rancho Santa Fe?". How far do you think this project would have gotten?
My guess is that it would not have gotten out of the planning stages.

Bob B.

Leucadia

 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

The Forgotten Artist: Indians of Anza-Borrego and Their Rock Art

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.... 

SDG&E holds community meetings to sell the Sunrise Powerlink

In an effort to win over East County ratepayers , SDG&E opened up a month long series of informational meetings in various East County locations.

 Unfortunately for SDG&E  the first meeting in Lakeside was met with fierce opposition.
Local residents are concerned with the destruction of views in the pristine  El Monte Valley as well as the El Capitan Open Space Preserve. 

Is this really a place for a series of 150' tall metal towers ? No, particularly for a powerline that is not needed, is not guaranteed to carry energy from renewable sources, and damages the environment.

There are many alternatives for meeting our energy demands here in San Diego. Stringing a gigantic extension cord from the backcountry to the coast is yesterdays technology and has merely won out due to corporate greed.

Up Coming Meetings

Campo  |  Mountain Empire Community Center

Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 5:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m.

San Diego  |  Scripps Ranch Library

Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 5:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m.

Alpine  |  Alpine Community Center

Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 5:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m.

Imperial Valley  |  El Centro Community Center

Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 5:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m.

Jacumba/Boulevard  |  Jacumba Highland Senior Center

Wednesday, March 25, 2009, 5:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m

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)

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.