Spring 2023 California Saga, 3.21.23 - 4.9.23. Part 1 of 8: Anza-Borrego State Park

Like all our trips in the Navibahn, a lot of planning went into putting this one together. The desert is a fickle place. It is a land of extremes. In March and April you can have freezing temperatures or blistering heat or both. It rarely rains in these early months but California has had one of the wackiest winters on record with record snowfall in the Sierras and much higher than average precipitation in the southern deserts. I had been watching the weather closely leading up to our trip. It had been cooler than normal and more rain than normal. Still, as the departure date approached it looked like we might be blessed with pleasant temperatures and dry weather.

This trip was extra special because it was a true family affair. Our son Andrew had a window of free time so the three of us left Lake Stevens on March 21st. We drove eleven hours to a campground on Lake Shasta called Lakeshore East. We hadn’t made a reservation but didn’t expect that to be an issue what with it being a weekday, early in the season and the lake half empty. As it turned out, there was only one other camper in the campground. The lake itself was much more full than some of the photos I’d seen but it was still down quite a bit.

Anza-Borrego is a long way from Lake Stevens. Day number two was also an approach day. We continued south on I-5. It started raining around Redding and didn’t let up the rest of the day. South of Sacramento we saw a lot of standing water on either side of the freeway. The Stockton area was particularly soggy. We caught a rainbow as we were pulling in to our stay near Bakersfield. This spot had full hookups where we discovered we couldn’t get the water to heat. Whatever the issue was, it lasted the whole trip but we adapted just fine. Just one of the issues that always seems to occur on a trip.

The third day we drove down towards L.A.. With Andrew and the GPS navigating, we managed to take all the right turns and headed out past Pasadena, towards San Bernardino and then down past Temecula and eventually onto Montezuma Valley Road. This was a little winding two lane road through the countryside which was very lush and green with all the rain they’ve been getting. At one point we saw a woman with a backpack hiking along the road. Just beyond was a rolling green pasture and running right through the middle of it was a trail. As we drove by we could see numerous hikers along the trail and we realized this was the Pacific Crest Trail and we were seeing the first wave of thru-hikers on their way to Canada from the U.S./Mexico border. It was so weird to think that around September the hardiest ones will be coming through Washington State!

Not much further we came to a really steep descent down into Borrego Springs. I was a bit concerned as we approached Borrego Springs. The forecast had called for dry weather every day we were there but it had rained all the way from Bakersfield. Borrego Springs is about a two thousand foot descent from where we started down and in that period of time the rain stopped and the sun came out. We made our way to Borrego Palms Campground. To save money we had opted for a non-hookup site and we had great views from our site where would stay for the next three nights. We still had the use of bathrooms and showers so we weren’t lacking for anything. A stop at the visitor center allowed me to go over my itinerary with a ranger who assured me I wouldn’t need to air down for the roads I was interested in.

Once we were all situated and rested up it was time for our first adventure. Bridgit made us some sandwiches and we headed out in the Jeep. One of the cool attractions in Borrego Springs are 131 metal sculptures scattered around the outskirts of the town. They are in clumps in various spots and we had a map showing where all the sculptures could be found. We had bigger fish to fry this afternoon but had time to see at least a couple of them so we drove down into town. The hub of Borrego Springs is a large roundabout called Christmas Circle. Driving south from Christmas Circle, several miles south of town we saw a large bird and then a mammoth out in the middle of the desert. Aha! Our first sculptures!

Now we could see other sculptures scattered in the desert but we figured we could come back to see those at another time. We backtracked to Christmas Circle and then headed northeast of Borrego Springs. North of town we drove past several more sculptures and stopped to check out the awesome giant serpent before moving on. The Serpent is 350 feet long, has the tail of a rattlesnake, the body of a sea serpent and the head of a Chinese dragon. It’s body even goes under the road and continues on the other side.

About ten miles from town we came to a turnoff to a place called Font’s Point. I have heard (and been told, Glenna) that Font’s Point is one of the premier places on earth to watch the sun set. We timed it so that we would arrive about two hours before sunset.

The Font’s Point Road is actually a dry wash that you drive up the middle of for four miles to a dead end. I think just about any car could do the drive in good conditions. When we arrived there were several cars there but it certainly wasn’t crowded. From the small parking area we walked up a short hill and there we gazed down onto the huge expanse of the Borrego Badlands. The badlands are a mixture of miles of small hills cut deeply by twisty washes that wind their way through the maze. The hills are multi-colored shades of browns, reds, tans and yellows. Off in the far distance lies the Salton Sea. Font’s Point is on a very tall escarpment. Cliffs drop off down to the badlands and run in both directions from the point for a very long way.

I shot for about an hour before taking a break back at the Jeep to eat dinner with Bridgit and Andrew. Then I went out again only this time I hiked about a mile to the northeast along the rims of the cliffs. This vantage point gave me a great view looking back towards Font’s Point. This place is unique in that it is exceptionally laid out to be great for sunset or sunrise photos. On this night though, the sun disappeared behind some clouds shortly before sundown but it was still a really beautiful evening.

**The Borrego Badlands from Font’s Point**

The next morning, which was our first full day in Anza-Borrego, we were in no hurry to get up and get going. Our plan for this day was to drive an adventurous loop in the Jeep called the Borrego Mountain Loop. I knew the light would be much better later in the day so we got up late and went out to breakfast before getting motivated.

Around mid-day we drove south from Christmas Circle until the road ended. At the T junction we turned east onto Highway 71. With barely any sign to alert you, we missed our turnoff and had to backtrack a mile or two until we found Buttes Pass Road. We took this road a couple of miles to a parking lot for a hike called The Slot. This is a very popular hike and while it wasn’t crowded, there was no lack of people here. This hike is very entertaining and short so I figured it would be the perfect starter hike for the three of us to get into our groove.

The hike starts out by dropping down into a wash which very quickly closes up to become a narrow winding slot canyon. There were some tight squeezes but we all got through the narrows section and when it opened up past the narrows we turned around and re-traced our way back up the narrows to the car. It was a really fun hike and we all enjoyed it immensely.

**Sunrise from our site at Borrego Palms Campground**

Once we got back to the Jeep from our hike through The Slot, we drove back on the road about a half mile to a junction. Here we turned east and drove up and through Borrego Mountain. Once we popped through Borrego Pass we began to descend. Shortly we came to a side canyon called Hawk Canyon. I had read that the geology in this canyon and the flowers were special. I thought we could drive about two miles up this canyon but it was only a third of a mile to where it dead-ended in a loop. There were also several parties camped up in there so the entire Hawk Canyon experience was under-whelming. Back on the Borrego Mountain Loop we continued to descend the eastern side of Borrego Mountain. At the bottom we came to a wide dry wash called San Felipe Wash. We left our last person at Hawk Canyon and never saw another car or person until we were back on the main road.

At San Felipe Wash we turned left and drove up the sandy wash about a half mile. On the far side of the wash we found a small sign that signified the beginning of a side wash called The Hills of the Moon. This was really cool. The Hills of the Moon is a narrowing wash where the walls get tighter and higher as you wind your way up into the Borrego Badlands below Font’s Point. The road got a bit rougher the further we went and at the three mile mark we opted to turn around which is about as far as you can go without hiking. This was a very scenic drive and had a little spice to it which made it even more fun.

**Colorful array near the entrance to The Hills of the Moon**

After driving up and back down the Hills of the Moon, we drove back down San Felipe Wash but this time we drove a half mile beyond where we had dropped into the wash from Borrego Mountain. There was no sign, but with our Gaia app program I had previously downloaded we found the entrance to another canyon called Blowsand Canyon that would lead us up and out of San Felipe Wash. This felt more like a primitive road, a bit sandier and harder to follow. I had read that near the end of this road was a steep hill to climb and that it is typically sandy. This was the one place I was concerned about since I hadn’t aired down my tires.

Blowsand Canyon was quite scenic with many varieties of cactus. Sure enough, after a mile or two we turned a corner and saw a steep hill ahead of us. I expected this so I told Bridgit and Andrew to hang on and we got a good head of steam going to climb the hill. It would have been a piece of cake except that there were huge mounds and dips all up the hill like driving on giant moguls. Undaunted, I kept up the momentum and we bounced our way to the top of the hill and whoo-hoos were the order of the day.

Once up top we were on the crest of a high ridge known as Goat Trail. By turning right we followed Goat Trail along the spine of this ridge. It was a bit like riding a roller-coaster. It would go up a steep hill where you couldn’t even see what lay at the top and then drop down the other side before leveling out for a bit followed by another steep hill. It was a fairly narrow spine but nothing too nail-biting and we all thought it was a fun section. Eventually we re-c0nnected to the Buttes Pass Road and turning left we soon got back to the highway.

This had been a great day of hiking and jeeping so we stopped into a Mexican restaurant with an outdoor patio and had margaritas to celebrate that we lived through the Borrego Mountain Loop.

For the rest of our experience in Anza-Borrego, move on to Part 2!

Spring 2023 California Saga, 3.21.23 - 4.9.23. Part 1 of 8: Anza-Borrego State Park

This is Oregon? Leslie Gulch, 6.17.23 - 6.22.23, Part 2 of 2

Spring 2023 California Saga, 3.21.23 - 4.9.23, Part 2 of 8, Anza-Borrego State Park(Con’t)