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Is this missing now on forum posts?

Is this missing now on forum posts?

Howdy,

Chula Vista resident. Moved here just a couple of years ago. Have done quite a bit of hiking in the coastal mountains and through the Lagunas, looking to expand out in the desert. Have done just a couple of hikes and camping trips. Have a Tacoma 4x4, so able to get off the beaten path. So far have camped in Tamarisk Grove and June Wash and hiked Whale, Diablo, culp valley, and pictographs.


From Culp Valley Loop, my first time into Anza Borrego.

Look forward to learning more about this great place in our backyard!

I used to go to June Wash a lot. I used Schad's route to access Sandstone Canyon from there. It was before I had a car with AWD, so I couldn't drive to Sandstone from the usual route through Fish Creek. It's been a few years now since I've been to June Wash, but it sounds like more people know about it now. I never remember seeing people camping there when I used to go.

Still not working.
All settings correct :-(

The site is having email issues that I know about and the owner (surfponto) is trying to fix.

Is the site broken? I can't post any threads. I get a timed out error.

Server Error in '/AnzaBorrego/Forum' Application.The operation has timed out.Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: The operation has timed out.

Should be fixed
Still testing

Rocko1 wrote:

Is the site broken? I can't post any threads. I get a timed out error.

Server Error in '/AnzaBorrego/Forum' Application.The operation has timed out.Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: The operation has timed out.

Test back 11/13/2023 17:03 EST

Awesome 👍

dsefcik wrote:

Test back 11/13/2023 17:03 EST

Sorry all. Have been having some issues with the forum particularly with regards to notifications.
It should be fixed now but let me know.
Bob
anzaborrego@gmail.com

test

surfponto wrote:

Sorry all. Have been having some issues with the forum particularly with regards to notifications.
It should be fixed now but let me know.
Bob
anzaborrego@gmail.com

My wife and I camped at Palm Canyon over the weekend. It was our first time staying there. Fancy campground with showers, really nice.

Since it was only her second time in the park, we visited some of the classics. Maidenhair Falls, Slot loop, Calcite mine. Maidenhair was barely a trickle. Dark, stagnant water at the base and lots of bees. Also a lot of tarantula hawks along the trail. I was surprised by the $10 day hike fee at the trailhead. I haven't been there in a few years, maybe it's not new.

The last time I was at the Slot was about 10 years ago. Since then, a toilet building has been added, the parking area is larger with an overflow, and a park employee was set up collecting the $10 fee on the drive in. What shocked me was the crowds. When we got there at 8:30 AM, about a dozen vehicles were already there. We passed a family of 8 and other parties slowly working their way through the slot. We did a loop around the back toward Borrego Mountain, then made a failed attempt to get back to the main canyon by just heading in that general direction. Hit dead ends about 200' from the main canyon according to GPS. Easy to backtrack and get out, but it was fun to explore some of the side slots. When we got back to the parking lot, there were 40 vehicles and dozens of people wandering around. I am guessing social media (plus the holiday) has exploded the popularity of the Slot.

There were also a lot of people at the Calcite mine. At least 10 trucks passed us either driving in or out.

It wasn't the sparsely populated park I remember even from the last couple of years. Maybe it's because I tend to hang out in harder to reach places, but the crowds were a real bummer. /rant off.

Had a knee replacement in October. But I’m gimping around somewhat. Will try and retrieve what’s in in it over thanksgiving.

surfponto wrote:

Speedy recovery 👍
Thanks would love to see what is on the camera.

Britain wrote:

Had a knee replacement in October. But I’m gimping around somewhat. Will try and retrieve what’s in in it over thanksgiving.

Thanks notifications are working again..

I only remember them charging to park at the visitor center...wow, $10 to hike? No thanks.

Glad to see that finally got posted. I was the other one on the trip but couldn't get the trip report posted before I went out of town.

Nice pictures. Good to see the Rockhouse cabin is still somewhat intact.
Agree about the deep sand.
We drove out to Jojoba Wash and it was deep so we also aired down the Tacoma

I have a similar picture of the descent from the Solstice Cave which I will have to dig up.
Daren was on that trip 👍

OK found it. Daren is in the lead with my wife trailing behind.

I remember we were pretty scratched up from that trip 😉
Bob
edited by surfponto on 11/16/2023

....

My "workaround" as an old guy is to retire soon and visit the park only during weekdays. Also, get one of those parking permits for volunteering 40 hours a year. Not sure if it will work at the slot which I'm not familiar with, but at least it will get you into the visitor center.

....

surfponto wrote:

That has been our strategy Tom. Retired two years ago and we try to do all of our trips starting on a Monday. Occasionally we will meet friends and do a weekend trip but I try to avoid it for the all the reasons stated in this thread.
I tend to blame social media and hashtags 🙄

Will be my strategy too next year. Retiring at the end of the year, or at least downshifting. Might still work part time.

surfponto wrote:

Congrats on your upcoming retirement 👍

Thanks! It's exciting but also weird.

I retired summer 2021, same as surfponto I believe....can't imagine ever getting up every day and going to work again..I have not missed a single day or work!!

Longer story coming soon about that though.

dsefcik wrote:

I retired summer 2021, same as surfponto I believe....can't imagine ever getting up every day and going to work again..I have not missed a single day or work!!

Longer story coming soon about that though.

Congrats on the retirement! I'd be interested in hearing that story.

It's hard for me to imagine NOT getting up every day and going to work. I plan to do some online tutoring, but I want to work 2-3 days a week. I need to be doing something productive since my wife has a few years to go for her pension. I don't think I'll miss the full time grind, but I will miss some of the people.
edited by tekewin on 12/18/2023

surfponto wrote:

Great trip report. Love that area
Brian is your Subaru lifted with bigger tires?

No, I have skid plates and Falken Wildpeak A/T tires, but other than that it's a stock Crosstrek. I've been in some situations where a lift would definitely help, but in the case of Indian Gorge the main issue was the soft sand. My car does great in that.

Rocko1 wrote:

Nice boa. I have only seen one also, near Pinyon Mtn Rd years ago. Shockingly I see very few reptiles.

I saw one like that on my solo trip to Alta Seca Bench. Not sure whether I remembered to tell you about that when we went there.

surfponto wrote:

How close did you get to those gators?

As close as I want, alligators are everywhere here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aGxddC1lyA

The Four Frogs / Jacumba Jim loop in Schad's book looks like a real slog (starts from the top in McCain Valley). I haven't ruled out doing it some day, but it's definitely not at the top of my list. Never thought of going up from the bottom. Anything interesting there?

The canyon that goes up to McCain actually has frogs in the springs. I think someone here went up to the top, perhaps Tommy?

You go up the canyon on the west side? Or the east side. Both have palms.

That whole area is worth the time. McCain Valley and down to ABDSP is a special place, almost not visited by anyone anymore. So much to explore. History, remoteness, amazing place, hope everyone keeps it that way.

Nice captures cool rig!

I have camped up there several times, nice place with great views. BP visited me every time. Had a fox visit one night at dinner looking for hand outs.

Nice pics. Sometimes the sky is so beautiful out there.

Nice trip, Surfponto. Driving out on a Tuesday to explore a canyon, drink a beer and drive home makes me want to quit my job right now! Daren, Gary and I went up Jacumba Jim back in 2017 and I remeber dropping into Four Frogs on the way back but haven't had a chance to explore that canyon. That row of palms on the canyon wall always has looked intriguing. Was out in Rockhouse a couple weeks ago and hiked up into McCain and above the spring that fed Rockhouse. Was aboout 11.5 miles and 2.6K g/s but probably easier than the Schad Four Frogs Jacumba Jim loop.

Looks nice Bob 👍

A map by the ABF is available here

https://theabf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Flower-Filed-3-A3-size-map-1.pdf

Rocko1 wrote:

That ridge is calling my name!

I'd try it again if I had you along for moral support. And if it wasn't super gusty.

Heading out tomorrow to check the flowers near borrego springs (Henderson canyon and coyote canyon) with the wife. Taking the wives little Range Rover so will not be doing any 4x4 road. Two of my beast vehicles are down right now. Son managed to break a piece out of torsion bar, a king shock, and break an axel on the LC100 (4th axel he has broke in 2 years). I try to tell him the skilled drivers do not need to ram the car to do challenging 4x4 roading.

So flowers, fonts point, lunch, and serpent is probably all we will be doing.

Looking forward to it as I have not been out to ABSP yet this season. I had 2 hiking trips planned this season but had to cancel on both.
edited by DHeuschele on 3/12/2024

Those blooms are amazing. Sounds like a successful trip and kudos for being kind to the biker.

Is the road OK all the way to Harper Flat or even Hapaha Flat? I've only been down that road a little ways to hike to Sunset Mountain.

Nice TR, Surfponto! I feel your pain regarding the Marines flying stuff overhead. I live five miles away from El Centro NAF and see/hear/feel their big birds at all hours of the day including midnight. The Blue Angels practice here every winter and 5-6 F-18s flying overhead makes your ears ring. Have never visited Harper Cabin. Glad to hear it's surviving. Agree, Pinyon wash is a great camping spot and great starting off point for lots of hikes to Sunset, the four nearby guzzlers, Pinyon Mt, Whale, Harper Flat. Was out at Split Rock a couple months ago and met hikers coming in from Pinyon to check out the pictographs.

I was on Granite a while back. Lots of jet traffic that day. Nice captures. I also live about 5 miles from NAF El Centro. Lol I get all the traffic to and from Yuma right over my house. It's really loud when the Blue Angles are in town. Harper flat area is a cool place to hike around and explore.

Thanks! That's great information. I might try a hike to Harper Flat from Pinyon Wash. ...I want no part of the squeeze or heart attack hill....

Nice to have your wife into hiking. Mine loves it specially in the rocks.