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Return to Pinyon Ridge

hikerdmb Posts: 423 4/9/2012	hikerdmb Posts: 423 The plan was to head back out into Rockhouse Valley but as the weekend got closer and the forecasted temps out there kept getting higher I decided for a cooler trip. Pinyon Ridge would be perfect. It is about a 5 mile hike out there and we could camp at about 4,400' elevation. The trail goes up and down the entire way so even though there is only about a 400' difference between the trailhead and the valley where we would camp, it is probably closer to 1,000' feet of gain to reach camp. That would be perfect. And the temperature here was in the mid 70's during the day and only got down to about 40 during the night. We started the hike in in the early afternoon and ran into 7 people heading back out the trail on an "official ABDSP hike." We saw them in the first 1-2 miles and then there was no one the rest of the time. There were lots of small yellow flowers and big boulders for most of the hike. After a couple of miles we had gone up and down enough to be high enough to have a great view of the San Ysidro Mountains to the north. Towards the end of the trail there is an old post that marks the beginning of the short section up to the valley just to the east of Wilson Peak. This is a beautiful part of the trail as you hike up into the Pinyon trees. It reminds me of parts of the hike up Whale Peak. But this section here only lasts a couple hundred yards. There are some great views from the top of Wilson Peak. This is the view down into Borrego Springs from our camp site. Here I am set up at my usual spot. This was my 7th trip on the Pinyon Ridge Trail, mostly I have been out here solo, but not this time. You can see my buddy's new tent in the background. Here a pic looking out toward the Salton Sea after the sun go up a bit on Sunday morning. For the most part the Pinyon trees up here are not as tall as on Whale Peak. The fact that this is about 1,000' feet lower has a lot to do with the smaller size. Here are a couple of healthy little trees. These were right near our camp. It was a nice trip with no wind, perfect temps, a beautiful (almost) full moon rising in the east, and I still have a trip back to Rockhouse Valley to do another time. I put together a short video of the trip that can be seen here.... (You may have to copy and paste the link to get there.) <em>edited by hikerdmb on 4/9/2012</em>
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1364 4/9/2012	surfponto Administrator Posts: 1364 That looks like a great weekend backpack trip. The sunrise must be spectacular in the morning. The moon was super bright in Indian Valley also Thanks for posting the pictures. -- https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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