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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
6/5/2021
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Gary and I managed to entertain ourselves for 3 days going down the gorge over memorial day weekend.
Photos here: https://www.darensefcik.com/Photography/Anza-Borrego-Desert-State-Park/Carrizo-Gorge-5-29-2021/
Total Mylar Balloons: 2
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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Britain Posts: 606
6/5/2021
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Was up on the upper service road this year. Pretty clogged with cactus especially when you get on it after the tunnel by the trestle.. Looks like fun.
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Cant drive 55
Britain
http://icorva.com
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ziphius Posts: 911
6/5/2021
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Good looking trip at a great time of year. Lots of interesting cultural finds and always appreciate seeing 'dead stuff.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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Brian Posts: 230
6/5/2021
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Great pics. I have a second edition of Schad's book that describes a hike down the length of the gorge. It's not in later editions. My first desert hike was 30 years ago and I wanted to see the trestle. I knew about it since my grandfather worked for the SDandAE. Since the hike down the length of the gorge looked a little too ambitious, I did the Mortero Palms route and drove to the TH with my VW Beetle. Dos Cabezas road was in much better shape then.
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Buford Posts: 461
6/5/2021
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Good to see you guys got out to enjoy the Gorge. That area is always fun.
Any running water left in the bottom with the lack of rain this year?
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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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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
6/6/2021
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ziphius wrote:
and always appreciate seeing 'dead stuff.
I was not sure what kind of critter it was, coyote pup or fox or ? You have any idea?
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
6/6/2021
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Brian wrote:
Great pics. I have a second edition of Schad's book that describes a hike down the length of the gorge. It's not in later editions. My first desert hike was 30 years ago and I wanted to see the trestlen. I somehow managed to buy all of his books from the first and the Carrizo Gorge trip always had me wanting to go explore it. There is only a small section of the gorge I have not had boots on the ground in, a small section near tunnel #5 that has always looked too brushy but I suspect it could be done. I have gotten tons of ticks down in the gorge and even on this trip we stayed out of the botom and both Gary and I got the brown tick variety just following bypass roads.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
6/6/2021
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Buford wrote:
Any running water left in the bottom with the lack of rain this year?
Great question, I totally forgot, yes...we did get water at the palms. A small 12" round surface puddle filled with palm frond debris and a 3' diamondback snake...we shooed the snake away and pumped about 10 liters of the absolutely worst water I have ever had! If you have ever had to clean the drains in your house, that black thick goop that comes out on the drain snake is what our filtered water smelled like...I could only use it for cooking water. Gary said it was the sulphur and that it would help with "staying regular"....
With the fire in the Canadian railcar I suspect that patrols will now increase and fines will be enforced. We did run into a RR patrol with 6 people in the vehicle and they let everyone on the tracks know they were trespassing but no tickets were issued.
It was good trip and it felt good to be back out in the gorge. There were 2 locked gates we ran into, one at tunnel #8 and at tunnel #20. Tunnel #16 is caved in with a small opening to crawl thru but we took the bypass road for most of the tunnels and also followed the the old road over the east side between tunnels #16-#20 before dropping down to the palms. We saw a few snakes, diamondback, rosy boa, etc, vultures,ravens, whirlybirds but no moving 4 legged creatures.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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ziphius Posts: 911
6/6/2021
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Water quality sounds fun..... pretty sure your dead critter is a gray fox.
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Scooter Posts: 114
6/6/2021
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ziphius wrote:
Water quality sounds fun..... pretty sure your dead critter is a gray fox.
Great trip report !! Interesting area. I am glad I was able to experience the unspoiled gorge back in 1984. There was no graffiti, it looked like they had just left. The storm in the late 70's was the end of the railway.
Every time I have gone back, I can't believe the graffiti.
Thanks for the post
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
6/6/2021
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ziphius wrote:
Water quality sounds fun..... pretty sure your dead critter is a gray fox.
So Ziphius, while you're on the subject, what do you think about this dead guy in Potrero from a couple months back?
 IMG_6411 by tomteske, on Flickr
 IMG_6418 by tomteske, on Flickr
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
6/6/2021
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Nice TR, Daren. Was wondering how you guys were going to manage your water with 90+ degree heat. Time for an activated charcoal filter downstream from the Sawyer.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
6/7/2021
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tommy750 wrote:
Nice TR, Daren. Was wondering how you guys were going to manage your water with 90+ degree heat. Time for an activated charcoal filter downstream from the Sawyer.
Had the charcoal filter in the pack, just too lazy to hook it up..next time for sure..!!
I could only carry 8 liters to start with, Gary took 11....one of the RR patrol people gave me 2 liters of bottled water, ultimately 12 liters was needed for each of us for the 2-3/4 days we were out. I was mostly counting on water at the palms which there was...barely...and the 2 liters from the RR person was great, it was hot out.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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ziphius Posts: 911
6/7/2021
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tommy750 wrote:
ziphius wrote:
Water quality sounds fun..... pretty sure your dead critter is a gray fox.
So Ziphius, while you're on the subject, what do you think about this dead guy in Potrero from a couple months back?
Tommy that looks like a gray fox also. The tail is relatively long compared to the body length (shorter in coyote). Also, the rusty color I see behind the ears is typical of gray fox.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
6/7/2021
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Nice TR. Couple of questions. How do you deal with ants when cowboy camping? Is Gary hauling a bear cannister or is that an old paint can to store food in?
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
6/7/2021
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Rocko1 wrote:
Nice TR. Couple of questions. How do you deal with ants when cowboy camping? Is Gary hauling a bear cannister or is that an old paint can to store food in?
Never had an issue with ants, they just go around I guess.
Old paint can, Gary says it keeps the ants out. He is always hanging his food and brings the paint can, I just leave the food in my stuff sacks and leave in my backpack and don't have any problems.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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+1
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ziphius Posts: 911
6/7/2021
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Ants can be a problem for us bearded guys who keep unintended leftovers inside the matrix.
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rockhopper Posts: 668
6/8/2021
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Nice Trip report. Packing water is many times the only way to explore areas the desert. Need to get out there when the weather cools.
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tekewin Posts: 371
6/17/2021
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Great report and photos!
I am a little surprised it wasn't too hot. I am guessing that gorge is one of the hottest places in the desert.
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