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Rocko1 Posts: 600
2/15/2022
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Went out to AB this weekend with my dad. We did Marshall South and Ghost Mountain on Saturday. Was perfect weather. 75f and slight breeze. Found a spot right near Shake BM in Little Blair Valley. I couldn’t believe how crowded the valleys were this weekend-almost every turn out taken-can’t blame them.
Ghost Mountain-dad is somewhere out of frame pulling chola cactus out.
Setup camp and grabbed Shake BM
Our camp spot in LBV.
Two insanely large rib eye steaks-32oz each.
Perfect weather for sleeping out-got to 46f and zero wind. Moon was 88% of full-bright. This spot is directly under many flight paths that intersect. Using Flightradar24 app to see each planes info as it passed over was interesting.
Next morning my dad took off and I had to work off that meat and decided to just wing a hike that would loop me back to my spot.
I took off south east and up this canyon.
This tops out near Smugglers Canyon. I checked out some boulder caves-could spend all day up here- and headed NW.
More boulder hopping and I reached some flat area headed towards my route up Whale from the previous weekend when I looked back at a hill that had some pinyons on it. They were at lower elevations that I normally encounter so I scrambled up to check them out and decided to grab peak 3899.
Looking west from 3899
Looking SW from where I had come-Smugglers drainage to the left
So many caves, boulders and places to check out up here but not enough time.
I continued down the NW and more scrambling. I saw this pinyon which looked out of place. One of the healthiest trees I have seen in the area and it was at about 3,500ft. These trees really have been struggling and I was glad to see what few remain looking well.
I connected up with the canon to the NE of Shake and was back at the truck.
If you are looking for some scrambling and a fun route I would recommend this.
6.4m 1,175ft gain/loss.
edited by Rocko1 on 2/15/2022
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Brian Posts: 231
2/15/2022
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Great pics. The Marshall South cabin was one of my early trips when I started going to Anza Borrego regularly. Maybe 12 years ago now? I haven't been back since. I wonder how much it's deteriorated in the last decade.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
2/15/2022
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Great area....get a scanner or radio with 118.xxx vhf and you can listen in realtime to the pilots, lucki one (rnav) flight paths. I don't think I have eaten that much (bbq) meat in the last 20 years...wow....
I tried to find quake bm also but it looked like it was stolen, did you find it? what a great area, "earthquake valley" and the bm's are named shake and quake....
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
2/15/2022
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Brian wrote:
Great pics. The Marshall South cabin was one of my early trips when I started going to Anza Borrego regularly. Maybe 12 years ago now? I haven't been back since. I wonder how much it's deteriorated in the last decade.
Not too much left.
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
2/15/2022
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dsefcik wrote:
Great area....get a scanner or radio with 118.xxx vhf and you can listen in realtime to the pilots, lucki one (rnav) flight paths. I don't think I have eaten that much (bbq) meat in the last 20 years...wow....
I tried to find quake bm also but it looked like it was stolen, did you find it? what a great area, "earthquake valley" and the bm's are named shake and quake....
I was hurting with that steak. I try to limit my red meat to one 'serving' per week and special occasions. I will be good for a few months now! My brother did give me a radio-I just have to figure out how to use it, that would be fun to hear pilots.
I didn't make it to Quake-have to get that one next time. I didn't see any register on 3899 and if there was I wouldn't have been able to get to it-at least being solo. Looks easy to get on top but the overhang was tough and I didn't want to risk it.
So many places to squeeze in a sleeping pad/bivy up there and beat the heat. Caves and overhangs galore.
edited by Rocko1 on 2/15/2022
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Brian Posts: 231
2/15/2022
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Rocko1 wrote:
Not too much left.
Here's what it looked like in February, 2009
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rockhopper Posts: 668
2/16/2022
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About 20 years I met Rider South up on Ghost Mountain during a speech he gave to the San Diego Historical society. I just happened to be there that day!
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
2/16/2022
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rockhopper wrote:
About 20 years I met Rider South up on Ghost Mountain during a speech he gave to the San Diego Historical society. I just happened to be there that day!
That is cool. Such an interesting story about that family.
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Buford Posts: 461
2/16/2022
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I think you are going to need a bigger BBQ 
Looks like a fun trip. The Yaquitepec site is deteriorating faster and faster.
I can't believe it only got down to 46F Saturday night. I drove through Shelter Valley and Scissors Crossing Sunday morning and it was 28F and that was after sunrise.
Both Shake and Quake BMs were there in March 2021.
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Links to my photos: ABDSP photos, Bighorn sheep photos, ABDSP time lapse video, Wildlife photos (mainly birds)
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
2/16/2022
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Schad: "Resist the temptation to continue toward Little Blair Valley by going north of peak 3777---you won't save time this way."
Rocko1: Nah, let's do it!
Nice TR. Thanks.
edited by tommy750 on 2/16/2022
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
2/17/2022
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Buford wrote:
I could only find #2, I remember finding another spot with with an empty cement circle area that had a BM
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
2/17/2022
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Buford wrote:
I think you are going to need a bigger BBQ
Looks like a fun trip. The Yaquitepec site is deteriorating faster and faster.
I can't believe it only got down to 46F Saturday night. I drove through Shelter Valley and Scissors Crossing Sunday morning and it was 28F and that was after sunrise.
Both Shake and Quake BMs were there in March 2021.
You know it could have been colder, I didn't have my normal thermometer, I just checked the truck around 6am-it's not very accurate. I was using a 30F comfort bag and was almost too hot which probably high 30s at least.
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
2/17/2022
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tommy750 wrote:
Schad: "Resist the temptation to continue toward Little Blair Valley by going north of peak 3777---you won't save time this way."
Rocko1: Nah, let's do it!
Nice TR. Thanks.
edited by tommy750 on 2/16/2022
Ha! He was right. Bouldering over condo size rocks is slow going.
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ziphius Posts: 911
2/18/2022
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Good-looking trip, fun area!
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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tekewin Posts: 371
3/6/2022
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Nice trip! Those steaks look like they came from dinosaurs.
Awesome exploring off the grid there.
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