Talk about a trip you took out to Anza Borrego
Coyote south ridge
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tekewin Posts: 383
16 days ago
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The long south ridge of Coyote beckoned. I wanted to visit the Mist benchmark and the west butte that I skipped the first time I hiked Coyote. I parked off Rockhouse Canyon. Mist was less than a mile from the start, but was in a random location. There were 4 fingers stabbing eastward from the ridge and Mist was the third highest. I don't pretend to understand the logic. There was a benchmark and register from 2022. I signed in without removing my pack. I continued up the ridge, eventually descending into a large dry lake. This was the coolest feature of the day. The caked mud on the perimeter suggested it held water at least a little while on the rare occasion of heavy precipitation.
Dry lake
There was a lot of extra gain from the contours. I climbed a steep section of gully, then hit a relatively flat section. A few places had an old road, other segments had a faint use trail, and the rest was open desert with very little vegetation. Even cholla and ocotillo had only a meager presence. Before the final ascent, the ridge gave up 200' to a saddle. I took a gully up to the top, then traversed a short distance to Coyote West Butte. It seemed almost level with the official high point and had a reference mark. There was a plastic jar with several full registers. The oldest from 1993. As I approached the summit, I saw someone already there with a dog. I thought it might be someone local on a Tuesday, but the hiker was John Pru (sp?) with his dog Gracie. He was an avid hiker from Massachusetts and had come up the standard route. We had a lengthy chat about peakbagging and I suggested some nearby off the beaten path hikes. We left the summit at the same time, returning along our different ascent lines. Picked up one mylar.
West butte register
Gracie the dog
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Brian Posts: 249
16 days ago
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Great pics. I hadn't heard of that benchmark. Last year I bought a book by Robin Halford that's all benchmarks in Anza Borrego. Occasionally I do one of those hikes when I want something out of the ordinary.
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Rocko1 Posts: 615
16 days ago
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Nice report. Is that mini lake at 33.309572, -116.306719?
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tekewin Posts: 383
16 days ago
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Rocko1 wrote:
Nice report. Is that mini lake at 33.309572, -116.306719?
Yes, that's it exactly!
When I walked through, it looked like there was a fire circle set up at the mouth where it drains to the east. I didn't walk over to confirm. It might have just been a pile of rocks.
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Rocko1 Posts: 615
16 days ago
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tekewin wrote:
Rocko1 wrote:
Nice report. Is that mini lake at 33.309572, -116.306719?
Yes, that's it exactly!
When I walked through, it looked like there was a fire circle set up at the mouth where it drains to the east. I didn't walk over to confirm. It might have just been a pile of rocks.
Looks like a good place to camp to get out of the wind that can rip over that mountain.
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