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rockhopper Posts: 668
5/14/2012
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Hi all fellow friends of the Anza borrego desert area. I am long time visitor to this fourm and have enjoyed reading your posts and following along on your awesome trips.
Me: Well, my father brought me to the Anza Borrego area the first time back in 1964 when I was 6 years old following the El Centro earthquake, which left open cracks in the ground thru-out the desert area. Neat! I remember feeling how fantastic is was, with the incredible mountians and canyons. Let's just say I have been very fortunate to have worn out many boots doing what I love, Hiking!
Enough of me! on to Villager peak. This one has been on my list of things to do for quite a while. About 15 years ago a friend and I made it up about half way and turned back due to daylite issues, (slept in too long, too long of a breakfast, etc....) Fast forward 2012. With summer fast approaching and temps nearing 100 deg., I saw my chance the first week of May this year. A low pressure was moving in and highs only in the 80's. My plan was to leave at dawn and climb into the cooler air by mid day. Packed a lunch and 4 liters of water.
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn013.jpg[/IMG]
Clark fault below and the Luke fault scarp
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn121.jpg[/IMG]
Rosa and Rattle Snake springs
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn092.jpg[/IMG]
Next year!
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn030.jpg[/IMG]
western scarp yikes! Be careful here.
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn046.jpg[/IMG]
Villager false peak and Santa Rosa peak beyond.
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn057.jpg[/IMG]
Villager Peak :-)
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn053.jpg[/IMG]
Rabbit Peak, that was a tough one 25 years ago. We came up the east side Barton canyon route. I have some neat old photos some where. I will find when Rabbit comes up.
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn105.jpg[/IMG]
Awestruck everytime at "the edge"
Well that's it. Finally did it! Neat hike with superb views in all direction in nearly every direction. Thanks for letting me share.
Regards,
Rock hopper
<em>edited by rockhopper on 5/14/2012</em>
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2622
5/14/2012
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Welcome to the forums rockhopper!
Those are some great pictures, I really like the Santa Rosa and false Villager Peak one. Did you see anybody else out on the trail, any wildlife?? What were some of the most recent entries in the register? What was your total time up/down?
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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rockhopper Posts: 668
5/14/2012
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dsefcik wrote:
Welcome to the forums rockhopper!
Those are some great pictures, I really like the Santa Rosa and false Villager Peak one. Did you see anybody else out on the trail, any wildlife?? What were some of the most recent entries in the register? What was your total time up/down?
Thanks!
Saw no one else during the entire day. Oddly, cell phone reception was very good!
Wildlife: Thanks for reminding me! Lot's of birds swooshing by my head Close! and Fast! on the way up. They must have gotten bored with me after a while as not as many on the way back down. Sorry don't know the species but dark top, light bottom about 6" long and Fast! Lots of sun bathing lizards. Lots of insects, bees hovering around the cactus flowers at about the 2000 ft. elev. and up. Best of all, no Rattle snakes! actually , no snakes!
Register: There were about 6 or 7 mini spiral note pads in the register. The earliest was from 1990, the last one before me ( May 2nd 2012) was a Gent from Temecula on April 28th.
Hike time: Day hike. 5 hrs up, 1 hr. ontop and 5 hrs down.
Water Cache report: To whom ever left water. About 1/2 Gal. left at about 4000 ft. near the trail, and about 1/2 gal at summit. I added to the summit cache.
Regards,
Rockhopper
edited by rockhopper on 5/14/2012
<em>edited by rockhopper on 5/14/2012</em>
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1364
5/15/2012
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Great pictures and trail report.
Very inspiring post. The views from the top are incredible,
Bob
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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ziphius Posts: 911
5/15/2012
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That's a BIG ONE rockhopper! Welcome to the forum. Great place to learn about ABDSP and share. Villager is on my "to do" list. You say that you carried only 4 liters of water with you and left some at the summit? How much did you drink?
That 'western scarp yikes' photo... is that the actual trail where your backpack is sitting? Or did you wander over to 'the edge'?
Jim
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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hikerdmb Posts: 423
5/15/2012
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Welcome to the forum and nice photos. I agree, the pic of the western edge is great. How much of the climb to the top of Villager is on a use trail? Did you have to use your hands or scramble at all? Any good camp spots up that way?
Thanks for sharing,
David
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rockhopper Posts: 668
5/15/2012
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ziphius wrote:
That's a BIG ONE rockhopper! Welcome to the forum. Great place to learn about ABDSP and share. Villager is on my "to do" list. You say that you carried only 4 liters of water with you and left some at the summit? How much did you drink?
That 'western scarp yikes' photo... is that the actual trail where your backpack is sitting? Or did you wander over to 'the edge'?
Jim
ziphius,
Thanks, Great forum. I drank all my water except the third of a liter I left at the summit water cache. The trail basically follows the western escarpment all the way up. Get as close as you wish!
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn102.jpg[/IMG]
The trail
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn026.jpg[/IMG]
More "trail"
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn056.jpg[/IMG]
Villager peak looking west
Regards
Rockhopper
edited by rockhopper on 5/15/2012
edited by rockhopper on 5/15/2012
<em>edited by rockhopper on 5/15/2012</em>
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rockhopper Posts: 668
5/15/2012
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hikerdmb wrote:
Welcome to the forum and nice photos. I agree, the pic of the western edge is great. How much of the climb to the top of Villager is on a use trail? Did you have to use your hands or scramble at all? Any good camp spots up that way?
Thanks for sharing,
David
hiker,
I agree the western edge is truely fantastic. Feeling I get is very similar to San Jac northern "edge" or High Sierra eastern escarpment, but it's fairly close to home! :-)
I followed the "normal" route so just hiking poles and the ol' boots. No scrambling "off trail" on this trip, but looks like plenty to the east towards "rosa" and rattle snake springs.
Noticed several good camping spots up around the 2000 ft and 4000 ft mark.
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h294/metalmeister/ABDSP/Villager%20peak/santarosamtn086.jpg[/IMG]
Nice spot with a view!
Regards,
Rockhopper
edited by rockhopper on 5/15/2012
<em>edited by rockhopper on 5/15/2012</em>
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DHeuschele Posts: 87
5/15/2012
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I did Villager and Rabbit a few years ago (probably 7 or 8 years ago) in late May. It was hotter than we planned (there were 3 of us but I was the only one that made it to Rabbit). It was not good as I was conserving water for much of the route between Villager and Rabbit which put my electrolites off which caused me to have to rest often on every uphill on the way back from Rabbit to Villager (the route between Villager and Rabbit has significant uphill in both directions) so I ended up doing an unplanned bivy. When I got back to the desert floor the next day the car thermometer which was in the sun (so hotter than official temps) stated 107 degrees.
Shortly afterwards I had a physical unrelated to the hike. The blood test showed some irregularities due to the experience. Fortunately there was not any permanent issues resulting from the hike, but it took weeks for the effects to not show in my blood work.
I have not gone back to attempt Rabbit under more favorable conditions. I may never because while Villager has nice views the summit of Rabbit is broad and does not present a very good view. So it is a lot of work for a not very impressive view. Still I may try it again maybe using a different route (maybe come in from Rock House Canyon which I have used for 8652 (Dawns/Lorrenzos)).
So while I have done peaks that are likely harder than Rabbit (Picacho del Diablo, Williamson, maybe 6582, etc.), doing Rabbit when I did it (late May) pushed me harder than any other peak. It can definitely present some issues and is harder than a 6666' peak would seem.
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ziphius Posts: 911
5/16/2012
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I work and hike with a guy who did Villager / Rabbit last year as an overnight. Super-fit dude who did just fine, he brought 6 liters of water for the trip, when the high temps were about 80. Six people started the hike, two guys and a gal made it to Rabbit, while the other three stayed behind on Villager. One guy started having hallucinations and the wobbles on the return trip, was just a bit too much for his fitness level and / or water intake. He was useless for a few days afterwards. I keep talking about doing it, but I want to be super-fit at the time and have the perfect conditions to attack it.
DHeuschele wrote:
I did Villager and Rabbit a few years ago (probably 7 or 8 years ago) in late May. It was hotter than we planned (there were 3 of us but I was the only one that made it to Rabbit). It was not good as I was conserving water for much of the route between Villager and Rabbit which put my electrolites off which caused me to have to rest often on every uphill on the way back from Rabbit to Villager (the route between Villager and Rabbit has significant uphill in both directions) so I ended up doing an unplanned bivy. When I got back to the desert floor the next day the car thermometer which was in the sun (so hotter than official temps) stated 107 degrees.
Shortly afterwards I had a physical unrelated to the hike. The blood test showed some irregularities due to the experience. Fortunately there was not any permanent issues resulting from the hike, but it took weeks for the effects to not show in my blood work.
I have not gone back to attempt Rabbit under more favorable conditions. I may never because while Villager has nice views the summit of Rabbit is broad and does not present a very good view. So it is a lot of work for a not very impressive view. Still I may try it again maybe using a different route (maybe come in from Rock House Canyon which I have used for 8652 (Dawns/Lorrenzos)).
So while I have done peaks that are likely harder than Rabbit (Picacho del Diablo, Williamson, maybe 6582, etc.), doing Rabbit when I did it (late May) pushed me harder than any other peak. It can definitely present some issues and is harder than a 6666' peak would seem.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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