AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Anza-Borrego Part 4 - Elephant Knees, Wind Caves, and Dinosaurs
March 3, 2019.

Having gone to bed with the wind howling, it only got worse as the night progressed. Having experienced these extremely strong winds in the CVT a few times now, and knowing that the ladder side of the tent was well-weighed down, I knew that the tent would be OK; my stress level lower than it had been the first couple times we'd been in this situation.

With earplugs in, we slept reasonably well through the night, though we were awoken for a few of the more violent gusts. In the morning, I'd tell @mrs.turbodb that a constant wind was better than one that started and stopped - the non-uniformity being the thing that caused our bodies to wake up.

With clear skies, I'd set my alarm for sunrise, and once again, we both got up to experience it the colorful illumination of the desert sky, starting with a sliver of moon just over the horizon.

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Before long, oranges, pinks, and purples made themselves known against the blue morning sky, and eventually from our perch above camp, the sun started to creep down the canyon walls into Hapaha Flat.

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It was still very windy, but having skipped dinner we were ready for some breakfast so we fought the wind as we poured our bowls of Cheerios and sprinkled fresh blueberries on top. We managed to keep most of the cereal in the bowl until an enormous gust of wind ripped through the bed of the truck, essentially vacuuming several dozen little O's out onto the desert floor.

Eat well desert rodents!

We got the milk poured and huddled behind a small-cabin-sized-rock to wolf down breakfast before packing up everything in the bed of the truck and getting the tent put away - no small feat with the gusting wind. Then, we had a decision to make - the evening before we'd discovered a pair of Agaves just about to bloom - their stalks climbing 10-feet into the air, their flowers just starting to open. I'd tried to snap a photo just as the sun was hitting the tops of these beauties, but had been 30-seconds or so late.

I really wanted to stick around to get a photo of them when the light hit this morning. And as it turned out, that was just fine with @mrs.turbodb - any excuse to hang around investigating the flowers, a big plus in her book. We had what turned out to be about 20 minutes to wait, so we took in the local flora.

A couple of blooming yucca.

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A chollo cactus with a bird's nest.

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An unknown cactus with a crown of purple and yellow, and a barrel cactus, bright yellow in the morning sun.

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An agave sending up it's stalk - unaware that upon its completion of flowering, the entire plant will die.

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And, chollos shedding what I deemed "chollo balls" everywhere. As it turns out, everyone tries picking up one of these balls only once. Except for me - I tried twice. Overachiever or slow learner?

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And then the sun peaked over the hilltop and just kissed the tops of the agaves we'd been waiting for. With the blue sky, clouds, and hills in the background, I thought it was worth it.

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Oh, and just then, the wind stopped. It didn't taper off slowly or gust a few final times - it just stopped. It wasn't the best timing in the world - I mean, it could have stopped 9-hours earlier and we'd have been a lot happier - but we weren't complaining. I changed into shorts and we lathered on the sunscreen, and we hopped in the truck and started down Fish Creek wash just before 8:00am, excited to see what the day had in store - starting with some amazing alluvial fanglomerate.

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Having driven much of it the day before, we made quick work of Fish Creek, excited to see what lay ahead on Split Mountain Road, and whatever we'd choose to explore after that. And, it wasn't long before we ran into our first opportunity to get out and explore.

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We didn't know what exactly we'd spotted since they were nearly a quarter mile off the road, but as we got closer, I realized that these were some mud caves! We'd not expected them here at all - though there was another trail where we planned to see some - and so we hopped around exploring for a good 15 minutes. Mud caves - as far as I can tell - are formed when water starts seeping down into a porous badland hill (for lack of a better term), and then exits somewhere lower down the hill - sometimes even on the opposite side of the hill. Over time, water flowing through this path excavates the dirt inside and it becomes a cave.

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The "problem" is that you never really know where the excavations have happened underground - so walking around near any visible mud cave means that there's a reasonable chance the the ground under you is hollow! I ran into this first hand as I nearly stepped on a few rocks embedded in the mud, before noticing that there was darkness below them - the rocks the only thing between me and a 8-foot drop into a mud cave.

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Counting ourselves lucky to have found the mud caves and to have explored the area without incident, we made our way back to the truck and continued down the wash in our normal stop-and-go manner. With a beautiful morning like this, how could we not?

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At points in the wash, the walls towered high - their grandness hard to capture without some point of reference. Our truck - dwarfed - perfect for that task.

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And it was shortly after the high-towering walls that our day slowed down dramatically. It was still early at this point, mind you - around 9:30am - but we'd make it less than a couple miles down the road by 1:30pm, all the fault of cool things to explore. Life could be worse, I guess. :biggrin:

First up were the Elephant Knees. This amazing formation was created over millions of years - its sedimentary layers deposited as part of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) and prehistoric Lake Cahuilla (the precursor to the Salton Sea). And, like any sea-based sedimentary formation, the Elephant Knees are littered with fossils. From corals, clams, crabs, and shrimp to sharks, rays, and baleen whale - numerous fossils can be found in vast quantities in this area. In fact, vast quantities of oyster shells are what make up the slightly harder layers of sediment - slower to erode as the soft mud above and below wash away, these layers have become the "knees" of the formation.

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Next - not 300 yards down the wash - were the dinosaur tracks and some more petroglyphs. Always excited for dinosaur tracks, this was something I'd flagged early on in my research of Anza-Borrego - so you can imagine my surprise when @mrs.turbodb read me the following description out of her book:

Well then. I present you with FAKE dinosaur tracks.

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And while I'm at it, we were quite sure that these were also FAKE petroglyphs - or rather, they were younger than we are.

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Despite the let-down of reality, it was still fun exploring around for to see what could have been interpreted as dino tracks, and we didn't feel cheated at all - quite the contrary in fact - we had a great time making up stories and laughing about the whole situation for a good 20-minutes or so!

As we headed back to the truck, we saw a couple 3rd gen Tacoma's coming up the wash. We could tell these guys were serious by the number of stickers on their trucks, and the plethora of #hashtags left in their wake.

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A second good giggle behind us, we piled back into the truck and headed out a little too quickly - realizing only after we'd moved another 300 yards down the wash that we'd already passed out next adventure - a relatively short (2 mile) hike to the Wind Caves.

Initially headed up a steep grade taking us to the top of the walls of the wash, we were glad for the cooler, early-spring weather - making this trek in the heat of summer would have been much less fun. Of course, at the top of the grade, the views were spectacular. Not only could we see the entire landscape around us, but we got a splendiforous view of the Elephant Knees once again.

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Not long after that, we arrived at the Wind Caves. There were tons of caves, carved out by the same winds we'd experienced the previous night over thousands of years - all there for us to explore.

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We wove our way in and out of the caves, some large enough to live in, others perfect for storing your tennis balls. And up and down various levels - the entire formation seemingly constructed as a multi-layered city, "a Flinstone village," said @mrs.turbodb.

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We could have stayed here hours longer, if we were to explore all of the caves - and beyond, the trail continuing up into the badlands. But by this time we were already starting to get a little hungry - our early start catching up with our bellies - and so we headed down through the lower villiage levels and back to the truck.

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Luckily for our tummies, there was only one more stop before the end of Split Mountain Road - an amazing fold in the canyon wall that caught both of our eye as we drove past. This fold was created in just a few seconds, when a fast-moving landslide crashed into the soft sea bottom of the early Gulf of California. Layers of sea sediments, flat and horizontal one minute were plowed into irregular vertical folds moments later.

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<del>Our curiosities satisfied</del> Now at the entrance to the wash, we gave in to our hunger. Having skipped dinner the night before, and this being our last on-the-trail meal for this segment of the trip, we had sandwiches to die for. Twice the turkey, twice the salami, twice the lettuce, and all the leftover avocado we could squeeze between the bread. A few potato chips and a view and we were in sandwich heaven.

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As it had been previous days, lunch was a leisurely affair - we probably hung out for an hour or so, just enjoying the weather and watching the few folks headed in or out of the wash pass us in their wide spectrum of vehicles. Eventually though we got everything packed up and back underway - our destination now a bit different than the previous: we were headed into town.

See, as I mentioned right at the beginning of this story, this was going to be a two-part trip. The halves would be separated by 10 days, during which time we'd leave the truck in Borrego Springs and fly back home to take care of life. By flying between the two halves rather than driving, we'd save two full days, and the price (flight vs. fuel) was roughly the same - so it was a no-brainer in our book!

But first, we had one more thing to see - the Galleta Meadows Metal Sculptures. Spread around Borrego Springs, these enormous pieces of art were created by Ricardo Breceda, based in Perris, California, for Dennis Avery (of Avery labels) who envisioned the idea of free-standing sculptures of creatures who once roamed the Borrego Valley.

It's since evolved to be much more than that - the life-size or larger sculptures now including dinosaurs, camels, turtles, mammoths, zebras, saber-tooth tigers, a scorpion, a gold miner, a dragon serpent, and even an off-roading Jeep!

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We tried to make it to all the sculptures, though I'm sure we missed a few here and there - apparently there are over 129 of these puppies scattered throughout the town. Enough at any rate that by the end, I mentioned to @mrs.turbodb that, "It would have been cooler if whoever did this knew when to stop. Ten or so amazing sculptures would have been a way cooler experience."

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Still, I think we were both glad to have gotten to see this amazing art - it's not every day that you get to stand in front of a dragon in the desert.

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From there, we made for town, dinner, and a shower before getting a good night sleep in a comfy bed and catching a flight out of Palm Springs the following morning. And, as we cruised at 35,000-feet, we were already talking about what we wanted to do on our return - the list, we knew, longer than we could accomplish in a single return trip!

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never stop working when there is someone will still pay... esp if you're an artist!

 

LOL, so true. Definitely not the artist's issue. IMO Dennis Avery went a little crazy with commissioning these and sprinkling them around town like sticky labels. Oh....

 

That was funny once I looked up who that guy was. Avery, duh.

 

Another post we sat and enjoyed looking at.

 

Looks like more fun!

 

Anza-Borrego Part 5 - Palms, Pups, and the Longest Trestle
March 13, 2019.

For 10 days, we lived our normal lives. As it were, a cold existence in the Pacific Northwest. We'd left with snow on the ground, and we returned to a few small patches remaining. And then it snowed the first night we were home. Needless to say, we missed the southern California weather!

But, extremely happy with our decision to double-up on the adventure, we knew that it wouldn't be long before we hopped back on a plane that would take us away from the clouds and back to the "weather's-so-nice-our-airport-doesn't-need-a-roof" Palm Springs airport.

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As we drove back to Anza-Borrego, it hit us that it was even more green than it'd been when we left. A day of rain, and now mid-70ºF temps meant that the super bloom was in full swing - a fact that we'd take full advantage of in the coming days. Today though, we'd restock and repack the Tacoma, and have a nice dinner in town with Pops and my step mother.

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March 14, 2019.

The next morning, we all decided it'd be the perfect time to hike Palm Canyon. This is a reasonably popular hike right by the visitor center, so we knew that it would be more crowded than other places - but it's a beautiful hike and one of the only places to see running water in the park (at least that we found) so we decided to give it a shot.

As we headed up the canyon, the wildflowers were amazing.

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It was as though we weren't even in the desert - the ground so green, the flowers vibrant yellows, purples, pinks, and white. Birds flitting and hikers ogling the entire way up the trail. Eventually - perhaps a mile up trail - we spotted the grove of Fan Palms from which the canyon gets its name.

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As we got closer, more and more palms came into view - and unlike 5 Palms or even 17 Palms that we'd visited on our first leg of this adventure, this truly was an oasis - the water streaming down the wash next to us.

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We explored the trail as far as we could go - it turns out that the upper portion of the hike beyond the palm oasis was closed due to the recent rains - before turning around and heading back down via an alternate path on the opposite side of the canyon. The path was a bit longer, but given the surroundings, that was fine by us - the sights here just as breathtaking as those we'd experienced on the way up.

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We even saw a White-lined Sphinx Moth (also called a Hummingbird-moth) doing it's thing - initially mistaking it for an actual humming bird! In fact, unbeknownst to us, this would be far from the last that we'd see of this moth on the trip - apparently they are somewhat of a pest in the area!

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Back at the trailhead, Pops quickly became the most popular guy around by pulling out his birding scope and training it on a couple Bighorn Sheep that were grazing on a nearby mountain. I'll tell you what - as soon as that happened, it was like the entire parking lot descended on his scope to get a look. Because, well, if you can see wildlife from the parking lot...then you can just get right back in your car!

While that was going on, we also noticed that a small concrete pool contained a bunch of 1-2" long fish - pupfish I was told, which I initially thought was a bunch of baloney. After-all, how would pupfish get into this man-made pool? Sure enough however, that's exactly what they were - Desert Pupfish that live only here in Anza-Borrego. And, so near the parking lot...and yet still unnoticed by the vast majority of folks!

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Eventually Pops had to wrench his scope out of the ever-growing throng of tourists because we'd decided it was time for lunch - the famous shrimp tacos at , a local favorite, calling to us before we headed out of town to enjoy a bit more seclusion than the trip had afforded so far. Oh, and it turns out the carnitas tacos are amazing as well.

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Lunch wrapped up and our bellies stuffed, we bid farewell to our gracious hosts and headed south, our destination - Mortero Wash near Indian Hills - meant to be a great place to kick off an 8-mile, early morning, hike to the Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge the next day.

Along our way, the road passed through the old Dos Cabezas railway station. There's not much here anymore - it was decommissioned in 1958, only an old water tower and a few small ruins left at this point - but this station was once part of the El Centro to San Diego train line. Known as the "impossible railroad" during construction, the line through deep rocky canyons and hillsides was completed in 1919; the Dos Cabezas station a watering stop for steam engines and a place for nearby miners to access the rail.

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Today, the few structures still standing are covered in graffiti and gunshots, a distinct "alien" vibe present in much of the art.

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In the distance and through the rubble, a stark contrast to the dilapidated station.

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This contrast is something that we noticed throughout our time (both trips) in Anza-Borrego. This park, while extremely beautiful, is much less remote than most of the places we visit. There were more people here, more civilization encroaching along - and within - the park, and a feeling of being not very far away, no matter where you are. Unexpected, it was something we discussed several times over the course of the trip - wondering why it was. Free State Park vs. paid National Park? Proximity to the overwhelming population of southern California? Something else entirely? In the end of course, we never figured it - opting to spend our time searching for the more beautiful, remote areas instead.


For now, that meant leaving Dos Cabezas and continuing along an unnamed road into the back country, a steep, mogul-y road acting as a welcome gatekeeper for most other vehicles.

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As we continued along the road, the landscape evolved from a sandy desert to a much rockier, mountainous terrain. These decomposing granite boulders were spectacular, the nooks and crannies they created beckoning people to explore (and live) for thousands of years.

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Eventually of course, we reached the end of the road. It'd gone much further than we'd expected - nearly to the train tracks that would lead us to the trestle the next morning - and left us with an interesting dilemma: since we'd be cutting a couple miles and 1,000 vertical feet off of the hike, should we do it now?

We pondered that question for a few minutes while exploring some ruins at the end of the road.

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In the end - what with it being 5:00pm already - the smart thing to do was to stick around camp.

So, as one does, we decided to give the hike a shot! If we could complete it, we'd buy ourselves nearly 4 more hours of exploring the next day, and of course once we were walking along the tracks, we were going to complete it. ::

Let me tell you - the hike along the tracks in the warm glow of the evening sun was really quite special. A breeze kept us cool while the sun kept us warm, and the colors - orange rocks, blue skies, and spring green vegetation - made for one of the most enjoyable hikes I've been on in a long time.

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As we hiked along, the track took us through tunnels and over trestles as we wound our way towards Goat Canyon, and the longest (600 feet), tallest (200 feet), wooden trestle in the world.

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Initially, the train line passed through a tunnel and along the mountainside where the trestle stands today, but in 1932 the tunnel collapsed and it was deemed both easier and safer to build the trestle in its place. I guess everything's relative.

Along the way, along one of the longer trestles we'd come to, it seemed like a good place to start a new tradition, and we unfurled an enormous Excel flag. Amazing how tiny it looks here.

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Cognizant of the time, and @mrs.turbodb now realizing that she didn't bring any water (which was fine - we weren't going to get lost on the tracks), we pushed on - trying to pick up the pace a little bit. Until, a little further up the track - two box cars over the side! A required stop if there ever was one.

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By this time, I think we were both starting to wonder where we were in the overall hike - I mean, we knew we had ~3-4 miles to reach the trestle, but how many more tunnels would we pass through, and other trestles would we pass over, before we reached the turn around point?

We weren't wondering from a time perspective so much - as I mentioned, it's hard to get lost on the tracks - rather, we were a little worried about something else entirely: the longer we were on the tracks, the more likely we were to encounter a representative from the railroad. Rumor has it that this rail line is now used by migrants trying to enter the USA from Mexico, and so is randomly patrolled. And, as a narrow swath of private land running through Anza-Borrego, the rail company has apparently decided that the best way to reduce liability is to keep everyone off the tracks - by issuing hefty tickets to anyone they find along the line.

Whether that was true or not, we didn't really want to find out. Plus, we were having a great time.

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And then, a bit of excitement. In the distance, around a bend, we caught our first glimpse of part of the trestle. We were close. It looked like maybe another half mile of track and one more tunnel before we'd arrive. But nothing is ever that easy; as we approached the last tunnel - a plot twist.

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At some point, the mountain at the north end of the tunnel (we were heading south) had collapsed, making it impassable for trains and questionably safe for hikers. Actually, the collapse wasn't what had us worried - rather, it was the fact that unlike all the other tunnels, this one had no wooden frame inside - as though it'd been put into service before being finished, and then was left undone by its creators.

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We decided to go around - there was a trail around the mountain - rather than through and as we crested the ridge line, there was the Goat Canyon Trestle.

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I'm not sure either of us was really ready for the enormity of this trestle. Even the photos don't do it justice, it's just so big. The bridge, built without nails, was designed with a 14-degree curve to withstand the strong winds that whip through the canyon; each level of the structure is 20-feet tall and made of 18" x 18" Redwood beams. Just getting those to the location had to be a daunting task, much less getting them assembled. How it was started in 1932 and completed in 1933 is beyond me!

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Near the trestle were two more abandoned rail cars - one, a tanker - had been lifted up the mountainside and was always kept full of water - a safety precaution should the bridge ever catch fire. The other - a hopper abandoned along a side track for an unknown reason - now the canvas for a really nice mural that someone spray painted along it's side in 2018.

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We admired it all for a while before deciding that it was time to get going back. We'd dillied and dallied enough on our way as we explored the tracks that it'd taken us a good couple hours and used up our remaining sunlight.

Of course, that meant that we got to take in a nice sunset as we made our way north, back along the tracks. Shucks.

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And then, a special surprise - a nearly full moon meant that even as the sunlight faded, we didn't have any problem making our way back over the trestles and through the tunnels as we got closer and closer to the trailhead.

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Ultimately we got back about 3.5-hours after we'd left - a super fun, and unexpected adventure to end the day. Our parking spot at the end of the road a nice, flat concrete pad in one of the most secluded spots in the park, we decided that this would make the perfect camp.

We also decided that after our amazing lunch, neither of us was all that hungry - so we setup the tent, brushed our teeth, and did a bit of stargazing before climbing up the ladder to cozy up and read our books before nodding off to the sound of crickets and a calm desert breeze.

It was wonderful. And it was just the beginning of our second adventure through Anza-Borrego.

 

Excellent!

 

I work for the railroad, and I see those graf all the time. It sucks to see people defacing it, just cuz its rail related but still cool to recognize the art that you posted. The 55 gal. drum, i see all of those everyday nad the one on the side of the boxcar, thats White Ninja.

 

Awesome Drive Report, Thanks for sharing. I took my trusty KLR through there about 10 years ago and haven't been back since. There used to be more cars including a Meal car which was super cool to explore.

 

Amazing stuff. Thanks as always for taking the time to do the report.

 

Thanks!

Yeah, I generally see the graffiti on cars that are still in service (as we drive up/down canyons and pass moving trains, etc.) and have a reaction similar to most - "why?" - since in those cases it seems more disrespectful to someone else's property than anything else.

With a car like this that's clearly been abandoned (bottom had fallen out, and it was on a side line), where someone adds a full mural, it seems more like a work of art to me (but, it's not my property so I admit it could be a different perspective).

Super interesting to hear that you recognize it. We saw that "Bandit 2018" on it and figured that was the artist.

Yeah, would have been cool to see and explore a meal car. Who knows - could just be in another portion of the track - we only covered a few miles of it ourselves...

Absolutely. Glad you're still enjoying.

 

That DRAGON statue is amazing!!!

I used to drive my Ducati 916 or RS6 out there but never saw the dirt or the statues...

 

Yeah, that's definitely a nice one. I liked the Jeep too. Fun.

 

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Anza-Borrego Part 6 - Finding Blue Sun Cave
March 15, 2019.

The night was one of the most pleasant we've spent in the tent - no wind to speak of, which meant that all the windows were down and the nearly full moon illuminated the rocky landscape around us until it set along the western horizon around 3:00am. Knowing that this could be a great place to catch sunrise, I'd set my alarm for 6:30am to make sure that I didn't miss it - so when I woke up just a few minutes before it went off, I decided I might as well get myself going. After all, I could see the beginnings of light along the horizon.

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It was just a short walk through the boulders to a better vantage point, but that short walk gave me plenty to look at - orange the sunlight, not yet over the horizon, was reflecting off the clouds back onto the rock.

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I continued my climb and soon found myself perched on a truck-sized rock as the sky really began to light up - first bright orange, and then as the sun got closer to the horizon, the orange changed to pinks and purples. The whole time, the landscape transforming as well under the colorful display.

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Wondering if @mrs.turbodb was enjoying the display back at camp as much as I was, I made my way back, calling with our family whistle as I went. When I got back, she was still snug in bed - I forget if she was reading or not - having enjoyed a bit of the sunrise initially out the east-facing window, and now out of the west, where the sun's rays were striking the hillside behind camp.

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As she got herself up and out of bed, we decided that we'd skip breakfast for the time being so that we could get an early start on our day. Even though we'd already saved ourselves 4-5 hours by hiking to the Goat Canyon Trestle the day before, we still had a really full day ahead - the first order of business being an exploration of the Indian Hills area, in search of the infamous Blue Sun Cave.

So as @mrs.turbodb got dressed, I took care of putting away the tent, and then decided that it was a good time to get changed myself - which really just meant new socks and underwear - so that I didn't end up smelling even worse than would normally be expected.

Plus, it would give me a chance to check out the big toe on my right foot. See, on our hike the evening before, there had been a photo I'd wanted to take where there was a small shrub in the way. Big-brains over here decided to kick it out of the way and as you can probably guess, the plant won.

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Of course, I'd gotten what I deserved according to @mrs.turbodb (and Karma) so I couldn't be to angry about the whole thing. As bad as it looked, I was still able to walk, and it didn't seem broken. Plus, it would turn out to be the lesser of Big-brain's injuries.

But now I'm getting ahead of myself.

Camp put away, it was just after 7:00am when we got on the trail towards Indian Hills - the sun now illuminating the rocks around us and shining directly in our faces as we drove due east - extra special since the windshield was dirty and the wiper fluid was empty!

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Still, it was a fun road with some slow, semi-technical sections and we had a blast for the short 20 minute jaunt to our first destination of the day.

Indian Hills are named - perhaps obviously - for the Native Americans who lived in the area for thousands of years - extensive archaeological excavations in the 1950s dating artifacts back to 4,000 BC! And, while the area is well known, it's secrets - or at least their locations - are less-so.

And that of course is what drew us in - this area is full of secrets, including some colorful pictographs that are the namesake of the Blue Sun Cave.

Knowing that the search could take a while, @mrs.turbodb got started on a pancake breakfast while I started to explore the square-mile-or-so area that we suspected encompassed the cave. And it wasn't long before I made my first discovery: a yoni. From the Hindu word for female genitalia, they are, according to local researchers, "thought to be associated with female fertility". This one was carved into the granite and then stained a darker color to set it off from it's surroundings.

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I continued to explore for 20 minutes or so until a bit of the decomposing granite slipped under my shoe and I took a tumble. Being just average height, I didn't fall far - but still, decomposing granite is perhaps the hardest, roughest surface human skin will ever encounter. And when it does, well...

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Luckily for me, my adrenaline kicked in right away and my little booboo hurt my ego more than my hand, so as a bit of blood dripped onto the ground, I continue my hunt for pictographs. But only for 10 minutes or so - because I got a family whistle that breakfast was ready!

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Besides the luxury of pancakes in the desert, being back at the truck for a moment presented a good opportunity to clean up my hand and get a band-aid, so I did that and looked over my camera which I'd also dropped - luckily nothing seemingly broken, though the body definitely looks a little worse for the wear.

As one does, we ate all the pancakes with a bit of haste and I related what I'd found so far to @mrs.turbodb. A yoni was extremely interesting to her, so as we set out again, we made a quick stop to check it out before dividing to conquer the rest of the area.

We searched for nearly two hours. I was high up in the rocks of the hills, she was low around the perimeter. Everything was extremely cool. But we'd found nothing, and we knew we couldn't search all day - so we decided that we'd continue the search to "just over there," and if we didn't find what we were looking for, we'd add this to our list of reasons to return.

And then, just as we got "over there," we hit the jackpot. We found a room I'd heard about - an enormous, house-size rock that created a room approximately 20' x 20', and 6' tall. Clearly a place that Native Americans had spent a bunch of time cooking - the soot on the ceiling an obvious sign.

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Nearby, some morteros - holes ground into the granite with a rock pestle, as grains, plants, and pigments were crushed for day-to-day life.

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Re-energized, the Blue Sun Cave continued to elude us. But - sure we were close - we continued to search. And while we ultimately may have searched a bit past "over there," we were eventually rewarded as we spotted the opening to the cave, high up the hill.

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As we climbed up and in, we took in the uniqueness of this place. Well-preserved because so few ultimately find it, we were honored to be two of the few that would get to see these the colorful pictographs of the sun, that give the cave it's name

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But that wasn't all - there were many more images here - an in all different colors.

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We took it all in. We enjoyed every minute. It had been a true Indiana Jones style adventure - one where we'd known what we were looking for, but not where to find it. One of those rare places that the Internet alluded to but never actually divulged the exact location. And in the end, I think that's what makes it so special.

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As we made our way back to the truck, we discovered even more caves and morteros, Indian Hills must be full of these hidden gems, waiting for the eager explorer. As we drove away, I knew that even having found what I was looking for today, this was a place I wanted to return for more!

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From Indian Hills, our next destination wasn't far away - Mortero Palms. Reached only by hiking up a steep rocky canyon, the palm grove was initially going to be the starting point for our previous day's hike to the Goat Canyon Trestle - an extremely strenuous six-mile bouldering experience that would have taken all day, before we found our alternate route.

But today we were just going to the palm grove. So we parked the truck and once again headed into the hills.

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Imagine our surprise when we found a rock bathtub along the trail. With a view to die for, it was too tempting for some of us, who climbed right in! Really too bad that it was empty.

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A mile or so of scrambling and bouldering later, we'd gained a thousand feet in elevation and caught our first glimpse of the palm grove.

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We'd seen similar groves already - Palm Canyon the day before only the most recent. Still, seeing palm trees in the desert is always wondrous, and we continued up until we reached the main bunch of trees, where we enjoyed the shade as we explored what was once a wet oasis, the water now entirely below the surface.

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By now it was getting on 1:00pm and despite our amazing pancake breakfast, both of our stomachs were starting to let us know that lunch would be most appreciated. So we tore ourselves away and started back down the steep canyon towards the truck - the view in the distance a bit...disconcerting.

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All around us though was a reminder that as beautiful as everything was, we were hear at a time that was even more beautiful - it was a super bloom, the hillsides covered in wildflowers.

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As we neared the truck we realized that lunch out here wouldn't be all that enjoyable. Out in the open and with the sun near its apex, the only shade was our shadows - not ideal for a relaxing lunch.

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So, despite our hunger, we made the decision to continue on before eating - our next real destination a short slot canyon hike known as "The Slot." It wasn't nearby but we figured that we'd find a place along the way to pull over and have a bite to eat. Not only that, but the route we'd be taking would retrace some of our favorite steps from our previous trip as we made our way north - through Canyon sin Nombre, Seco del Diablo, Devil's Drop, and Fish Creek Wash.

And, it was in Cayon sin Nombre that we found the perfect place for lunch - complete with our own personal Smoke Tree.

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Still with a lot planned for the afternoon, we tried to eat quickly and get back on the trail - our turkey-and-salami sandwiches and potato chips really hitting the spot as we took in the canyon walls around us.

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Within half an hour or so, we were back on the road - once again enjoying this amazing drive, the geology some of the most spectacular in the park.

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Stopping less and moving faster than we had the last time through, we made great time until we got to the landslide that had blocked the road and created a pool of water that we'd skirted on an off-camber trail before seeing a 4Runner take the "right" line right though the pool.

This time, we were planning to do just that - take the line through the pool - until we pulled up and saw that most of the water was gone...mud in its place.

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I got out to evaluate and a few missteps into the mud quickly changed my mind on the line I wanted to take. If wimpy old me could sink that far, just imagine how far the truck might sink. With nothing good to winch off of, and no other rigs in the area, we ultimately decided to try the same route we'd taken previously - now even more off camber from the previous two weeks traffic. This time however, @mrs.turbodb was going to surf the side of the truck to help keep it balanced.

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Yeah. That didn't work. I mean, it wasn't @mrs.turbodb's fault at all - she did just fine. However, the drier ground and off-camberness of the track caused the tires to slip sideways downhill almost immediately. To prevent a roll, I was forced to steer into the slide, straight for the mud!

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Luckily, we made it. In fact, not only did we make it, but it gave us a chance to test out the new wheel/tire setup - and I dare say that it was a stunning success. Where the entire side and top of the truck - not to mention the tent - would have been completely covered in mud previously, this time there was almost no mud anywhere except in the wheel wells. A smashing success from a situation that could have gone very badly.

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As it was, we picked up speed again and not long later found ourselves at the top of Diablo's Drop, the connector between Seco del Diablo and Fish Creek Wash. It was here that - just as I was headed down the drop - a UTVer came running over, "Hey man, can I buy some gas from you?" It seems that he and his buddies had headed out with no fuel reserves at all, and he'd forgotten to fill up his tank before leaving. Now, in the middle of the desert, he was empty.

Whoops.

Of course, I hope that if I ever need gas out on an adventure that someone passing by would give me some, so despite our rush, I backed up the truck and siphoned a gallon or two out of my jerry can into his tank. Hopefully, that's a lot of Karma points for helping out a UTVer.

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Then it was on through the remainder of Fish Creek Wash and Split Mountain Road - we paused only twice for photos, having spent quite a bit of time here on our last trip.

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It was 4:30pm when we finally reached The Slot. As we pulled into the parking lot, I looked at @mrs.turbodb and said, "I hope we haven't been bamboozled." See, the lot was full - I mean really full - and looking over the edge of the canyon wall suggested that this "slot" might be a little wider than most. Had we fallen for the name of the place, forgetting that it might be dramatically named in order to draw the crowds of people that we regularly tried to avoid?

As we headed down into the canyon, I was sure that bamboozled was exactly the right term for our current situation. The crowds were thick, the "slot canyon" was 50-feet wide, and the sides were probably only 20-feet tall. Luckily, a quarter mile later, I was proven wrong - at least mostly. There were still tons of people, but the canyon narrowed and deepened into a true slot and we got to enjoy the afternoon sun reflecting off the twists and turns.

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As most slots seem to be, this one was reasonably short - perhaps two-tenths of a mile or so - and we were soon back at the truck, ready to head to camp. Tonight, that would be in the middle of the badlands we'd seen from Fonts Point - up a wash called Hills of the Moon Wash.

It was a place I'd been looking forward to for a long time - one I'd hoped to do on our first trip, but that we hadn't had time for.

As we set off, there was a bit of smoke in the air. Hopefully it'd clear up overnight.

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To get to Hills of the Moon Wash from The Slot, we had to run a short, fun section of Borrego Mountain Wash - most of it being an easy, flat drive. But this section had a 30º hill and a few rocky obstacles to make our way through, and @mrs.turbodb snapped a few photos and spotted us down through a few of the sections.

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And then, in front of us, the badlands unfolded. Or did they fold? I don't know.

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As we drove up into the muddy hills, we reveled in the colors - so warm and bright under the evening sun. And so clearly our speed from a popularity perspective - because while there were some tire tracks in the wash, there weren't many, and they weren't fresh!

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Even just the surface of the badlands mud mountains was enough to get us to stop and take notice.

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Eventually, we made our way to the end of the wash. Halfway between Fonts Point and Vista del Mal Pais, I had initially assumed that we'd be able to see one or both of them from our camp. That of course was a bad assumption - the badlands much taller in person than they look from those vantage points - the only thing we'd be seeing from camp, the folds immediately closest to us!

Of course, that was fine by us when they looked like this.

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Having found the perfect raised spot, just out of the main wash and far enough up the road that we knew we'd have the place to ourselves that night (turns out, I think anywhere on the wash would have been that way), we set about our evening routines. I setup the tent while @mrs.turbodb cooked up some tasty burgers with cheese.

And then we ate dinner under a sunset where the colors in the sky battled the colors on the ground to see who could come out on top. In the end, I'd say we did!

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Tired from a long full day, it was another early night for us. We got cleaned up after dinner and grabbed our Kindles for a few minutes of reading in the tent before our eyelids got heavy and we dozed off - another great day in Anza-Borrego, with another day and a half before we had to finally head home...

 

I notice the Firestik and PVC/ABS water tank is gone. Any reason?

 

I only run the CB when I'm on a trip with other folks - otherwise (and yeah, those same folks will give me crap for this), all the antenna does is reduce my MPGs. I do always have the ham radio running though, since I've got APRS going.

For the ABS water tank (my home-brew truck shower) - I removed that late last year as it turned out I wasn't really using it. The longer trips, where I'd want a shower, it turns out are late enough in the summer/fall that it never really got warm enough to use. And, while it was sort of nice having an extra 5gal of water...in the end, I never had trouble refilling my jerry can in town, so I took it off.

 

need to come to my place of work. Can't see any sculpture really from another one. Save two and that was intention as they Mirror eachother...they are still 2 miles away though haha

 

Here are a few I took a few days ago. I seen a Bandit but it was altered and not a good pic for this thread.