Talk about a trip you took out to Anza Borrego
Piedras Grandes, Blair Valley, June Wash, IP
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/2/2013
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Happy to report that I spent more time in the desert over the break than I spent at home. Three separate trips, two with my girlfriend and one with my daughter, including a 3-night backpack into June Wash and Inner Pasture. Came away amazed at the hidden treasures and beauty out there... seashells imported from far away into Inner Pasture, obsidian points, a two-headed 'petroglyph' pecked into the wall of a cave, snow on Red Top, a yoni (I'm starting to believe a little), a dead loggerhead shrike, morteros and grinding stones, my very first (and my daughter's) BIGHORN SHEEP sighting.... etc. I'm a little overwhelmed at the experiences of the past week. Here's some photos:
Many thanks to forum members for their advice on the best route for my girlfriend's 2wd Honda (she calls it the Rubiconda) to Dos Cabezas, where the holiday season began:
Pictos found first by moonlight hike, returned next morning to photograph:
Sun yoni? I'm starting to believe.
Blair Valley gourds:
Fresh bighorn tracks:
Fresh bighorn scat:
Fresh bighorn sheep!
Checking on my water cache with the kid prior to the backpack trip.
End of day trip at Mile 41 marker.
Morning after setting up tent in the rain and wind near June Wash:
Wabbit season....
Morteros and what looks like the matching grinding stone:
Nice points in the morning light. The obsidian point is my favorite.
Nice serrated quartz point:
When you find seashell fragments (not fossilized) in Inner Pasture, you are looking at trade items from either the Pacific or the Sea of Cortez. This was one of four found:
My girlfriend and I are debating about how old (or genuine) this might be. Found in cave in IP.
Yucca seed pods emptied:
View to Inner Pasture from north rim of Inner Pasture. You can see 'Pattern' in the far distance:
Red Top from top of north rim of Inner Pasture:
Found this freshly dead loggerhead shrike the last night of the trip.
edited by ziphius on 1/3/2013
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2622
1/3/2013
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That looks like a great trip. We may have just missed each other, we backpacked in from Indian Valley, thru Canebrake and over into Potrero and then ended in Agua Caliente. Seems like a lot of people were out enjoying the desert this last week.
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anutami Posts: 491
1/3/2013
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Nice finds! The only thing missing is the abandoned backpacks and empty tuna cans, but I am sure you saw plenty of those. The arrowheads are amazing. Hard to top a trip like that. The wind chill factor was cold out there! Nothing like a full moon hike in the desert, and coming upon pictos!
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/3/2013
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Yep, it was a cold trip! I brought my 15 degree mummy bag! I saw a tuna can or two in a difficult boulder-strewn canyon exit in north Inner Pasture at roughly 33.931 and 116.339. Can only imagine that the walkers had one thing on their mind: NORTH! Certainly are better options for getting out of IP and out to S2, heh? Also forget to post another point found during this same trip:
Other trip memories were the numerous water-filled morteros, some with live bees drinking away at them. There were a few dead bees in them too, which tells me that even bees make mistakes!
edited by ziphius on 1/3/2013
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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