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Thank you for a very interesting trip report. It sure has been a slow spring in the desert and on the blog. Thanks Again

Tommy you have a fantastic eye for finding things! Great pictures and finds. I have considered a drone but have reservations after being out in nature and having them buzz around near me-the noise can be quite off putting.

Nice finds. Neat adventure Tommy! Were the camping circles on the benches above the ancient lake shore line? The multiple lake fills over the past 12,000 years ( At least 8 full fills but probably many more) supported large populations at various periods of lake fills. Lake fills may have lasted 50 years or more with constant inflows from the Colorado river. Population peak may have reached 10,000 around the lake. Those stone tools could be 1000 years old or 10,000 years old.

tommy750 wrote:

Sound like everyone is in agreement drones are awesome and terrible depending on how they're used. Ziphius, nice article on seal counting. My cheap drone camera now has more MP than the one in your article which is from 2011. Your Sony mirrorless setup is probably a completely different story! My little drone in intentionally 249 grams, one less than required for an FAA certificate which is .55 to 55lbs.

What interests me the most is high resolution panoramas and I think our area has a lot of possibilities.

What is your drones MP count Tommy? Some high res panos would be pretty fantastic.

Tommy yeah the article is a little outdated! We're using a 36 MP Sony A7R on a hexacopter these days.

Gray whales from 150 ft altitude. Custom hexacopter with Sony A7R mirrorless body.

tommy750 wrote:

ziphius wrote:

Tommy yeah the article is a little outdated! We're using a 36 MP Sony A7R on a hexacopter these days.

You have any pics you could post from your work with that setup?? Would be very interesting to see.

edited by ziphius on 6/5/2020

ziphius wrote:

Tommy yeah the article is a little outdated! We're using a 36 MP Sony A7R on a hexacopter these days.

You have any pics you could post from your work with that setup?? Would be very interesting to see.

Tommy. Book is on order. Looking forward to adding to the Library. On topic, Back in the 80's during my "Surfing Years" we would see scuba divers coming out of the ocean with stone tools and grinding metates from off shore. This was in the N. County near Encinitas. The divers could only go so deep so alot is still out there. 10,000 years ago the shore line was around 300 feet lower and up to miles out from the current shore line. At the Spindrift site in La Jolla the ocean bottom drops off quickly and the old shore line was only a few hundred yards out.

Very nice! I am always amazed at how you find these artifacts. You may have a built in dowsing rod ability for this stuff.

Nice rock art expedition Tommy. The whole Owens valley was a major corridor to the early peoples for thousands of years so there is a lot of rock art out there. Speaking of thousands of years, that obsidian point you found on the White mountains is probably very very old. That has been a dry mountain for a long time with only seasonal creeks from snow melt. Was it found near a seasonal creek drainage? btw Years ago, when we went up to the Bristle cone forest / White mountains we smoke the clutch on our Ford Ranger going up the top locked gate just shy of the 14,000 ft+ summit weather station. I probably walked over your arrow point.

Great trip Tommy. Makes me miss the desert!

Nice report.

I like the sheep shots of course . Two lambs to five ewes is not terrible. ABDSP in July lamb survival is close to 0% some years and areas, other areas close to 70%. I don't know what normal is near the Bristlecones.

I have been meaning to make my way up to the White Mountains.

Clouds rushing over San Ysidro Mtns from Big Spring area in 2014.
https://video.wixstatic.com/video/a56887_3e935c1a146c4aad98b3d4525a9296d5/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Thanks for report! It took me a few minutes to figure out that tent set up. Clever.


You got some close up sheep, always a treat. The White Mountains are still on my to-do list. I've heard the road is really long and rough.

Nice TR tommy750....Gary, myself and other gang members were not too far away up in the Domeland Wilderness and enjoyed some very hot summer weather as well. We did manage to see bears, deer and other local wildlife and some rock art. Glad you and the spouse had a good trip.

I didn't know there was a spring back there. Is it still viable?

Ziphius, the unwanted 4x4 traffic, were they stupid drunk people? Did they cause any issues? or did they leave?
Possibly taking my Daughter out for her first BP trip and hearing this makes me wonder if I should be concerned.

thanks for posting these updates, especially the recent satellite view from tommy. was that from a service you subscribe to?

Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....

ziphius wrote:

Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....

RHD isn't zoonotic and only affects rabbits.

tommy750 wrote:

ziphius wrote:

Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....

Ziphius, did you mean no species barrier or less fresh meat?

Tommy, yes, I meant that rabbits are an extremely-important dietary item to those carnivores.

Good-looking trips Tommy. Nice lion track, looks like a right hind. That painted pottery shard is really nice. I've been regaled with the story of the Cave of The Seven Ollas by Gary while counting sheep with him. Hope you guys find it one day and never tell a soul. That's a lot of camo!

Is the Pepperwood Hiking and Dirt Bike Trail the one that starts in Cottonwood Campground? I haven't hiked it in years, but I remember it being too steep and slippery for a bike. Is it an official route for bikes now or was the group using it illegally?

That was quite a hike up to the ridge! I'm not familiar the Cave story, will Google.

Very impressive painted pottery shard. I'm usually not looking for them when I'm out, but should be. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to live on this land.

Fantastic finds! One question Tommy, how was the accent in the Santa Rosas(especially the last stretch to the saddle)? Was there much rock scrambling?

Excellent stone points!

I too have heard Gary explain his quest to find the cave with the ollas.


That is tough work hauling overnight gear up to the Santa Rosa ridgeline. I am surprised there was any snow still up there on the dates of your trip. A couple days before your trip I was on the ridgeline and there was very little snow even above 6k. We also started at the base of Coyote Mountain but took different routes than your map.

Tommy, how far from the saddle did you camp? Looked like a couple of nice flat areas for that in the pics.

Found 4 dead cottontails on our property recently. Hopefully it is the virus and not a neighbor poisoning them.

Water quality sounds fun..... pretty sure your dead critter is a gray fox.

Great pics. Now you're tempting me to do some high desert stuff. I've been concentrating on El Cajon MTN and other local hikes to try to get in shape for next desert season.

Nice trip report Tommy. Good time of year to be out there when prepared.

Nice Trip. Looks like a juvenile cat. Too bad. Cougar? Bob cat? Definitely heading to higher elevations or close to the coast for the summer.

Nice report. I have often found boulder caves in AB and other areas and thought-how did someone NOT occupy this as a shelter-seems more than likely someone did at some point in history.

RE: El Cajon Mtn-just did this yesterday with a 5:20am start. Even with the temps not that high, the humidity, lack of wind and near constant exposure coupled with some laughably steep climbs, it's a tough one! I would say it's harder than Granite's southwest approach.

Fantastic! Now that is a trip! It's so ironic to have that much beautiful water and not be able to drink it. I imagine there are no fresh water sources for many many miles?
edited by Rocko1 on 9/17/2021

I remember when the beach at Cabo looked like that and I remember thinking "it won't be like this for long."

Nice rig!

Thanks for sharing. Love the Baja. I like taking the dirt roads south at the Rumerosa. Lots of good camping hiking areas. Head on down to Mikes Sky ranch and then either go down the pacific side or the gulf side. Travel Baja use to sell gps maps. I have an older version but at that time it did a good job showing dirt roads and places to get gas.

Nice trip report. The only thing missing for a full Baja beach experience is noseeums.

Great trip report Tommy. Love the coyote tracks, and even the coyotes! Spent a lot of time in 1997 in the northern Gulf on research vessels, surveying for the elusive vaquita porpoise. Saw a few too. The sheep know where the tinajas are...

What a wild trip! Assaulted by all kinds of wild life on the beach. Love the truck BTW. It looks loaded and ready for anything.

Neat Baja trip. Is that Isla angel de la Guardia in the back ground on pic 1 ? Reminds me of trips down to Bay of LA and Mulege'. Never had the bee problem. It's been years. brings back great memories of Baja. Baja is longer than the boot of Italy!

Any worry of pirates down there?

Nice TR tommy750..!!

I like the pics, good eye spotting the BHS....

tommy750 wrote:

Rocko1 wrote:

Any worry of pirates down there?

Was thinking of the Gulf of Mexico where there's lots of piracy but just saw this: https://maritime-executive.com/article/sea-shepherd-vessel-attacked-again-in-gulf-of-california
Kinda disappointing. Ziphius, you have any info on these attacks?

There's a lot of economic incentive to keep fishing, no matter what the consequences are for vaquita. So conservation groups being targeted is not a surprise. This article tells more of the story: https://qz.com/468358/how-chinas-fish-bladder-investment-craze-is-wiping-out-species-on-the-other-side-of-the-planet/

Gary and I did 8 days out there

Very cool find. Did you start out from the Elephant Tree area, or Hapaha Flat?

Wow, now that is interesting. Summit elevations listed-

CA-Villager 5,756' and Mt. Whitney 14,495'
OR-Mt. Hood 11,235'
WA-Mt. St. Helens 8,363'
NV-Wheeler Peak 13,063'
CO-Quandary Peak 14,265'
HI-Mauna Kea Volcano 13,796'
Africa-Kilimanjaro 19,340'

New Zealand-Couldn't find this one.


Is it just a memorial for the boots or boots and the person? I couldn't find any obituary's for a M Miller in 2012 in the San Diego area.
edited by Rocko1 on 11/23/2021

That's even better! Where would one find these images?

Excellent! Rocko: I was thinking the same thing! Tommy750: Great photos. Thanks for sharing. What is the resolution on Cal topo? Is it high enough to see smallish features? Trails, small boulders, etc. G.Earth has resolution on some of it's images where you could see a football on the ground.

Rocko1 wrote:

rockhopper wrote:

Tommy750
Neat story about your rock circle search and finding it. It is always different on the ground. The same for my rock circle search. The "mystery ring" picture above sure looked man made. About 60 foot in diameter. On the ground is barely discernable. Seeing old charcoal poking thru the sand made me think it was a ceremonial gathering site for rituals perhaps. Too big for a roasting pit?

btw I remember your trip down Agua Alta. Thanks for the repost. Enjoyed it. Cheers.

Does the charcoal from roasting pits last for multiple centuries?

Rocko1,
I had to google it. Apparently burned wood, charcoal which contains no more organic matter in it is very stable so it can last for centuries underground. Longer in dryer climates. At the 60 foot "mystery ring" the surface was eroding away and small chunks of charcoal were making its way to the surface and then probably getting blown away with the strong winds over time. Giant roasting pit? Ceremonial ritual site? If I do Agua Alta again, I will have to check it out some more.


edited by rockhopper on 4/18/2022

tommy750 wrote:

Thought that snake pic looked familiar! Saw it on reddit this morning. Nice find, Rocko.

12 rattles on this one. What do you think of that skull Tommy? Look like a coyote?

Great finds! You really have a built in dowsing rod for artifacts! I find a couple of pot shards and I am ecstatic. Was that trough being fed by that spring or just collecting rain water? How hot was it while you were out there?

Surprised that old trough is holding water..looks like a nice day bike.

Great pics. I've only been to McCain Valley a couple times. I did the hike to Sombrero Peak and a bike ride to Carizo overlook. The bike ride was probably about 10 years ago. I remember there were helicopters placing the towers for the power lines at the time. I've always intended to go back and explore more but it hasn't happened yet.

Good eye on those quartz arrow points! Probably hunting for rabbit, squirrel and bird. The obsidian source was below the surface of Lake Cahuilla at the time perhaps? Nice trail report.