Talk about a trip you took out to Anza Borrego
Indian Hill 06-21-2010 Trip Report
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2622
6/22/2010
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Full trip report with pictures here: http://www.sefcik.com/2010/06/indian-hill-06-21-2010.html
I had heard about some rock art that was out near Indian Hill so I decided to try and find it. I will admit I did not do much homework before I left, I just saw Indian Hill on my topo map and figured I would find it if I hiked around enough. I had expected and prepared for triple digit temperatures, packing 6 liters of water and some salty snacks in my pack. I also expected and planned for rattlesnakes, bringing my new hiking stick and careful walking technique. I have seen snakes every trip out this season and expected the same for this trip.
I have never been out to Indian Hill or the Dos Cabezas area so I used a Jerry Schads guide to follow the road out. It was bumpy but easy in my 4×4 truck. There was one section right after Dos Cabezas siding that looked as though it suffered from the recent rains, I don’t think a passenger car would have made it past that point.
I got a late start being Monday and all, I worked thru the morning and then headed out around noon and arrived at the end of Dos Cabezas around 1:30. The temps were in the low to mid 90′s and I don’t think it ever got above 95 degrees so it was a mild day for me. I hiked out thru the alluvial wash towards Indian Hill.
Not sure where the pictographs were exactly I started looking at every hill out there. After 3 hours and lots of boulder climbing I realized I was not going to find any rock art. The whole time I was thinking why would anyone now or 6000 years ago climb way up these boulders to draw on rocks..?? I knew I was looking in the wrong place. It was getting late and I decided instead to focus on all of the other really cool things about being in the desert, the beautiful landscape, the solitude, the catclaw stuck in my legs….
It was getting late, almost 5pm and I figured it was time to start heading back to make sure I got out of there before dark and have some spare time just in case I had a flat or some other emergency. When I explore alone out in the back country I tend to be over cautious. I figure I would swing around one last clump of boulders and beeline straight back to the truck. I found a pretty cool cave and then saw some morteros. I thought maybe I was close…
Some of the morteros showed obvious signs of indian occupation and there were lots of Yoni carvings. I kept looking around but did not find the pictographs, they alluded me this visit. I needed to head back to the truck by this point as it was 5:30 and I still had a good 45 minute walk to the truck and another 45 minutes or so of driving dirt road to get to the highway.
When I got home I did more research on the rock art and after looking at several photographs from other sites I realized I was right on it but somehow missed it. I will definitly go back out and spend more time looking not just for the cave but also at all of the other incredible things in that area of the desert.
A few of things for this trip out, I did not see anyone else out there except for a lone border patrol officer exiting the dirt road when I arrived. The (2) water containers I looked in were empty and looked run down, like they had not been restocked in some time. No rattlesnakes..wow! I guess during the heat of the day they take shelter in whatever shade they can find. I did see signs of illegals travleing thru the area, faded water jugs, food cans, faded clothing, etc. I saw very little signs of animal scat except near the “really nice cave” where there were heavy concentrations of cat scat. I saw at least 10 large jack rabbits and the washes were full of rabbit and other small animal tracks. I did not see large animal tracks though, just a few small deer tracks.
<em>edited by dsefcik on 9/28/2010</em>
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1364
6/23/2010
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Hey Daren,
Awesome trip report. You were really close to the pictographs.
95' is not too bad. Mary and I may do a trip out on July 1-2 if I can convince her she won't get cooked out there.
I still want to hike out to those palms in Carrizo Gorge off to the right.
If you do Indian Hill again let me know. There is also a cool old railroad construction camp near by.
Journey to the Railroad Construction Camp in Anza Borrego
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2622
6/29/2010
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Just an update, I went back out yesterday (Monday the 28th) and found the cave and more morteros and Yoni carvings. The cave is tricky to find even after looking at all of the pictures on the Internet. With temps around 105 degrees during the day the cave was remarkably cool and breezy, that was the best spot to be in all day. The paintings are faded but still visible, I think even more interesting is all of the Yoni carvings, they are everywhere once you realize what you are looking at. Jack rabbits and all kinds of lizards were out, still no rattlesnakes though. Again, I was the only sole out there.
Daren
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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