Outdoor Adventure USA

We are very fortunate to have Diana and Lowell Lindsay join us again this year for a special presentation on Friday afternoon. As many know, Diana and Lowell have written the definitive book on the Anza Borrego and the surrounding Desert area and are obviously very knowledgeable concerning it's geology, history, and the interesting people who are part of this history. In particular, Diana will be concentrating on giving us some history on the Marshal South family regarding their "experiment in desert self-sufficiency". South and his family lived on Ghost Mountain (in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park) and his chronicles of their life made him a regular contributor to the now defunct "Desert Magazine".

On Friday we will be hiking to Ghost Mountain to explore the site of the Marshal South home and will also be exploring Indian ruins that South wrote about for Desert Magazine. Time permitting, we will also visit the site of a jet plane crash which is near where we will be exploring.

Here is a preview of what to expect (from Diana Lindsay):

For 17 years, from 1930 to 1947, poet, artist, and author Marshal South and his family lived on Ghost Mountain—a remote, waterless, windswept mountaintop in Blair Valley on the western edge of the Colorado Desert, now part of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. They sought to reconnect with the earth and prove that life did not have to be constrained by society’s conventions and harried routines. Over a period of nine of the years spent on Ghost Mountain, South chronicled his family’s controversial primitive and natural lifestyle through monthly articles written for Desert Magazine. His articles were the reality entertainment of the day—a sort of early version of Survivor with thousands of readers awaiting the next installment. South’s experiment in primitive living ended abruptly in the fall of 1946. He died soon after a bitter divorce. His wife lived another 50 years (until 1997) and never granted an interview. With her passing, South’s son, Rider South, was willing to tell the real story of what happened on Ghost Mountain.

Diana will join us on this run.

NOTES:

1. There is a short, but steep hike to the top of Ghost Mountain and about a 1 mile hike to the ruins and the plane crash. Hiking gear is recommended, including long pants, a hat, and adequate hiking shoes or boots. Bring plenty of water and a snack. If you have a HT, bring it along to keep in touch with our communication station back at camp.

2. The road to the trail head is not difficult and travel time will be about 30 minutes.

3. Although we will post more information elsewhere, please join Diana at 8:30PM on Friday for a presentation in the community room at the Butterfield Ranch on the topic of the Marshal South Family and their life in the Anza Borrego Desert.

4. If you are interested in reading up on Marshal South you can order his book, from Sunbelt Publications (http://www.sunbeltbook.com/), entitled "Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles - An Experiment in Primitive Living" . The book contains the complete collection of all of his writings for Desert Magazine. Or, you may purchase the book, (and many others about the Anza Borrego area) on Friday evening at the presentation.

5. We will return to camp in time for a leisurely evening meal and time to join Diana for the presentation at 8:15PM.

6. All OAUSA rules will apply.


Friday BorregoFest Run/Hike

Lead: DaveK
Tail Gunner: TBD
Difficulty: Easy
Meeting Time: 11:00 AM (check back here to make sure that this time does not change)
Meeting Place: OAUSA camp Headquarters
Departure Time: Noon
2M Simplex: 145.570
2M Repeater: TBD

Signed up:
1. DaveK
2 Crismateski
3 Shelly and Steve
4 Chazz and Dani
5 brentbba
6 lehn20
7 Vic & Ramona Cooper
8 Mark & Kim Burkett
9 Jaime
10 Nick
11 Winter and Neuro
12 Larry and Ben
13 Dwight & Maile
14 dlichterman
15 Tim (hardhat)

Sign me up

Crismateski wrote:Sign me up

You're in!

I'd love to do this but I gotta check with the wife. I'm hoping she can get Friday off work... and that we can do this with our little one.

Sign us Up
Shellie and Steve

mtngote wrote:Sign us Up
Shellie and Steve

Shellie and Steve:

You're in. Welcome.

Is the meeting and departure time probably going to be the times listed? I might be just getting to camp around noon.

dlichterman wrote:Is the meeting and departure time probably going to be the times listed? I might be just getting to camp around noon.

We will try to keep the things as close as possible to our planned times. We can always be a little flexible.

The only constraint is that we are supposed to meet Diana at a certain time. As things get closer, we can make some adjustments.

I should be able to make it.

dlichterman wrote:I should be able to make it.

Welcome. You're logged in.

Dani and I would like to join in on this one too, thanks!