Outdoor Adventure USA

Ocotillo / Yuha Desert

Well, it turned out to be a great day, exploring our local deserts even though things didn't go quite as planned. We ran into far too many locked gates. All the routes I had wanted to take into the Jacumba Mountains from the desert floor were blocked and locked. I suppose its because all those routes lead into Mexico and it makes the Border Patrol's job a bit easier to just have them gated. As I told Craig, we need to get in good with one of those guys and get a key! So, we ended up dropping down into Pinto Wash, where the US/Mexican border as been graded into a very wide, flat road. A little ways away was a fenced yard with all the heavy equipment. One of the officers we ran into advised us to stay a bit north. Afterwards, we drove back towards Ocotillo and explored some very rocky trails.

On the way out.


It was cold!


The trailhead off hwy 98. This lead to a gate and a nice shooting area. Lots of folks were out with their guns.


Crap!


BorregoWrangler & BlueFJ


Be sure to stay on the trail.


Oh no, not another one!!!


Come on, Craig! You can do it!


Hey, I had to take my frustration out on something...


Into the unknown...






Need a spare?










I see Mexico.




Oh I like this sign!




You gotta be kidding me!










Pinto Mtn. You can find petrified wood there.


US/Mexican border.






Wave to the camera!


Dangers!




Meyer Creek.


Somebody had a bad day!












Now this is more like it!












Sorry, but that was a Jeep trail!


Time to air up and hit the road.


It was a fun day. A big thanks to Craig for spotting and shooting pics! I'll have video up later.

Wow, that looks like a great time! If I have a little more warning I can make the trip down there and tag along, see if we can take the "Jeep" trail in the ole' FJ.

Great pics guys. Thanks for the nice report.

Yes sir, that was a real fun day! I spent Saturday afternoon and Saturday night in Ocotillo Wells, so decided to join John on this run. Met up at the Texaco station in Ocotillo at 9am, gassed up, and headed for the trail-head.
As you saw in John's post, we were foiled by many a gate and trail closure. We still had a great day anyway exploring the area. It was windy as hell as we aired up and said so-long alongside the I-8 around 5 o'clock.
I'm attaching a GPX file of the run...

Here's the link to the video. Enjoy!

Great report and pics as usual John!

sdnative wrote:Great pics guys. Thanks for the nice report.

gon2srf wrote:Great report and pics as usual John!

Thanks guys! We'll have to get together and head up into that canyon sometime. Its a lot more difficult than "boulder alley" in Coyote Canyon, so I'd rather not head further into there than I did alone.

John,

Is that boulder trail the one we walked to the north of the I-8 that we wanted to try when we had a day to do it (Trail 150) or was it somewhere else?

Ollie (K6JYB) wrote:John,

Is that boulder trail the one we walked to the north of the I-8 that we wanted to try when we had a day to do it (Trail 150) or was it somewhere else?

That was the one! I really had to watch it and pick my lines going through there in the Jeep. Craig helped a lot with spotting and stacking a few well placed rocks. I only went in as far as you and I had walked. I really want to get into there again with some capable rigs. Sooo much fun!