| Author |
Topic |
|
 | DW2
Senior Member
|
West Coast, B.C.
1396 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 11:19 AM
|
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Mohave Preserve....Southern California
Just returned from a desert trip and will share the highlights with you.
Anza-Borrego
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park overs 600,000 acres of diverse desert and mountainous landscape. It's highest point is Coombs Peak at 6193'.
There are no charges to enter the park and there are several camping options. You can stay at developed campgrounds (which range in price from $7-29 per night), camp at a one of the free primitive backcountry sites (pit tiolets), or camp along one of many 4x4 roads in the park.
Most of the trails in the park require 4x4 access, but a few decent one start from the visitors centre.
Flowers: The usual flowering time is from late February through March, but the right conditions are needed for the desert floor show. The amount of rain, when the rain falls, and the temperature affects the blooming period. This year there was a lot of rain in southern California so there was very little in bloom when we were there.
 
  
The most prominent flower around was that of the agave. This plant flowers once in its lifetime around 65-100 years, and then it dies.
 the stalk grows at a rate of 6-7" per day
  flowers
 and disperses up to 65,000 seeds before it dies
The ocotillo is another common plant to this area. It is slow growing reaching maturity at 60-100 years,and living to be 200 years old. The plant looks dead, but within a few days of a rain fall it will grown leaves. As a way to balance its need for leaves and moisture protection, the ocotillo will drop and grow new leaves up to 7 times in one year. It is has bright red flowers at the tip of the long branch. 
Things to see along the trail:
 Anza-Borrego is the only place in California where the elephant tree can be found.
 the stink bug is the funniest little thing. If you come in contact with it, it protects itself by tipping down bum up and releasing an odorous spray.
 this horned lizard was the largest one we saw
 birds nests in the cholla cactus
Camping: We chose to camp along the 4x4 backcountry roads. Some of them are washes, so you must be aware of the weather before heading in.
  
The hikes:
1. You can hike to one of 25 palm oasis in the park. Two trails can be accessed from the visitors centre.
 
2. Head to the badlands and search for wind caves, oyster shell fossils, or just enjoy the terrain.
  
3. Try a walk through a short but fun mud slot.
 
4. Check out a few historic points:
 The pictographs are not that impressive
  These are the ruins of the Marshall South homestead. The writer brought his wife to the area, made a mile long trail to the summit of what is known as Ghost Mountain (3210'), and built a home for their future family. Everything had to be hauled in/up and there was no water source. After 16 years of marriage, the family split up and left the mountain.
5. Go for a scramble 
6. Take a hike.....    Alcholic Pass takes you to 1540' with great views of Coyote Canyon and Borrego Springs area. Coyote/Sheep Canyon is a neat area to explore.
The Wilson Trail is a nice 11 mile round trip hike with great views. High point is 4450'. Experienced 4x4 drivers are a must to get to this trailhead. The message board had it rated a poor with ruts. Well the ruts were more like canyons and at times you would have one wheel on the ground and the other on the side of the bank and hoped you would not tip over. It was a horrid drive in and out! We found our only handfull of snow on this trail.
   
The California Riding Trail and the PCT have expansive routes throughout this park. We did a 12 mile return hike on a very hot day.
 
We headed up to Inner Pasture and stumbled across and obvious illegal route for Mexicans. The trails in the USA are in super shape and very clean. As we headed up this route we started to see the odd water bottle, then groups of 1gallon jugs, then clothes and it became apparent what we had stumbled on. The interesting thing is, that once we got the the inner pasture, we could see a path head out to who knows where, but there is no road access throught the far section. It seemed like an odd route to take people on.
  one of many blanket booties found along the route
We wanted to head up Coombs Peak, but the weather turned bad so we head for the Mohave Preserve.
 
Amboy Crater
On route to the Mohave desert, we stopped at the Amboy Crater for a hike.   
Mohave Preserve
Like Anza-Borrego, this is a no fee area. There are a few established campgrounds that cost $12 per night, but most people camp along the 4x4 roads in areas used by campers.
Flowers: Very little was in bloom here. We found one tiny cactus in bloom and a few flowers.    
Once in this area, you will no longer find the ocotillo and agave. The common plants to the Mohave are the yucca and joshua tree.  
Wildlife:
  the kangaroo rat and desert hare
Places to hike:
1. the dunes    
2. the cinder cones     and lava beds
3. to Quail Basin    This is a nice hike that allows you to bolder scramble or trek up to a high point on one of many hills surrounding the basin.
4. go up a peak...there are 3 popular routes in the park. Teutonia Peak is the only groomed trail reaching 5640' at the notch and 5767 at the summit (climbers only). We did not do this peak.
Silver Peak is a 9.6 mile return hike to 6365' at the summit. It offers great views and a nice place to camp at the trailhead. There is some route finding before you head onto the summit trail.
  
Table Top Mountain offers a variety of terrain on its 7 mile loop route. You head in on the ridge/bolder route and return via a cross country route. This is a great hike and takes you to 6176'.
   
Usually the Table Top hike involves a lot of shrub wacking, but due to a massive fire last June, there were no shrubs to tackle. Lightening struck and burned 71,000 acres. Following the burn massive flooding occurred causing mass erosion and road damage.
This is what we saw in the way of plant non-life on this trail.
     
Happy Trails, DW2     |
|
| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
|
 Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 11:24 AM
|
Great TR and pics I've been to the Mojave Preerve but never Anza-Borrego. Congrats on capturing the elusive kangaroo snafflehound on film!
|
Edited by - Dru on 04/09/2006 11:25 AM |
|
|
|
ass wigglin, cheese lovin, 4x4 drivin, apostrophe hatin, hiking chick who loves camping on snow
spaceship..
Canada
7209 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 11:55 AM
|
What a neat trip!
The flowers are quite fascinating, 65-100 year life span? The Agave - how long do the flowers last for?
The stink bug - I wonder if it's a distant relative of the Barking Spider  
Thanks for sharing your photos, I really enjoyed reading this on this otherwise dull Spring day in the city.
----------------------------------------
 |
|
|
|
bandana wearin', pole huckin', view lovin', dog herdin', 4x4 navigatin', lake huntin', butt-slidin' bridge crosser, who enjoys postholing with an overnighter pack
Surrey, BC
Canada
4649 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 11:59 AM
|
Another awesome trip from you two ! Looks like a wonderful place to explore. Thanks for the descriptive T/R once again  |
|
|
Vancouver, BC
Canada
2660 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 12:56 PM
|
Awesome TR and pics! You two sure get around.  |
|
|
|
Edited by
Ron Paley
Maple Ridge, B.C.
Canada
1434 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 1:37 PM
|
Awesome trip report and pic's. A must do in the future.  |
|
|
| DW2
Senior Member
|
West Coast, B.C.
1396 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 5:42 PM
|
Yes it was a good time of the year to go temperature wise, but too bad the flower show was a miss. We did see a wonderful display 2 years ago in Arizona of every cactus flower imaginable.
Dru, the kangaroo rat was very cooperative when it came to a photo shoot. After scurring around the "kitchen" for some time, he got comfortable and would stay put long enough for me to take pictures at a fairly close range. They are a cute little animal.
Shadey, not sure how long the agave blooming period is. The ones we saw in Grand Canyon were white. They come in the 2 colours.
We had hoped to do a bit of exploring in Lava Beds Park on the way home, but the area was saturated from the recent rains/floods, and it was really cold out. |
|
|
Terrace, BC
957 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 6:42 PM
|
very nice.
Appreciate the pictures and perspective.
|
|
|
|
Outdoors addicted flyfishing, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking car crooner and resident motormouth
Da'Wack, BC
Canada
5372 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2006 : 9:50 PM
|
Some of the terrain, animals and plants in those pictures bring back good memories.
Anza-Borrego looks like an amazing place to explore. |
|
|
|
Simpson quoting tree hunter and canyon rapping rockhound who longs for the return of his trapped Toyota
Salt Lake City, UT
USA
2268 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2006 : 08:01 AM
|
| Wow! Beautiful shots (more mud slots, please ) Between you and the Billyscape clan, there have been some great TR's on an unusual region. Thanks for my desert fix> |
|
|
|
Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13057 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2006 : 12:53 PM
|
| Nice, really enjoyed this report |
|
|
|
Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13466 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2006 : 5:05 PM
|
DW2
Stunning, beautiful shots of those cactus, plants, and flowers. I sure would like to revisit the desert areas again, as I have been down to Arizona only once to experience the desert scapes through walking and hiking.
Regards, |
|
|
|
Satirical photoshop junkie who frolics in the mountains of the Chilliwack River Valley
Chilliwack, BC
Canada
6908 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2006 : 5:56 PM
|
| Just finished reading your report now...it really makes me want to return for further exploration of the area. Great report! |
|
|
| DW2
Senior Member
|
West Coast, B.C.
1396 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2006 : 5:59 PM
|
| Thanks for all the positive feedback. We tend to go to a different area every second year. I think New Mexico and Texas will be our next destination down the road. |
|
|
Beaverton, ON
Canada
1295 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2006 : 6:29 PM
|
Another great TR and photos from you two!
Yup, you sure do get around.
Dusty |
|
|
Vancouver, BC
Canada
718 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2006 : 7:50 PM
|
Thanks for sharing. Different world South of the Border.
|
|
|
|
Utah's canyon trekking,deck chair packing desert explorer who dreams of visiting Canada someday
3988 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2006 : 10:38 PM
|
Well done! Fun to read! I've never been there and really enjoyed the pictures and your fun to read, trip report. What must the pioneers have thought as they pushed through this kind of country from the minute they left Colorado? Hard knocks life! thanks for sharing. I can't wait to get out this weekend. Spent all my time and money in Vegas last weekend. shoulda hiked...
----------------------------------------
May your trails be crooked, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing views ! Edward Abbey |
|
|
|
map hatin', coffee perc totin', garbage collectin', backpacking, action hero wannabe, who loves to hide out in Garibaldi park and will have his scouts sing if you keep him awake at night
2467 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2006 : 08:24 AM
|
Great Trip Report and FANTASTIC pictures! God, I really want to do some desert hiking!
----------------------------------------
www.shiftlessbum.com |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Anza-Borrego/Mohave at a Glance
