AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Just where I was planning to go this weekend! Hopefully the trip updates are up this week?

 

Saw one last time we were in Borrego. Tiny little guy under the tent when we packed up.

 

LOL, is that what this has become now?

I looked at Jungle too. Looked too bubbly for me. And I agree, SCS look better. But we all know that looks aren't everything - I mean, despite our looks, two ladies still choose us.

Nah, the biggest thing in Anza, as I understand it are the ticks. The rest don't bother me...and frankly, we saw none of anything on the list.

Have fun, we definitely did! Don't know about trip updates this week though - lots of photos and write-up to go through. More likely to have trip updates next week... So much to see down there (like everywhere). We'll be going back for sure. Likely many times.

 

Top 3 spots to hit, or will that ruin the surprise? I camped at sheep canyon a few months back and felt like I just kind of wandered around prior to that and could have seen a lot more if we knew some good spots. If you'd rather PM a couple spots you recommend, I'd appreciate it, otherwise we'll figure out a few more spots of our own.

 

Sounds like everyday in West Texas..

Seen a big rattlesnake that was hit by a truck, still alive.. and the buzzards where trying to eat him. And be was not happy about it.

 

Hopefully you got the answer. It is our old bachelor which is now the Shasta standard.
If you need anything you can reach me in my cell at 541-419-2790.

 

Thanks, Bobby, I did get the answer! Which is cool, since I may need a new cover eventually (Formula 303 has done a pretty good job so far, and I am gentle with the zipper). I may have ordered the wrong size.

 

Great addition to your trip reports man glad you got the family out for some fun time. One thing i would like to add to your trip advice, the old saying cotton kills. Merlino and poly will lighten your bag and keep you warmer.

Thanks for the documentation on your recent mechanical adventure. Top of the line as always.

 

Double Fun @ Anza Borrego - March 2019 (Part 1)
February 27-28, 2019.

Oh man, was this going to be fun. A trip like no other (so far). A trip with a twist. A trip that was actually two. Let me explain.

For a while now, Anza Borrego Desert State Park in California has been on my list of places to explore. Like Death Valley - which we've visited quite a bit and recently hiked for three days - it's a great place to visit during the winter because temperatures in the summer can get rather unbearable - so much so that certain roads in the park are closed from mid-June to September. The problem is that the drive to-and-from Anza Borrego is a bit too long to make our normal 6-day jaunts worthwhile.

So you can imagine my excitement when I realized that there was an opportunity to nearly double the length of the trip and cut the driving in half, all at the same time! See, it turned out that my Pops and step-mother were going to be vacationing in Anza Borrego for part of March, and that meant that I could take a page out of @DVexile's playbook and leave the truck in California between trips. We'd drive down as normal; explore for 4 days; fly home... and then reverse the process for a second trip 10 days after the first.

It was glorious! And, not any more expensive than two trips would have been - the cost of flights essentially the same as the cost of fuel to traverse the entire west coast.

Having figured this out with only about 3 days before departure, it was with some hasty research and planning that we were ready to go in just the nick of time, and we set out south at 7:00am - a long two days of driving ahead of us to reach our destination.

Time passed slowly but steadily as we drove through the rain and snow towards what we hoped were warmer days - our bags full of shorts and t-shirts. With stops for food and fuel, we made reasonable time - luckily missing traffic in major metropolitan areas as the miles-upon-miles of I-5 stacked up behind us.

Every once in a while, we'd get a nice little sun break.

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Eventually we made it to the Bay Area - a short, 7-hour pit stop - before continuing south. Again, food and fuel were our only stops - warmer climates and dirt roads calling our name. As we neared our destination, spring was clearly in the air - the hill sides along the I-5 Grapevine covered in California poppies.

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Some taco-truck fixings for lunch and a couple more hours of driving and we found ourselves on the final approach to the park. Not only that, but @mrs.turbodb realized that we could actually make part of that approach on dirt rather than pavement - so we pulled onto our first trail and aired down the tires. The afternoon sun was out, and it was windy!

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As is typical for me, I gave the truck a once-over as the tires aired themselves down (I can't recommend a set of automatic tire deflators enough). Usually this inspection turns up nothing, but that was far from the case today. Sometime during our thousand-mile paved journey, the inner boot of the driver-side CV had torn - the telltale grease covering the surrounding area.

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That was a bummer - I've been lucky to this point to not have a boot tear on any of my CV axles - but not the end of the world. Our CVs can run for quite a while with a torn boot - so rather than replace it with the trail spare in the OSK, I decided that we'd just let it be for the remainder of the trip, and we'd fix it when we got home. You know, the knowledge of it's imperfection nagging at me all trip! At any rate, we carried on, this first trail being a nice change from the pavement of the last two days, even if there wasn't anything truly outstanding about it.

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As the trail wound around through the rocky hillsides, we got out to inspect a few old homestead sites. In each case, the buildings - and frankly any indication a homestead had previously existed - long gone; still, the stop was a chance to stretch our legs and enjoy the outdoors.

Eventually, the trail afforded us our first glimpse of Anza Borrego Valley - stretched out as far as the eye could see below us. It was spectacular.

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It was also, obviously, populated - at least more-so than other places that we've visited - houses and cities evident across the landscape. That's a difference between National Parks and State Parks we figured, as we rejoined the highway for the final few miles down into the valley.

There, we passed through the town of Borrego Springs to fill up on fuel, before officially entering the park and heading towards our first in-park destination - an overlook of the badlands at Fonts Point.

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As we'd come to find was the case generally, the road to Fonts Point was easy going. Primarily sand, there were places that were deeper and places that were rough - so it was nice to be aired down - but there wasn't much to worry about, 2wd just fine most of the time. It was just after sunset as we approached the overlook - the perfect time for the lot to be empty so we could setup camp for the night!

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Of course, anyone who knows Anza Borrego is likely chuckling our naivete - Fonts Point is a popular place, and there were no fewer than 15 vehicles parked in the lot taking in the sunset. It was immediately clear that this was not going to be our camp site for the night. But we weren't going to miss the badlands and we meandered the final few hundred feet to the overlook. It was incredible - the badlands spread out into the distance, the geometric shapes of each crevice inviting our eyes to explore them.

As the color of the sky changed above us, we obliged.

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Eventually we decided that we should take our leave of this amazing place so that we could find a camp site for the night while there was still some light out. I had a nearby place in mind - one that I hoped would be very similar and even perhaps slightly better - Vista del Mal Pais - another, less populated, badlands overlook. Less than 10 miles away, we made our way east off a spur from Fonts Point, and then south again towards the end of the road.

...where we were stymied once again by a white first gen Tacoma - already setup to enjoy the solitude!

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But that was fine with us - we'd spotted a perfect spot about a half mile down the road. Sheltered in a side wash, it was just large enough for one truck and would afford us a bit of privacy from the road. As we got ourselves situated, I worked on setting up the tent, and @mrs.turbodb got busy making delicious hamburgers on the Coleman grill. A mostly clear sky above, we sat back and enjoyed the stars as we ate our dinner - happy as could be that it was well above freezing - and discussed our plan for the days ahead.

It would be a full few days - we knew that much - but little did we know just what was in store, the desert always seeming to have surprises around every turn. Then, once dinner was done, lounged a bit more before both giving into to the tired that comes from two full days of travel - our bodies and minds ready for some rest before whatever lay ahead the following day.

As we climbed into the tent and under the covers, we remarked again how comfortable our new Exped Megamat 10 Duo was - and then quickly fell asleep. It couldn't have been after 8:30pm!

Adventure awaited...

 

I'm not ready to cut and chop yet.... I also wanted to try out mud tires... I ended up with General Grabber X3s in E load and 265/75R16. I was pretty happy with my AT2s.

 

I'm on my 4th set of General Grabber AT2s (2nd on the Taco). I think it's about the best value you can get. Made in America, 60k mi treadwear warranty, severe snow service (or whatever the mountain snowflake means) rated, and on the low side of the price spectrum. I've had them on snow/ice, dirt/sand, rock and pavement and been very pleased with the result. Plus, no real tire/road noise to speak of.

 

They are a great tire. I changed because I did have need for more traction in a muddy environment. So far, the X3s are an improvement in that area... at the cost of more noise and weight.

 

Anza-Borrego Part 2 - Fun in the Sun!
March 1, 2019.

We slept well through the night - my only complaint really being that at 55º-60ºF, it was too warm and I woke up a bit sweaty somewhere around 2:00am. It was a simple enough fix to remove one of the comforters from my side, and I quickly fell back asleep until my sunrise alarm went off way too early.

I wasn't sure exactly when sunrise was going to be, so I'd set the alarm for 5:15am. Turns out that 5:45am would have been a better time to catch the morning color. Perhaps a bit out of character, @mrs.turbodb was keen to see sunrise over the badlands as well, so as she got dressed, I took a few photos around camp.

It was a beautiful morning.

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The pinks and purples of the desert sky always catch me off guard, and this morning was no exception. As we walked the last half-mile to the Vista del Mal Pais, we marveled at the marbling above us - knowing that by the time we reached the overlook, it'd be but a memory - the sun's movement too quick in situations such as these.

Not that we had anything to complain about when we reached our destination. The badlands stretched far and wide in front of us. Kept company by the owner of the 1st gen Tacoma who'd parked at the end of the road, we spent a good half hour or more just enjoying the view as the sky got gradually brighter - all of us with our cameras at the ready, not wanting to miss a moment.

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The rising sun also gave us our first good glimpse of what would become a theme for the trip: wildflowers! While not technically a super-bloom, the desert was alive with color. Purples, whites, yellows, and reds topped off a blanket of green that shows itself only fleetingly each year.

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Eventually it was time to head back to camp for breakfast - we had a long day ahead of us and I had a couple things I wanted to do in camp before we got underway. The first was to adjust the spare tire on the rear swing-arm. I'd installed it before leaving home - as always - but as we'd tried to mount the Trasharoo the day before, I noticed that the tire was sucked up against the swing-out. I quickly realized that this was due to the increased backspacing - 4.5" instead of the 3.5" on my SCS Stealth6's - on the new-to-me 4Runner wheels that I was sporting for the first time on this trip in an effort to reduce mud fling. The great thing about the @CBI Offroad Fab spare tire mount is that it's easily adjustable - so I zipped off the three lug nuts holding the tire on and moved the mount an inch away from the swing-arm. Five minutes, and I was done.

Next, I wanted to switch up the rain fly on the CVT Mt. Shasta. As I've mentioned, I really dislike the stargazer windows because they take a long time to dry when they get wet. So I worked with Bobby over at @Cascadia Tents to get a new fly without the windows (something that new versions of the tent apparently come with now), and this was the perfect time to get it installed. I removed the old one, got the poles in the new one, and was just getting it secured to the corners of the tent when @mrs.turbodb said, "Umm, I don't think you got the right fly." Turns out I'd been sent a fly for an extended series tent and sure enough, it wasn't going to work on my standard series.

That didn't make me super happy, and I grumbled as I re-installed the old fly. Luckily for me, a tasty breakfast of cereal and blueberries had been prepared and helped to raise my spirits once again. Plus, I have no doubt that Bobby will make this right - it'll just have to wait for a future trip!

Soon, we were ready to go, and we headed down Shorty Wash towards Arroyo Salado to see what the day had in store.

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The sandy washes were fun to drive in and we made reasonably good time except for me stopping every couple minutes to take pictures. But really, how could anyone resist - the sun was out and the weather was a far cry better than the snow we'd left in Washington!

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Now, we were on Arroyo Salado for a very specific purpose - I wanted to see a couple of landmarks along the route. Specifically, I wanted to see 17 Palms, 5 Palms, and Una Palma. Turns out that the first two wouldn't be an issue, but Una Palma is... well... Sin Palma at the moment.

It wasn't long before we rolled up to 17 Palms and got out to explore. As is the case with most good folks who stumble across these oasis in the desert, we assumed that we'd find both shade and water as we neared the California Fan Palms. As it turns out - like many before us - the second half of that assumption turned out to be incorrect.

Still, it was a sight to behold, and @mrs.turbodb was quick to wander over and start counting the twenty-seven palms that made up 17 Palms spring!

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We explored a bit, finding a post of bottle caps and a hidden mailbox stuffed with guest books, which we gladly signed before making our retreat back to the truck.

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Even as we left the spring, the spring season was apparent all around us - even the driest cracked desert floor teaming with life - small succulents pushing through and making themselves known.

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Windows down and fan blowing in the truck, we were back in the wash - winding our way in and out of the mud/sand mounds that made up this badland-y area. A fun and beautiful landscape to drive - new colorful views around nearly every corner. And it wasn't long before we found ourselves approaching 5 Palms - the tops of the trees visible a few hills away. As we approached, @mrs.turbodb educated me a bit on the trees themselves - turns out that California Fan Palms are the only palm native to the Western United States, and are "left over" from a tropical climate in the Miocene era, some 8 to 20 million years ago! (see Anza-Borrego A to Z: People, Places, and Things by Diana Lindsay)

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Naturally, we spent some more time exploring 5 Palms. Or, at this moment, 4 (+1 dead) Palms.

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From here, we had a choice - we could head back to pavement the way we'd come the previous evening, or we could venture along some dirt roads to see what they had in store. OK, it wasn't much of a choice really - we were taking the dirt less traveled - so we ventured south on Thule Wash in search of a strange sounding landmark: The Pumpkin Patch.

When we arrived, there couldn't have been a better description for what we saw. There, strewn across the ground were hundreds of stone pumpkins. Not actually, of course - but it sure looked strange.

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Turns out that these pumpkins are created from a single small "seed" - a pebble, an actual seed - that finds itself in a river bed as sediment is laid down. Over time, each layer of sediment builds up on the seed, enlarging it until - hundreds or thousands of years later - it's a pumpkin-sized stone.

However, even that is not where the story ends with the pumpkins - but that was something we discover until later! For now, we headed north again - to Truckhaven Trail, a trail that would deposit us at the start of our next adventure.

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Bacon Rock, one of the tastiest in Anza-Borrego.​

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As we went, that constant theme of spring was visible once again - flowers were blooming everywhere, including a few early specimens of desert lily.

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As we reached the end of Truckhaven Trail - or at least it's intersection with S22 - it was nearing noon. Lunch time for most, we were eager to push forward, our stomachs not yet grumbling at us to feed them. And so it was that we pushed forward - forward onto the most technical trail we'd complete on these first few days in Anza-Borrego: Calcite Mine.

OK, before we go any further, I need to clarify something. Calcite Mine isn't all that tough of a trail. Sure, it was the most technical that we completed, but save for a few narrow-and-off-camber bits that make the humans in the vehicle uncomfortable, there wasn't anything that really stressed the truck in any meaningful way. It was unique in one way though - it was the only trail we didn't see any other traffic on, and that was nice!

As we started up the trail, we passed a couple groups of hikers - their expressions betraying their thoughts of "I wish I was driving this instead of walking" - before hitting the first obstacle - a bit of ledge that would keep lower clearance vehicles at bay.

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We continued up into the mountain, winding our way higher, the views getting better all the time. Over various V-notches and ruts in the road, rough patches and washouts, we made our way along slowly and carefully - eventually coming to a drop down into and then back up out of a small wash just a quarter mile or so from the mine.

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The grainy, sandy trail was a generally straight-forward traverse, with only one steep, mogully section where we benefited from a short bump-up with the rear locker. And then, we were at the top.

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There isn't much left of Calcite Mine it turns out. In fact, if I didn't know I was at a mine site, I probably wouldn't have noticed the tell-tale signs of the mining activity - a handful of channels carved into the mountains, where veins of calcite had been removed by the Polaroid Corporation during WWII in order to manufacture optical-grade crystals for gun sights and rocket launchers for the U.S. government.

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But once you know what you're looking for, they are obvious - and fun to explore, the remnants of several small calcite veins still embedded in the walls.

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We also spent some time exploring the wind caves at the mine site - both because they were super-cool looking, and also because they offered a bit of shade from the beating, mid-day sun. Little did we know that these wouldn't be the last wind caves we saw on this trip!

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Our bellies now telling us it was time to eat, we decided that the best course of action would be to head back down the mountain to find some shade in a canyon below - after-all, the trail was only a couple miles long, and we weren't even going all the way back, having found a short connector to our next trail: Palm Wash.

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The short connector between trails was a fun one - a steep, off-camber turn near it's bottom providing a bit of excitement but no real problem for a capable 4WD - and from there it really was only a couple minutes to the end of the wash. This was going to be a great spot for lunch - there was a nice shady area where we could enjoy freshly made turkey sandwiches loaded with pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, and condiments along with potato chips and a cool, crisp apple. Tasty.

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It also turned out to be a great place for a bit of exploration, @mrs.turbodb having discovered that the end of the wash was the beginning of a short hike to the "Sheep Tanks:"

We set out and before long we found ourselves navigating a very cool slot canyon in search of the Sheep Tanks, the sun spilling down illuminating our way.

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After a half mile or so - just a bit further than the 100 yards we were expecting! - we decided we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. So we headed back to the only fork we'd seen and started up the adjoining wash, starting with the climb of a 20-foot dry fall. Again we explored up the wash - plenty to see, but nothing that looked like the aforementioned Sheep Tanks.

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Eventually, we decided it was time to get moving with the rest of our day and we headed back to the truck. We hadn't found the tanks, but we'd had a great hike. It was only after we returned home and I looked up the tanks on the interwebs that I discovered that the trailhead for the tanks isn't actually at the end of the wash as suggested - it's a bit further down-wash... which means - as seems to be a trend with us - we have a reason to return! ::

And so it was that we drove right past the trailhead as we made our way down the wash, oblivious to the mistake, and on our way to the Coral Wash Arch. An arch you can drive your truck through, I knew that this would likely be a trail where we'd see other vehicles, but even I wasn't prepared for what we encountered. Unknown to us, the 57th annual desert safari for Tierra Del Sol (San Diego’s Four Wheel Drive Club) was in full force and as we neared the arch, UTVs and Jeeps swarmed like ants across the landscape. Not really our scene, we took a photo under the arch and made a hasty retreat!

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At this point, it was getting on in the afternoon and we decided that it was time to find camp. I'd planned for us to camp in a little spot near the start of our first trail the next day - Canyon sin Nombre - but given the time, that would mean skipping a hike I really wanted to do as well - to some pictographs in Little Blair Valley.

As one does, we abandoned my well-laid plan and decided to head for Little Blair Valley to camp. And boy-oh-boy, was that the right call! As we rolled into the valley, the bright green spilled out in front of us. Not only that, but the green was topped with millions of blazing yellow flowers - as though the sun itself had taken up residence. I couldn't resist running out into the middle of it all.

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We continued on our way - deciding that despite being a bit low on fuel (fill up whenever you can in Anza-Borrego), we'd see what the trailhead to the pictographs looked like - and find a nearby spot to call home for the night. The going was easy, and it was about 6:00pm when we found a nicely sheltered spot to camp, with a view of Little Blair Valley to boot.

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As usual, the first order of business was to do a bit of exploring. Lots of cool ocotillo and other desert flora, and this interesting sheared rock were among our finds this evening.

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As dusk began to fall, we set about our chores - @mrs.turbodb getting dinner of tacos and guacamole ready on the stove; me getting 5-gallons of fuel siphoned into the tank from the jerry can and the tent setup.

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The tacos were fabulous. The warm weather meant that it was the first time ever that I got to eat warm tacos on a camping trip - usually, the mid-30º air cooling them off before I can get them down my gullet! As we sat and talked about the events of the day, and our plans for the next, we enjoyed the last of the purple light playing across the sky.

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It was the perfect end to an amazing first day in Anza-Borrego, and little did we know what was in store for the next...

 

Some awesome photos!

 

2000th post in this thread

 

As always, leaving us hanging for the next day!

I got to try out my ExPed earlier this week -- thanks SO MUCH for that tip, it was timely and the ExPed is completely awesome. Fits nearly perfect, airs up and down easily, folds up in the tent nicely, and most of all, super comfy!

 

Great pictures and report. I really need to do more AB trips.
Welcome to the T4R wheel club. Looking good.

 

Really like the look of the new wheels-seem to set off the look of the truck nicely!

 

Man....I don't even want to bother posting my trip pictures from the same area now....

 

I would love to be able to visit a place like that. Makes me wish I was 20 years younger, and not crippled up. I'd be lucky to survive the bumps on the trails just riding in the truck, and hiking is out of the question. But thanks for posting the pics, I really enjoyed them. Most city people think the desert is barren, but they have no idea how beautiful springtime can be. I lived in Midland Texas back in the early 60's, and my dad would take us out with him to the oil fields, and springtime was always my favorite, with the cactus all in bloom.