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Boojum trees, were you North of Rancho Santo Ynez?

Well, could go on for days about Baja and by then everyone would have quit the forum, maybe hung themselves. Benn a long time

So many campfires we reminiscised and told tales of our past Baja trips, most pre Highway 1, some after. Basically I remember the unequalled scenery, but the people, the locals meant so much. Sadly so many are gone.

But one favorite story, my father in law being an expatriot of the USA (after being unceremoniously let go by a large military contractor just shy of retirement) lived for a time at Rancho San Jose (Meling) in a trailer park style trailer. Being Swedish as Ida Meling was, they new each (from when he was in San Diego Mountain Rescue) and were friends. My wife and I visited frequently and often her brother would come along.

We left once after a long weeked on Sunday night, traveling quite fast as we had to go to work the next day, it was raining and the road was mud and puddles, I really did not avoid anything as I had a large 4 wheel drive truck at the time. My bother in law following had a 65? 67? Chey van, affectionately known as the bondo buggy (always waiting for a nice 10 pound chuck to fall off the rocker panel). I went through a pool rather than just a puddle, he rev'd up and tried to follow. The van stuck and died in the middle, made him hook up and pulled him out.

The old Chevy vans had an air foil under the chassis to force air into the engine compartment, his had just shoved half the mud and water from the pool into the engine. I worked on it pulling plug wires, distributor cap, points etc. cleaning them off and drying them out, no luck, kept shorting out and our flashlights were now giving out.I knew we were close to San Telmo and there was a cervesaria there, most also had some sundries. Headed out for pilas (batteries), got there and half a dozen locals, three sheets to the wind, were in front of the adobe, came back to the van with half the village instead of batteries. We discussed the situation and they immediately started gathering twigs and grass, before I could say incoming they lit the engine compartment on fire, I waited for it to blow up.

Well the van started, a few singed wires but it made it back state side. that is how it was, the locals would do anything for you and would not take anything in return (it was an insult if you offered)

My wife especially, and I so very much miss that, old Baja, immaculate children in white dress, sharing a barbecue with locals at Coyote Bay.

Would like to go back down, it has been at least 12 years, hard to reconcile the past with what has become of Baja now, I think memories are better

Well still raining, I will try and post photos again, did you happen to get my email? on not being particularly adept at posting?

Stayed at Agua Caliente Friday and Saturday night. On Saturday we went out Carrizo Canyon and up the East Fork hoping to see the palms as explained in the Lindsay book "The Anza Borrego Desert Region". Did not make it all the way to the palms, but now that I check the maps/google earth, we were not far off. We were wondering if we took a wrong turn. Book says about 2 miles, and we hiked for 2 hours before we turned around and figured we should have seen them by now. Finally started a GPS track on my phone once we headed back and it indicated 2.2 miles. We were pretty close. bummer.

On Sunday we headed out June Wash and decided to hike up and get a look at Sandstone Canyon as indicated in the same book. I had hoped to stumble upon the Diablo BM, as the book referenced it, but it was not on the map I had. (Anza Borrego Desert Region-Recreation Map). Anyway, hiked up the ridges, faint trail with a few ducks made it easy, but I think I passed the Diablo BM, but had a great view of Sandstone Canyon and surrounding area. Using a GPS app on my phone I created a waypoint and then plotted it on Caltopo. (pic below-I'm the blue dot)



We had a great time, weather was awesome, I just need to work on my GPS skills before I head out.

Also checked out Bow Willow and a few other places we had driven by but never checked out.
Pics and captions are here. Roughly in sequence

https://plus.google.com/photos/111004590236580500907/albums/5822934782766175985?authkey=CMDNuYXUspuabw



Dave

.... Poor guy had been searching for the solstice cave and never found it. He said he drove through the old county road area and got "delayed". The tire tracks are about 10"-12" deep maybe more. I would avoid that area without high clearance at the least.

I know the school I work for has been installing rooftop solar for the last few years and recently a solar powered vehicle re-charging station. They claim a significant reduction in electricity bills.

Didn't come from the desert, came from our rooftop.

Nice trip! Still have to get out and visit Goat Canyon Trestle. Thanks. Tom

Ahhhh, sitting at the Indian hill trailhead wishing I could take photos that good. NICE SHOTS!!!!!!!!

Looked like a beautiful day. Last time a well of Eight echos was probably about 25 years ago.
I do remember yelling down it

Thought I would piggy back on your thread and add photos of the Store. The guy that runs the place is way cool, and he has some pretty sweet stuff in there. I ended up running out of propane over the weekend and had to stop in and fill up! It is sweet that he sells propane!!!!! It is also sweet that he accepts debit/credit cards!

......
edited by anutami on 1/1/2013

Did you make it all the way up Nolina to Pinyon Mt.? There's a nice approximately 30ft dry fall somewhere back there that's really pretty. Tom

Nolina Wash is a great little canyon. Daren and I did a loop a couple years ago where we went up Bighorn Canyon and crossed over to Nolina and headed back down to our start. Here is the link to that trip with some great night photos from my buddy.
http://www.anzaborrego.net/anzaborrego/forum/topic61-backpacking-in-bighorn-canyon.aspx

This is a Google Map that I created that is a work in progress. Sorry for all the scribbled trails. But it outlines the train tracks for you, and eventually will have some
hiking paths that I have taken that make sense. Feel free to collaborate with me on this map, however I am not sure how that is done exactly. I have tried to open it up to everyone.
I think I can send you an invite via email, but I'm not sure what that will accomplish.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200894553877442534046.0004cd8885173c865ca28&msa=0&ll=32.727292,-116.184797&spn=0.047583,0.055275

Perhaps the admin could help me with the below html:

[html]<iframe width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=200894553877442534046.0004cd8885173c865ca28&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=32.7509,-116.180248&spn=0.069299,0.109863&z=13&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=200894553877442534046.0004cd8885173c865ca28&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=32.7509,-116.180248&spn=0.069299,0.109863&z=13&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Carrizo Gorge Railway Map</a> in a larger map</small>[/html]
edited by harmono on 12/28/2012
edited by harmono on 12/28/2012
edited by harmono on 12/28/2012

That looks like a fun trip Bob! The rock formation is very curious..... Jim

surfponto wrote:

We didn't make it that far.
I may hike up that way again this coming Sunday.
How far back is the waterfall? We veered off the the left up a side canyon at one point.
Bob



tommy750 wrote:

Did you make it all the way up Nolina to Pinyon Mt.? There's a nice approximately 30ft dry fall somewhere back there that's really pretty. Tom

edited by surfponto on 1/2/2013

Not positive how far up it was but think you were getting close. Here's a map of my loop up Pinyon Wash and down Nolina. Was modified from a Schad hike. Think he described a Bighorn to Pinyon Mt to Nolina loop. Tom


Pinyon Mt by tomteske, on Flickr

That's funny because we almost stopped by the Well, but another car was pulled over so I kept going....Never been

That looks pretty cool, is the road out there an easy 2wd or is it rough 4wd?

It is very nice, my daughter took photos last time down, some look identical to yours. All I do is drive, drop them all off at the top and pick them up at the bottom, then drive North out Borrego Mtn. Wash. .....

....Another nice Family trip

I like the music in your video. That is an unusual place for ABDSP. Looks more like Utah. I've been down that drop off a couple of times but never tried going up...that one, anyway.

a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a thousands pictures. Nice! gotta check that place out

Just missed the Cholla bloom


Chuparosa


Desert Lavender


My Favorite Ocatillo


Bloom


Yellow Chuparosa


Yucca Condo

dsefcik wrote:

Jim (ziphius) wrote:

Follow-up question: what are the sizes of the feline fossil prints?

Regular 50-60lb dog size in the mud....I think the Remeika document has details of them. I think Joel humored me for the canteen photo as he hiked on and left me in the dust, he is tougher,smarter and in better shape than most people I know.

Daren, you ought to consider growing a huge beard so you fit in better with that backpacking crew. I'm envious that you get to spend time with such a knowledgeable and experienced desert gang.

waning moon wrote:

but I am sorry to say after that, I click and drag to post. I do not know how to link? I have tried increasing pixels, resizing in google upload etc. (was successful once), but last post was small size again until I see Bob edited, (Thank you Bob)

Yeah, Google kinda jacked up the simplicity of it..you could try clicking your image so it opens up bigger then *right* click and select the "copy image url" or similar and use that code.

• Click on individual image in your photo album
• Select "Link To Photo" option on left (see image)
• Select desired size from "Select Size" drop down menu (see image)
• Check "Image only (no link)" check-box (see image)
• Copy text from "Embed image" text box and paste into image dialog box

Jim (ziphius) wrote:

Daren, you ought to consider growing a huge beard so you fit in better with that backpacking crew. I'm envious that you get to spend time with such a knowledgeable and experienced desert gang.

How about this.....


I suspect once I leave the office enviro I will return to my roots. I am very grateful I am able to spend time hiking with the crowd I do.

Well my friend that I went to Goat Canyon Trestle with is talking about going out there maybe this weekend. My feet are still recovering, but maybe we can make it to Indian Hill.
I wanted to check out this hidden path that hopefully will take us to an overlook of Carrizo Gorge and take pictures there. So I'm thinking of setting off from Dos Cabesas Road near the Indian Hill wash, then walk across to the tracks. The only thing is this could be too long of a walk, and too hilly. So we probably will go to the end of Dos Cabesas like we did last time and not go to Indian Hill, but that would be a shame to go out there and not see Indian Hill. That's why it would be nice to have a mountain bike, so we can cover more ground in less time hopefully and with less strain on my feet. Anyways, we will probably play it by ear, but I most certainly want to try this hidden path that I have been talking about (see previous posts).
The hidden path is an alternate path to walking on all those trestles that lead to Goat Canyon Trestle. I have it outlined in this map. When they built the tracks they also cut out some foot paths from the hill, so potentially this would provide an alternate route, however I have reservations about going the whole way, because parts of the path I believe have been eroded, or rock slides have destroyed it. But I would be able to at least walk up the hill which is a more gentle slope than the surrounding hills, and possibly use this path a little to get to an overlook where I would be able to possibly see Goat Canyon Trestle and Carrizo Gorge from about 400-600 feet above the tracks.


https://maps.google.com/?ll=32.750323,-116.175613&spn=0.047571,0.055275&t=p&z=14

Thanks for the tips, Bob. When I finally get around to posting my Thanksgiving hike, this will come in handy.

Here is a Google Earth KML file of the trip. Great area, I want to go back and explore some more.

Wow, I so miss it down there! Last trip was about 8 years ago on a surf/kayak trip to scorpion Bay (san juanico) and Bay of LA!...Since kids I just haven't mustered up the courage to take them down there. Bob, is it safe to go down there? The Gray Whales may change our mind in the near future! Does anyone know when the best time to go down and see them?
edited by anutami on 12/10/2012

Well I beat these uploaded photos up enough trying to get the missing ones to post and also larger, ended up losing another in the process.

There was a post a while back which mention Hurricane Kathleen which came up the Gulf and inundated Ocatillo in 1976. I remember going down and my wife taking a number of photos, after rummaging through boxes they where found (in very poor condition). Photos were entirely brown a touch of purple, essentially sepia, I ran them through a scanner and corrected and then another program to enhance even more. Some came out, here are a few

West of old Millers






Looking SW up Devil's



Coyote Wells looking South towards Yuha Buttes


Looking West, Ocatillo in the background




Carrizo Wash from McCain's, I do not think this is Saccatone though, wash is clean cut

edited by waning moon on 1/15/2013
edited by waning moon on 1/15/2013
edited by waning moon on 1/15/2013

OK last try, the google program is not "Picasa", I venture into the WEB only as far as it suits my interests, do not trust it as far as I can throw it. Something, "Google Chrome" has been offered, but again I never upgrade or download, maybe that is where Picasa is? My Google album is public (cannot believe I did this but I have very good firewalls) still ABDF will not accept my copy and paste URL in attach files. So here goes another click and drag that was somewhat successful before.

Old Millers

Looking up Devils or as I see it now called Myers creek

Washout

Coyote Wells looking South to Yuha Buttes (when Coyote Wells was actually a place)

Railroad tracks

Railroad tracks with Ocatillo in the background

Carrizo Wash from McCains, clean cut from storm, I do not think this is Saccatone (this was before McCains was closed)

I happened to be to the top of San Pedro Matirs shortly after the Hurricane as well, huge pines (Jefferies) as large as Ponderosa's not like our drawf Laguna Mtn. Jefferries were pulled up as so many twigs and tossed around. At La Grulla the creeks were washed clean, 6" fingerling trout all that remained (and knowing that PETA and the Sierra Club will now be after me, I still ate them) no roads back then, 35 miles on a horse to the top in one day.
edited by waning moon on 1/17/2013

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/12258

Not ABDSP but related and could set some nasty precedents I would think.

As the article mentions, it is for the safety of the people and the eagles............Yeah right

Check out the video link below. This will give you a good sense of what it would be like to live out in the desert in all those boulder caves. This particular family has lived among the boulders for 30 years and raised 7 children!

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbcnews.com/50549407#50549407

surfponto wrote:

Looks like you had a great trip.
Love that route up and over Mortero Palms and then down into Goat Canyon.
Haven't done that route in a few years now.

Did you guys actually get rained on? Looks like a lot of water in the morteros.
Bob

Bob, we saw only sprinkles and arrived Saturday around 2pm. Judging by what I saw on the weather radar news images Friday, I think most of the rain fell that day. The old cement watering trough at the mouth of Mortero Palms Canyon had about 1/2 inch of water in it. There were numerous granite 'birdbaths' full of water almost everywhere we hiked. Dos Cabezas Rd. also had several large puddles. I joked that we didn't even need to bring water on our trip.

How many miles on that engine Bob? Rebuilding the engine is one of the greatest forms of recycling you can do. Most people throw in the towel and buy a new vehicle.

Just found this in my truck. Could be the best fortune ever!


Desert Sands by tomteske, on Flickr

Well, I had plans to be out in ABDSP this weekend but this crazy flu is taking its toll on our family. Went through some pics and found these


checkpoint, my dads nissan hardbody packed full,


Somewhere deep in baja



Fueling up


2nd point I think @ san juanico (scorpian bay)

edited by anutami on 1/26/2013

How come the photos from desertwrx do not show up? All I see are links.

Thanks for getting my photobucket pics working!

If you want to camp near bathrooms then Bow Willow, Arroyo Salado, and Fish Creek are good free campgrounds. If you have a 4wd, then there are hundreds (thousands?) of places to go near roads. mrkmc's post with the pdf is good.
edited by DesertWRX on 2/1/2013

My Sister asked me if I would be interested in driving for her when she rides her horses on the Pacific Crest Trail. She wasn't very specific about what her plans were, she just mentioned she will ride from the border to Campo on the first ride. But it looks like part of the trail goes through ABDSP. I apparently will be driving a truck with a horse trailer. I'm not sure where that will take me, but I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this, so I can plan some activities around this in advance. I found the mother lode of maps for this area in case you have not checked this out here's the link:

http://www.pctmap.net/download/p/mapdl.html

Was going to try and do a 3-4 or maybe 5 day backpack trip somewhere next weekend, no definite plan yet. Some ideas I have are:

Rockhouse Cyn/Dawns Peak
Sawtooth Mtns/Inner Pasture/Canebrake
Mortero Palms/Carrizo Gorge

If anyone is interested in joining me for one of the above or something different let me know.

Bob, if I do something that starts with going out to IP I will let you know. I haven't made any solid plans yet but have a few ideas.

Disturbing story in the Imperial Valley Press regarding an assault on a photog documenting Ocotillo Wind:
http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/ivp-ocotillo-wind-express-manager-arrested-20130207,0,6598501.story

Also, check out a similar story in East County Magazine:
http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/12402

Nice article in the UT about the railroad getting fixed. Four to five trains daily are anticipated if it gets repaired. Hope they eventually put a passenger car in the mix. Tom

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/11/tijuana-san-diego-railroad-tracks/

Wow! 70# pack! How much water was Daren packing? If it was a dry hike, you ( I )would need about 3 gals. for 4 days and thats about 24 lbs. alone. Good news is that pack gets lighter and lighter as the hike progresses.That trail up Villager peak is one of the best in the county IMHO. Nice steady climb, well marked and outstanding views.
Going from Rabbit to Dawns peak is another story. I am sure Daren will have some great stories.
Bob, good show with helping Daren on his expedition loop trip.

The drop offs on the west side of the trail are awesome.

This is from last Mays Villager peak day hike.







Village peak

edited by rockhopper on 2/17/2013

Nice!!!! I can't imagine doing that hike carrying my water in an olla :0
How was the road going into rockhouse? The ocotillo look like they are getting ready to "pop"
edited by anutami on 2/18/2013

Looks like ABDSP mountian water sources look promising for Feb./ March.

Martinez creek after Feb. rain/snow 1990's

Thanks for heading out with me for a few hours Bob, I made it to Rabbit right at sunset the first day. I was able to locate a water cache someone allowed to me use and grabbed 10 liters right below Villager so my total pack weight was probably close to 65lbs with all that water and the last ascent up to Rabbit was a bitch never mind the strong winds and cold air....working on a TR and will post soon!

Any predictions for what kind of year it's going to be overall?

To follow up with the brush bypass and cliffed out route just in case anyone else is planning a similar route, here are some Google Earth images showing my route.

GE doesn't do justice to the thick brush but if you stay left on the ridgeline you will be staring at huge boulders and dense manzanita, here are two view angles of where I ended up going around a lot of it on the east side but doing that caused me considerable more elevation gain/loss




This is the finger ridge coming down from 6582, Schad's route is on the left of my track, I missed it and ended coming down right on top of this boulder cliff. I either had to climb back up and go around or try to maneuver horizontally across the boulders.....I chose the maneuver and it was a bit sketchy with the pack on....lesson learned, go down on the other ridge....


Close up of the boulder cliff and my horizontal tracks across it

Thanks Tom, I am currently looking at the Canon S100 but will also look into your recommendations.

TR wrote:

Daren,
Weight was a serious consideration when I swithed from my point and shoot Nikon, to a DSLR. From what I read one of the lightest weight cameras was the Olympus E-620. With a 14-42 mm lens it weighs just 28 oz. I also carry a 70-300 mm lens which weighs 25 oz. I've been really happy with it so far. I bought it reconditioned through Cameta Camera out on NY. I bought the 70-300 mm lens used on E-bay.

Tom

Awesome!! You have some great photos. I think it is going to be a great flower season. Should start warming up soon

Nice!!! I love seeing that sign!!!

Here is one from last year on Sunrise HWY

Very tentatively planning a single over nighter to Dawns this weekend if weather and schedule work out. This will be a water caching trip for an upcoming hike thru over Spring Break. If anyone would like to join me and help carry some water, PM or email me.

color

Was in western AZ this weekend and saw some brittlebush and chuparosas. Looked very green in general, but not many flowers yet.

I just ordered a new Canon S100 from Amazon so I will give that a try....7ozs vs 7lbs.....

........

All my nice full frame photos got all jacked up in the new and improved photobucket. Arrrrghhhh!

Bob, You need to get those windows tinted!

surfponto wrote:

I met Daren off S22 since I was driving the TDI and the Land Cruiser is out of commission

Yep Ocotillo are looking very healthy Will be back out on March 9 so I am hoping to see some flowers


Nolan (anutami) wrote:

Nice!!!! I can't imagine doing that hike carrying my water in an olla :0
How was the road going into rockhouse? The ocotillo look like they are getting ready to "pop"
edited by anutami on 2/18/2013

edited by surfponto on 2/18/2013

I am about 12mpg diesel with a 3000 lb fully loaded camper and 7.3l 4x4.

dsefcik wrote:

Nolan (anutami) wrote:

By the way what did it cost you in gas to drive out to meet Daren? I spend approx $100 in diesel (or more) to get my rig out and back.

About $50-$60 in my 2009 2500 Dodge Diesel CrewCab from Lemon Grove (current prices). I get about 16-18mpg and up to 22mpg on long distance freeway drives (Death Valley for example).

Surf,
You fixed my photos! How did you do it??. What do I do to fix my "new" photobucket account. I should have left the old account alone! Sorry don't mean to hijack, but photos look soooooo much better. The snow on the Santa Rosas looks way better now!
A big THANKS

rockhopper

Fun to drive. Managed 21mpg for the weekend

I like the old Toyota truck....

Great weekend, Bob... It has been too long since I have seen a starry sky like that! Thanks so much for being our desert guide!

You would think they would last a long time with how dry it is out there. That truck looks in pretty good shape.

great pix Bob--thanks for showing us another part of your desert...look forward to the next trip