The wild flowers were in fine form, not 100% yet but quite beautiful. BTW longtime ranger Nancy has retired after 20 some odd years with the park, she will be missed. Her replacement seems to have her same good demeanor thank goodness. Unfortunately the park decided that the Coyote Canyon rock gardens needed another grading, this is the worst by far. It amazes me that they can get away this, they have literally jack hammered away every natural obstacle. If the Sierra Club were to see one of us out there doing this kind of damage there certainly would be hell to pay.
After zipping up the "rock gardens" and out to Sheep Canyon we ran into lots of folks trying to get away from the main TDS group. We said hello and then hiked up to the lower falls which had plenty of water as the picture shows. We took a few pics and headed back down to town for lunch. It's kind of sad but the economy has claimed two of my favorite restaurants out there so we had to go with Jilberto's which sometimes seems to have questionable quality meat.
With time slipping by we would fore-go the ubiquitous run to Font's and head straight out to Split Mountain, Fish Creek the Wind Caves and Sandstone Canyon. The views from the Wind Caves were breath taking and being Sunday afternoon we pretty much had the whole canyon to ourselves. Sandstone has has some pretty sizable rock falls and prevented anyone without a little nerve or experience from continuing very far. Though Chris was doubtful his rig was capable of making it through the many obstacles we encountered we managed to do so unscathed. By the time we exited Fish Creek the wind was blowing 35-40mph and it was raining as we hit Lake Hensahw. All and all it another great day in Anza Borrego!
- 5 south early
- IMG_7781.JPG (2.87 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- Hwy 76 empty
- IMG_7793.JPG (4.48 MiB) Viewed 2800 times
- 2nd water crossing Coyote Canyon
- IMG_7801.JPG (8.31 MiB) Viewed 2698 times
- Lower Falls Sheep Canyon
- IMG_7807.JPG (4.33 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- Chris enjoying the scenery
- IMG_7812.JPG (6.51 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- Everything was blooming including the cactus
- IMG_7827.JPG (2.55 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- On the way back from Coyote Cyn, I took Chris down Borrego Springs Road to see the sculptures. You can drive right up to them and they are very impressive up close.
- IMG_7839.JPG (3.7 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- After lunch in town we made our way to Split Mountain and Fish Creek. We made the mile hike to the Wind Caves which never disappoint. The incredible diversity of the Split Mountain area can be scene from the Wind Cave area. Unfortunately I did not bring a camera. All pictures posted are courtesy of my friend Chris Fitzgerald.
- IMG_7857.JPG (4.13 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- IMG_7869.JPG (3.91 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- IMG_7860.JPG (4.62 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- IMG_7862.JPG (2.59 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- IMG_7866.JPG (3.14 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- Fish Creek
- IMG_7897.JPG (1.98 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- IMG_7902.JPG (3.05 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- IMG_7923.JPG (4.22 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- IMG_7937.JPG (3.36 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- Chris was freaking out about how tight it was here and there and Sandstone has some new obstacles I'll let you discover on your own.
- IMG_7945.JPG (3.73 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
- A happy camper and no carnage, yea!
- IMG_7954.JPG (3.14 MiB) Viewed 2776 times
_
_
, but we were far enough back where it became very technical and finally turned around due to the late hour. I would say Fish Creek and Sandstone are as good as they get right now.