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ziphius Posts: 911
11/13/2016
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I spent Monday and Tuesday nights in Vallecito Valley, mainly to get away from TVs.
Drove out through Ocotillo and then north to Agua Caliente Co. Pk. to park.
Some pre-election sights on the way out.
The ironic juxtaposition of Trump and Hildalgo names caught my eye.
I began my trip at Agua Caliente and took a canyon route into the valley. There are some natural trail markers along the way.
There were also several cairns / ducks which I knocked over. It's a canyon route for the love of God. Why spoon-feed the masses as to what route to take?
First lunch stop about 2.5 hrs into the hike.
One of four water troughs I encountered.
Spent blooms of a Datura wrightii, or Jimson Weed. Highly hallucinogenic and dangerous.
Water supply. There was recent evidence of horse traffic here and someone had cut some vegetation away from outside of the trough, presumably to allow their horse to access the water. No signs of other traffic in the area for some time.
I picked a camp in a higher-than-normal spot, away from the water. Lets the wildlife come to the water unafraid and reduces the bugs.
Another view from camp.
Piece of obsidian.
A dry trough in another part of the valley.
I followed some old plastic pipes from this trough uphill hoping for water, but didn't find water.
Sawtooth Mtns.
Piece of octotillo I think.
Election Day, wondering what is going on.
Election Night, still wondering.
Camp Views.
Wednesday morning, no idea who won.
Later in the morning, still no idea who won. No desire to leave. Blood pressure 115/65 I'm guessing.
Cowboy camp I stumbled upon.
The flag wasn't at half-mast when I returned to the car. Everything seemed normal.
Ocotillo bound.
Migrant slippers.
and Border Patrol. I should have got a better photo, but I was making the agent nervous. Tommy would have taken a much better photo 
I either missed this on the way out or more likely, it was placed there on Tuesday / Wednesday.
The first place I went to, at around 2:30 PM on Wednesday.
About 15-20 people were there, all cheerful. I ordered a Pacifico and sat at the bar for 30 minutes, without hearing a peep about the election. Finally, I guy at the end of the bar murmured something.
I turned on my barstool and caught his eye. "Who won?" I asked. The bar went silent. A woman turned toward me. "Trump". I said "Wow." The woman said, "I hope that isn't bad news for you."
I ordered another beer. "John" and I talked at the end of the bar for awhile, about America, about media, about camping. We talked about biased media. He said he didn't own a TV, but he trusted Google Search, said "it was fair" and reliable. He wanted to know where I had camped. My topo maps were in the car. I brought them in and laid them out on the bar with John, we looked them over. Everyone loves beer and topo maps. There were no lines of division between us, except for the ones on the map.
edited by ziphius on 11/13/2016
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ziphius Posts: 911
11/13/2016
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Working now.
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sddarkman619 Posts: 153
11/13/2016
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Nice TR and pics! Was that a lone piece of obsidian?
I wonder if it was brought there in trade with other tribes or?
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ziphius Posts: 911
11/13/2016
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sddarkman619 wrote:
Nice TR and pics! Was that a lone piece of obsidian?
I wonder if it was brought there in trade with other tribes or?
Probably 'Obsidian Butte' near the Salton Sea was the source of most, if not all, the obsidian found in the area.
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sddarkman619 Posts: 153
11/13/2016
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are you allowed to go to obsidian butte and get some? my girls and I like to collect rocks for the tumbler. Looking for some good obsidian.
got some from Mammoth area but its not that great
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ziphius Posts: 911
11/14/2016
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Tooting my own horn a bit, the Lazy Lizard Saloon story published online in The San Diego Reader today. They pay pretty decently for short news stories.
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Roryborealis Posts: 17
11/14/2016
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I love this post! I almost took Wed off for the same reason. I thought it would be great to get away for the time being. I personally tired of media. Nothing like stopping at the Lazy Lizard for a beer to the future haha
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ImpatientHiker Posts: 41
11/15/2016
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Great TR & pics! I just happened to be in that area Sunday and was quite surprised to see tracks, they must have been yours. It was a moonlit run Sat night from the PCT at Stephenson Peak down a ridge, across Vallecito Valley, up onto the Sawtooth ridgeline above Agua Caliente, back a short ways towards the Cuyamacas, and down to the valley floor. At that point, I was too tired to continue back up to the PCT so I just curled up and slept for an hour til sunrise when I found myself very close to where I think you camped. I even took a photo of the same view of the Sawteeth as you did. I was pretty surprised by the sheer volume and variety of pottery shards just uphill to the west of your camp. Posted some pics on Instagram @impatienthiker. I think that you had the smarter plan with your routing, timing, and a stop at the Lazy Lizard! Loved the election results story too, who doesn't love a good map!
-Robert
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ziphius Posts: 911
11/15/2016
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Robert, thanks for the comments. I was looking at that ridge that drops off of Stephenson, thinking that must be the best way down / up.
ImpatientHiker wrote:
Great TR & pics! I just happened to be in that area Sunday and was quite surprised to see tracks, they must have been yours. It was a moonlit run Sat night from the PCT at Stephenson Peak down a ridge, across Vallecito Valley, up onto the Sawtooth ridgeline above Agua Caliente, back a short ways towards the Cuyamacas, and down to the valley floor. At that point, I was too tired to continue back up to the PCT so I just curled up and slept for an hour til sunrise when I found myself very close to where I think you camped. I even took a photo of the same view of the Sawteeth as you did. I was pretty surprised by the sheer volume and variety of pottery shards just uphill to the west of your camp. Posted some pics on Instagram @impatienthiker. I think that you had the smarter plan with your routing, timing, and a stop at the Lazy Lizard! Loved the election results story too, who doesn't love a good map!
-Robert
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1364
11/16/2016
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Lazy Lizard is always a great way to end an Anza Borrego trip.
15 to 20 people ! That has to be a record. I think the most we have ever seen in there were 5 or 6
Great pics
edited by surfponto on 11/16/2016
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ziphius Posts: 911
11/16/2016
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First time there, I'll be back.
surfponto wrote:
Lazy Lizard is always a great way to end an Anza Borrego trip.
Great pics
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
11/16/2016
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Looks like a great trip, Jim. The shoe covers by S2 pic is unsurpassable! Any of those troughs/piping have springs with water attached to them??
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ziphius Posts: 911
11/16/2016
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tommy750 wrote:
Looks like a great trip, Jim. The shoe covers by S2 pic is unsurpassable! Any of those troughs/piping have springs with water attached to them??
Tommy, thanks. None of the other troughs had water that I could find. I think anything we find with plastic piping is dead-on-arrival. As for the shoe covers, I should have gotten on my belly Daren-style with the camera, got the shoe covers sharp in the foreground, with a fuzzy Border Patrol truck in the background, but that would have required pointing the camera at the BP.
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anutami Posts: 491
11/16/2016
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Nice report and pics. Love the cowboy emblem pic. Nothing like pacifco and topo maps. Is that an inflatable camp pillow at your campsite? How comfortable is that thing? That is the single most reason why I never get a goods nite rest in the backcountry, can't seem to find anything that works. I wonder if the town of ocotillo has gone to the trump side because of all those wind turbines signed off by President Obama.
Happy trails
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ziphius Posts: 911
11/16/2016
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Nolan,
Yep, that's an inflatable pillow, love it (Sea to Summit brand). Except when I lift my head on a windy night and it blows out from under me (with a tent, no problem). Ocotillo is a small, rural town. Something tells me they've been pretty conservative for a long time.
anutami wrote:
Nice report and pics. Love the cowboy emblem pic. Nothing like pacifco and topo maps. Is that an inflatable camp pillow at your campsite? How comfortable is that thing? That is the single most reason why I never get a goods nite rest in the backcountry, can't seem to find anything that works. I wonder if the town of ocotillo has gone to the trump side because of all those wind turbines signed off by President Obama.
Happy trails
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
11/17/2016
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ziphius wrote:
Nolan,
Yep, that's an inflatable pillow, love it (Sea to Summit brand). Except when I lift my head on a windy night and it blows out from under me (with a tent, no problem). Ocotillo is a small, rural town. Something tells me they've been pretty conservative for a long time.
anutami wrote:
Nice report and pics. Love the cowboy emblem pic. Nothing like pacifco and topo maps. Is that an inflatable camp pillow at your campsite? How comfortable is that thing? That is the single most reason why I never get a goods nite rest in the backcountry, can't seem to find anything that works. I wonder if the town of ocotillo has gone to the trump side because of all those wind turbines signed off by President Obama.
Happy trails
I have this pillow and love it. It does want to scoot around but will snug perfectly in the hood section of my mummy bag and stays put all night.
https://www.rei.com/b/exped/c/camping-pillows?r=b%3Bc&ir=brand%3Aexped%3Bcategory%3Acamping-pillows&page=1&gclid=Cj0KEQiAx7XBBRCdyNOw6PLHrYABEiQAJtyEQ9UQmn3AYFkiofmtX4gD5sUalLihBNHOStb9k1j5GFAaAqus8P8HAQ&s_kwcid=PS_Google%7C401_1326981%7Cexped+pillow%7CNB%7C7dab0ec8-c598-43da-84c3-02d05c533ff2%7Caud-196706897080%3Akwd-23864763103
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rockhopper Posts: 668
11/18/2016
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Sounds like a great trip. Nice photo log. And cheers for anyone that wanted MR. T.
That was one heck of a political enema!
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