I made it out this week for a quick overnighter in the Anza-Borrego. I arrived at a good parking spot near Piedras Grandes in the southern part of the park, threw on my pack, and hiked a short ways just as the sun was starting the set. I made camp in a natural rock amphitheatre slightly above the desert floor, with a great view of the rising full moon, and the twinkling lights of Brawley and El Centro in the distance. The wind kicked up for about 15-minutes as the sun set, and then settled down into a silent beautiful evening. I sat back cooked a little dinner, brewed a cup of tea, and watched the bats flutter across the bright moon chasing dinner. I turned in early, and slept soundly through the calm night.
I woke as the sun was rising over the same area as the moon the night before. I contemplated getting up early, but the fluffy warmth of my sleeping bag won out, and I snuggled back in for another hour or so. I climbed out of my bivy, and was greeted by a lizard looking down at me from his rock perch. He was no doubt wondering what this strange being was doing in his territory. After a quick breakfast, I packed up, and went on my way, admiring the landscape flush with the flowers of spring. I was startled from silent bliss a short while later as I flushed a covey of quail, shattering the silence I had grown accustomed to.
I arrived at my truck an hour or so later, and loaded up my daypack with my 10-essentials and water, and drove up to Indian Hill, to scout it for a trip I will be leading in a couple of weeks. I parked and headed cross-country to Indian-Hill, and then turned north to check out the area between the Hill and Corrizo Gorge. I was in search of an old abandoned mine camp that I knew was in the area, but had never seen. I was also hoping the track down a second set of pictographs that I have not as yet seen. I did find the camp, but was unable to locate the pictographs. Next Time!
1 response so far ↓
1 ken Jones // Apr 20, 2008 at 12:14 am
I hiked the same area a couple of decades ago, and as far as I know the ruins you found are part of the camps that were used during the building of the railroad . If you have a topo, you can look for Indian Hill in that same area, and if you walk around the base of the hill, you will find the cave (on the sunrise side of the hill), that contains the indian art tha you are looking for. In the old days , one could drive up to Indian Hill, but eventually the park service closed it down. To this day, it is one of the best kept secret areas of Anza -Borrego, and hopefully it will always stay that way. It is a hard place to find, and a great reward to those hikers that have enough grit to find it.
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