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tommy750 Posts: 1049
7/27/2015
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Wanted to get out for an overnight trip two weekends ago and ended up heading out to Potrero. Daren said he was in but over the preceding week his responses were yes/maybe/maybe/maybe/Definitely YES/Ah,no. Anyway, parked near Vallecito Co Park and headed south. Was raining on the way over and the temp had dropped in a few minutes from the 90's to high 70's. But it didn't stay that way. Had three liters to make it to a spring with "fresh" water. Was sure hoping it wouldn't be dry since the return 8 miles with a a half liter remaining wouldn't be all that fun. Lots of water when I got there and good thing I brought my filter 
 Tank by tomteske, on Flickr
Daren and a friend had cleaned some of the reeds out on an earlier trip and looks like they hadn't grown back.
 Tank2 by tomteske, on Flickr
 Only Drank 5L by tomteske, on Flickr
Had just enough time to set up my tent before a thunderstorm passed through. Realized I needed another coat of silicone over the seams after a few minutes.
 Tarptent by tomteske, on Flickr
Panorama from camp.
 Potrero Pano by tomteske, on Flickr
LOTs of frogs or toads hopping around when it got dark. Think they're Red Spotted Toads. There were a few adults and lots of juveniles.
 Tent Frogs2 by tomteske, on Flickr
 Tent Frogs by tomteske, on Flickr
Future frogs.
 Eggs by tomteske, on Flickr
Few pictographs.
 aaa_lab by tomteske, on Flickr
Early WiFi??
 C-163 Picto North2_lbk by tomteske, on Flickr
The 8 miles back the next day were warm to say the least. Temps and humidity in the low 90's so the Heat Index was starting to get interesting Enjoy. Tom
 heatindex by tomteske, on Flickr
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ziphius Posts: 911
7/27/2015
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Love that area / camp spot, have Daren and Craig to thank for showing it to me. Alex and I did ~ 8 miles from ????? to the spring in December and stayed 3 nights. I've always thought about heading out there in the summer, figuring you could 'bank' on there being water. Next time I visit the area, I'll camp a couple of hundred yards away from the spring though, as we had unwanted (and illegal) 4x4 visitation during our stay. This is one of those spots that should be kept secret for sure, once it gets 'discovered', it's 'game over'. Nice frogs.
edited by ziphius on 7/27/2015
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
7/28/2015
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yeah froggies...!! we had to leave some reeds for them...looks like my pipe prop was still holding up also...thanks for the photos Tom and my pack is still sitting in the garage ready to go minus the food I ate from it last week.
Love that B/W pano, really nice..!!
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
7/29/2015
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Jim (ziphius) wrote:
Love that area / camp spot, have Daren and Craig to thank for showing it to me. Alex and I did ~ 8 miles from ????? to the spring in December and stayed 3 nights. I've always thought about heading out there in the summer, figuring you could 'bank' on there being water. Next time I visit the area, I'll camp a couple of hundred yards away from the spring though, as we had unwanted (and illegal) 4x4 visitation during our stay. This is one of those spots that should be kept secret for sure, once it gets 'discovered', it's 'game over'. Nice frogs.
edited by ziphius on 7/27/2015
Didn't see any obvious vehicle tracks out that way nor any heat-crazed hikers like myself but it had just rained and no fresh tracks were visible. Three days sounds like a nice length of time to spend out there. Was thinking there would a line of snakes and foxes munching up all the free McFrog happy meals but didn't see any. There was a trail cam pointed toward the tank which probably had some nice critter pics.
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
7/29/2015
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dsefcik wrote:
yeah froggies...!! we had to leave some reeds for them...looks like my pipe prop was still holding up also...thanks for the photos Tom and my pack is still sitting in the garage ready to go minus the food I ate from it last week.
Love that B/W pano, really nice..!!
Let me know when you're up to going back. Lot's of nice places to explore out there. Another Macgyver fix on that spring as well?? Wow.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
7/29/2015
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trail cam?? any photos of that? never seen a cam out there.
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
7/29/2015
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dsefcik wrote:
trail cam?? any photos of that? never seen a cam out there.
Yep, trail cam. Walked by it a couple times before I saw it. Was mounted on the tree uphill from the tank. Was tempted to pull the SD card and plug it into my camera and check out the pics but never got around to it. Is that a CDFW thing?
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
7/29/2015
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either CDFW, BP or illegal hunters would be my guess..but CDFW sounds most likely...never seen a cam there before.
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anutami Posts: 491
7/30/2015
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Nice pics and report, thanks for heading out in the warmer months and taking me with you.
What the heck were all the frogs doing on your tent?
Nolan
edited by anutami on 7/30/2015
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
7/30/2015
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Nolan (anutami) wrote:
What the heck were all the frogs doing on your tent? Obviously you have never gone backpacking with Tom....
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
7/30/2015
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Nolan (anutami) wrote:
Nice pics and report, thanks for heading out in the warmer months and taking me with you.
What the heck were all the frogs doing on your tent?
Nolan
edited by anutami on 7/30/2015
They call me the frog whisperer
Actually, a bunch of them would jump on the tent and climb to the top and jump off. Just another mountain to climb!
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
7/30/2015
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tommy750 wrote:
Actually, a bunch of them would jump on the tent and climb to the top and jump off. Leap...Frog ??
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http://www.carrizogorge.com
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anutami Posts: 491
7/30/2015
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Did you find kermit the frog?
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
7/30/2015
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Nolan (anutami) wrote:
Did you find kermit the frog?
Nice!
 Peace Bro by tomteske, on Flickr
Peace, Bro.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
7/30/2015
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Peace Out....
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Florian Posts: 129
7/31/2015
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Hi Tommy,
Looking at the topo looks like there are 3 springs in the Potrero area. Which is the spring in your photos? I've never hiked up there but have driven by on S2 many times. Looks like a nice area.
-Florian
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
8/2/2015
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Florian, it's the spring farthest to the east. Haven't been to the other ones. Still lots of exploring out there to do!
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
8/2/2015
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I can vouch for 2 of the springs...I still have to investigate the 3rd most southern one.
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1366
8/3/2015
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Really cool shots of the tent toads.
I can honestly say I have never seen that.
They look like healthy little buggers
I second what Nolan said about you heading out in the warmer months.....
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
8/3/2015
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surfponto
I second what Nolan said about you heading out in the warmer months..... [/quote wrote:
Daren and I had some more fourth season fun this past weekend out in McCain Valley. The weather service said it was going to be only 84/69 degrees but ended up about ten degrees hotter. And no luxurious spring nearby to tap for an extra liter or three!
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
8/3/2015
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tommy750 wrote:
surfponto wrote:
I second what Nolan said about you heading out in the warmer months.....
Daren and I had some more fourth season fun this past weekend out in McCain Valley. The weather service said it was going to be only 84/69 degrees but ended up about ten degrees hotter. And no luxurious spring nearby to tap for an extra liter or three! Tom, you gonna start a TR for it? It was damn hot and the In-Ko-Pah mountains are steep coming back up..!
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http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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sddarkman619 Posts: 153
9/3/2020
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Ziphius, the unwanted 4x4 traffic, were they stupid drunk people? Did they cause any issues? or did they leave?
Possibly taking my Daughter out for her first BP trip and hearing this makes me wonder if I should be concerned.
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
9/4/2020
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I didn't know there was a spring back there. Is it still viable?
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
9/5/2020
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Rocko1 wrote:
I didn't know there was a spring back there. Is it still viable?
I along with these froggies can attest it's quite viable as of a few weeks ago.
 IMG_4602 by tomteske, on Flickr
 IMG_4627 by tomteske, on Flickr
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
9/5/2020
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sddarkman619 wrote:
Ziphius, the unwanted 4x4 traffic, were they stupid drunk people? Did they cause any issues? or did they leave?
Possibly taking my Daughter out for her first BP trip and hearing this makes me wonder if I should be concerned.
I know there's others on this forum who've been out in Potrero many more times than I have but during the dozen or so times I've been out there for day hikes and BP trips I've seen people three times, a couple people poking around a cultural site and two groups of hunters. Think it would be a great first backpacking trip choice.
edited by tommy750 on 9/5/2020
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ziphius Posts: 911
9/5/2020
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Every once in a while, someone illegally drives a jeep trail back into the Potrero and that is annoying. I enjoy the place and plan on spending Election 2020 week back there with no outside contacts and no idea of what is going on. See this story: https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2016/nov/14/stringers-who-won-election-clinton-or-trump/
The key is to camp far away from any water sources so that 1) the animals can enjoy it at night and 2) your chances of running into someone are greatly diminished. I'll admit to having camped right next to water sources in the past, it's something I don't do any more. A few northbound travelers use the saddle route between Canebrake and The Potrero, I've found their discarded carpet slippers and snack containers. Camp off the beaten path and you likely will see no one.
edited by ziphius on 9/5/2020
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deborah Posts: 115
10/26/2020
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Great pictures and trip report! Love the frogs.
I'm really enjoying catching up with everyone's posts...
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