Anza borrego, trail advice?

Weeeeeell... It was a failed trip. Lol. Brutal honesty, I chickened out..

I entered the slot and made a left at the parking which leads about a mile in to a pretty long and steep drop. That was pretty fun! I headed down to the bottom which leads to the first obstacle. It’s like a V-notch, and that’s about where the trip failed. I usually go out to fire roads which have no rocks, but figured I’d be ok. As I got closer I realized I just didn’t have enough experience to navigate through it. It honestly didn’t seem too bad, maybe if I had sliders I may have tried to push it but my gf didn’t want to spot me (she was afraid she’d spot me into a bad situation and she’s a bad driver so I couldn’t argue with her logic lol) so Instead I headed back up the hill which was so dam steep I’m surprised I made it back up.

I realized:

1. I kinda want a jeep, maybe an old LJ, if it flips or crashes I wont feel bad about ruining roughly 40k
2. Fire roads are easy, they give me less anxiety lol
3. I should get sliders to ease off some more anxiety

All In all, it was great experience, and probably better to realize my own limits and build off of that than pushing it and destroying the truck. I’d love to go back and complete the dam trail lol, but maybe with more experienced people, sliders, and leaving the GF at home..




And then went off to taste some wine..

 

where is that second pic? looks cool

there are plenty of places to go out there that you can get around without pushing too hard....or hard at all - its a cool place with lots to see and do. i went out there on saturday

 

Looks like the diablo drop off

 

Not exactly sure what to call the second pic, or if it has an official name but I went to “the slot” hiking trail, when your reach the parking spot, you can make a left into another trail that says something like “dangerous drop, 4x4 required” about a mile in is the drop. That takes you into borrego mountain wash which is when I turned around lol.

 

Heart attack hill ???

 

Nah, no way I’d do that hill on my own lol

This was the best video I could find on where I was.. don’t look bad on video but it was pretty dam steep and the dirt is like sand.

 

ahhh got you. on the south side of the 78 and south ,out from ocotillo wells is fish creek wash, its easy going,long enough- has wind caves and you can get into sandstone canyon, you dont have to go all the way thru it, it gets gnarly eventually, but you can turn around before that, its all worth a look around - send me a pm if you want more info there are other places you can easily go

 

Hey thanks man will do!

 

That's definitely El Diablo drop off !!! , it's more fun climbing up that hill !!

Last time I went up that hill was in the early 90's in 47 CJ2A Flat Fender Jeep with a built 408 sbc . I had the throttle pinned at 6k rpm tapping the rev limiter the whole way up !!

 

No shame in that. I'd do the same thing. I'm not about to wreck the shit out of my daily lol

 

Thanks!... I saw so much money flying out the window, I turned around like there was no tomorrow

 

Well, that's sage advice generally.

You should always travel in packs if at all possible. Not only is recovery easier with another truck, it's just generally safer, not to mention more fun with others!

When going it alone, I suggest reading up on the sticky on this topic. There's lots of good advice in there.

 

You need to just get that first dent out of the way. Sooner the better. Back in my mountain bike racing days, after I'd build a brand new race bike, I'd kick that $5000 pile over in the shop just to get that first scratch out of the way. I found I rode more timid if I was worried about scratching it, lol...

Then just find some forest roads and drive the wheels off that thing. The more you drive, the more confident you'll get.

 

I was watching this thread for the same reasons as the OP, definitely want to see what I can go and enjoy on a stock TRD OR. This park is so great and so massive there's got to be a ton of stuff that a 4x4 can get you even if it's not the gnarly trails.

Waiting for some cross bars and the RTT is in my bed right now!

 

That actually looks awesome! But I'd be wary doing that alone as well. You should consider trying to track your route with an app. I use map my run to track trail runs and hikes in the back country with no connection. I think it will work out for off roading as well until I find another app. At least that way you can load it online when you get home and see where you were at.

 

Download Gaia gps, then Go to http://trailsoffroad.com/ to find routes, it’ll have a “gpx download” option, it’s the route with waypoints that you can use for Gaia maps. For better gps you can use this Garmin GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS Receiver with Vehicle Power Cable

$109 Garmin GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS Receiver with Vehicle Power Cable

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYAZENY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1eBKBbAD52QD8

 

Thanks!. I was just browsing the site. I downloaded this app Avenza Maps last night that was linked for the BLM site. Looked interesting for the back country.

 

buy sliders, best investment you will ever make for your truck.

 

Never used avenza maps, I downloaded Gaia GPS and never left lol. It’s a pretty sweet app, and with the little GPS receiver you’ll have GPS anywhere you go.

 

Just did today, got caliraised 0 degree sliders! Best compromise for the gf and off-roading lol