Outdoor Adventure USA

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First day coming into Borrego Fest I did a side trip through Blair Valley. Here is my lunch stop.


Saturday morning I rose early to get out and take a few photographs. Heading up one of the washes.


Looking down on the desert with the morning sun.

I will mention that I had a run in with a Jack Rabbit on my early morning excursion. Seems he saw the light and ran as fast as he could into my passenger rear fender. Put a 4" crack in it. Hope he's OK.

I lead a "Borrego Badlands" run. Our first stop was Fonts Point overlook. Then it was onto Short Wash, Palo Verde Wash to Cut-Across Trail, Tule Wash, and the Pumpkin Patch. Our next stop was Seventeen Palms along Arroyo Salado Wash. From there we took our time weaving through the weathered landscape along the historic Truckhaven Trail which climbed in and out of the deep badland washes. This brought us to paved highway S-22 where we aired up and headed on back to camp.

Airing down at Fonts Point Wash trailhead.




















































Flat tire.






On Sunday we headed up Oriflamme Canyon on our way home along with DonH. We also made a brief stop at the tree-shaded campsite near the bottom of the canyon.

Here are some of our pics from the Julian/Cuyamaca Mine Run - we had a GREAT time. The pics are just point-n-shoot, so hopefully they are decent (and hopefully I have my mine names right):

The Ready Relief Mine:


Hiking to Ready Relief:




Mine entrance:




Can't remember which mine this was, but it was filled with water...


...and for some reason, the bones of a large, random animal, which was a big hit with the little animal:




Dave wasn't lying when he said there would be a challenging trail to the Golden Sugar - totally fun, and everyone who tried made it to the top and back:




Wanted to hitch this Willy's up and take it home so badly:




This thing was probably 100 years old, but looked like it could start right up:


The Ranchito Mine:








Author Leland Fetzer and Chris (?), the owner of the Ranchito Mine:


Group shot:


Thanks for letting us tag along - it was a friggin' blast!!

We had a great run through Fish Creek and Sandstone Canyon near Split Mountain. It was incredible the amount of change in the area due to the action of wind and water. An most recently seismic activity in the area of Sandstone Canyon.

We were warned of the changes by Rangers who advised that our FJ's would not be able to pass. There were several large sand stone boulders and rockslides. Ollie did an outstanding job of spotting our trail mates through the tricky areas.

We stopped for a great lunch in Sandstone Canyon. Then took an alternate route out of Fish Creek that was a challenging experience.

Some of our rigs were set up for expedition travel and were heavy, so our group split off with the lighter vehicles setting off for the Devil's Dropoff. The rest of us went off to visit Font's Point.

On our way to Font's Point we encountered a car that was hopelessly buried to its frame in deep, loose sand. While there were signs warning of sandy conditions, there is little in the way of warning of the true conditions to be encountered on the way to Font's Point. As such, the occupants of the car were not prepared for the conditions. They were expecting a quick jaunt to a scenic vista point and ended up getting stuck without cell phone coverage, no food or water, and no one knowing where they were.

We spent the better part of an hour digging them out and ended up strapping them out. They left no worse for wear but with a new respect for the desert.

As we continued to Font's Point was interesting with the depth and consistency of the sand made it difficult to gain purchase and build and maintain momentum. It mad it quite interesting and fun, especially knowing we had help if we needed it and communications to call for help. We were rewarded with an outstanding vista of the Carrizo Badlands.

We were a little late in getting back to camp but it was truly a memorable adventure.

Great pics, Ollie

cruiserlarry wrote:Great pics, Ollie

Yep!

[attachmenthad=1]ImageUploadedByTapatalk1351504760.941296.jpg[/attachment] A couple of images from my run with Tom Sevrin. We had a blast playing in some virgin sand dunes. Tom said they were of the softest and deepest he had ever driven upon. We aired down to about 10psi and probably could/should have gone lower to get through some spots better. My dad joined me for the day and he hadn't been off-road in years. My kids, Travis and Kaitlyn, had a blast as usual! At the end of the day my dad said half of the time he was having a blast and the other half of the time he was scared s#!tless. Of course almost rolling the Land Cruiser sideways down a dune might have had something to do with that.

We had two great runs - one on Friday and one on Saturday.

Friday's run/ hike was a prelude to the evening presentation by Diana Lindsay on one of Anza Borrego's most famous residents - Marshal South. The hike was to the top of Ghost Mountain, the former home of the South Family. We were accompanied on the hike by Diana, who provided some of the history of the South saga and helped to give us an understanding of the home where the South family spent some 17 years.

Saturday's run involved exploring some of the most productive and interesting mines of the Julian gold rush. Although the mines and the equipment are well over 100 years old, much of what remains is in amazingly good condition. We were very fortunate to have obtained permission to visit these mines as they are all on private property.

One of the mines we visited was the Golden Sugar, and although it did not have the most extensive workings, the trip to the mine entrance was one of the highlights of the trip. In order to gain access to the mine, it was necessary to scale a nearly vertical cliff with the sole aid of a steel cable, presumably installed by the mine operators many, many years ago. Everyone made it to the top and back down safely and the smiles of those descending the cable, tell the whole story.

BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL TO THE MARSHALL SOUTH HOME SITE
The trail to the home site required an ascent of about 600 feet to the top of Ghost Mountain. This is the view of the parking lot as we climbed to the top of the mountain
The climb
Views from the top
South Family home ruins
Diana, explaining the South Family history
One of the most fascinating surprises of the trip was when Diana dialed up Ryder South (Marshal South's oldest son) and let us ask him questions about his time on the mountain
THE MINES
The best book I have found on the history of the Mines of Julian and the Cuyamacas is "A Good Camp" by Leland (Lee) Fetzer. Lee joined us on this run and provided a fascinating commentary on the mines and helped bring their history to life

The first mine we visited was The Ready Relief (Lee is on the right in the first photo)
Climbing down from the Golder Sugar Mine