Talk about a trip you took out to Anza Borrego
Rockhouse report
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Buford Posts: 456
12/2/2018
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Before Thanksgiving I did a backpacking trip to Rockhouse Valley with everyone's favorite guide.
Day 0:
Met up around sunset at the Butler/Rockhouse junction. Got my truck to the end of the Rockhouse road in the dark  Only truck damage was to parts meant to be damaged. We hiked up Rockhouse Canyon in the dark to a point past Hidden Spring.
Day 1:
Woke up and explored a potential solstice site and looked at a mostly complete but broken pot:
Spent the rest of the day making it up to a spring and spent the night near an old stone foundation.
Spring in good condition still, plenty of clear flowing water:
Someone was here before us:
Day 2:
Hiked to the upper Rockhouses and explored a nearby spring, dopefarm, rock art and settlements.
Surprised to see this guy still out and about and active. Hope he made it through the cold night that followed.
Third night was spent near the upper rockhouses. It got cold, mid 20s overnight with frost completely covering my sleeping back from head to toe.
Cottonwood:
Day 3:
Climbed to the Buck Ridge high point. Spent the last night of the trip near the highpoint. Saw three bighorn ambling along the ridge near camp.
View of Jackass Flat and Borrego Springs from Buck Ridge:
Day 4:
Descended Buck Ridge to Jackass Flat, dropped down to Hidden Spring and exited.
Other random pictures:
Kitties:
Saw far more cat prints than human prints on the trip.
Some dstretch enhanced rock art:
edited by Buford on 12/2/2018
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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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ziphius Posts: 911
12/3/2018
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Good-looking trip Buford. Amazed that Crotalus ruber was out this late in the season.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
12/3/2018
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Nice TR Buford. Have only spent one night at the Cottonwoods and nearly froze. Looks like a fun trip.
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rockhopper Posts: 668
12/5/2018
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Neat trip Buford. Looks like into full mode desert season exploration hiking. I love Rockhouse valley. It's like your 1000 miles away from civilization when your in it. Thanks for the trip report.
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Buford Posts: 456
12/5/2018
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Those cottonwoods are in a perfect cold air sink. All that cold air from above drained into the area.
I was very surprised to see the rattler right before the cottonwoods at nearly 5k of elevation. It was about 10’ off the trail and started buzzing as soon as I was close. I was ahead of Gary and he can’t hear them. I waited a minute for him to catch up so he didn’t accidentally get too close.
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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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Britain Posts: 602
12/5/2018
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Nice trip. Thanks for sharing, Those black diamond treks?
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Cant drive 55
Britain
http://icorva.com
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tekewin Posts: 368
12/9/2018
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Cool snake. I wouldn't have expected to see any until March. That's a big piece of pottery. Interesting report.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2622
1/12/2019
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Glad you could make it out there with the 'ol timer and have him show you around...
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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