Wandering In The Desert - Exploring in Anza Borrego Desert - Sat 19 Nov 2011

A few of us got together on Saturday to go exploring around Anza Borrego Desert State Park, on the eastern end of San Diego County.  We wandered around an area known as Borrego Mountain, traveling up sandy washes, then narrow sandstone canyons, back into the sandy washes, up and over a rutted ridgeline track, and finally north across the edge of the badlands - getting back to pavement a little after a spectacular sunset.


Here we are lined up in a narrow sandy wash right near the spot where the Anza expedition was said to have made camp in 1774.

My friend Robert snapped a picture of me driving over a rocky spot in Borrego Mountain Wash.

Looking north towards the badlands, there's not much but desert all the way to the mountains in the distance.

As you come to the crest of this hill, which is on a trail called The Goat Trail, all you can see is sky over your hood. I wonder how they came up with the name.

Earlier in the day we drove into the narrow canyon you can see at the bottom of the picture and found a spot for a lunch break.

Our vehicles parked on the ridgeline trail overlooking the slot canyon in the shot above.

Looking north across the Borrego Badlands towards Fonts Point, as the sun gets low in the sky behind us.

About 1/3 mile from the end of the last trail we stopped for a bit to admire the sunset.

It may look pretty, but it is still the desert. These things can hurt.

We got to the pavement just as it was getting dark. We re-inflated our tires and headed for home. Another great day in the desert.

For anyone who is interested in the specifics of the route we took - we started out crossing the Borrego Sink area and heading eastward into San Felipe Wash. We turned south into Borrego Mountain Wash and drove that until the point where it becomes too narrow to drive, then walked for a bit up The Slot. We drove back out Borrego Mountain Wash the same way we came in, then turned east in San Felipe Wash until we got to Blow Sand Canyon. We followed that up to the Goat Trail, taking that west to its end at Buttes Pass Road. We took Buttes Pass south to the spot overlooking The Slot, then turned around and came back the same way, taking Buttes Pass north to its end in San Felipe Wash. We continued east again, this time until we got to Military Wash, which we took north to its end, then jogged east until we hit Fault Wash, which we took north to where it ends in Arroyo Salado. From there it was east again for a short distance to Ella Wash, which took us north to the pavement on County Road S-22.


Click here to see more images from Anza Borrego Desert State Park on Saturday, November 19, 2011.