Home in the Desert

 

It was after noon before we finally got out of Yuma Tuesday, with stops to dump, get water, gas, propane, veggies at the wonderful farm stand, and a new BBQ grill cover for the bikes at Home Depot.

I always forget about the Imperial Sand Dunes area that we pass by along I-8 shortly after entering California. Can’t imagine how much sand must have been blowing around over the weekend.

We’re parked off Rockhouse Road at a very popular boondock area that we’ve stayed at twice before. Since we were last here Anza Borrego State Park acquired more of the surrounding land and there are stricter regulations regarding dispersed camping, which means there are more rigs in this area than we’ve ever seen. Jim and I arrived first and were able to find a good sized vacant piece of desert with plenty of space for Mark and Bobbie, Suzanne, and Chris to spread out. We have great views of the mountians and a few bars of 4G Verizon, although it’s a bit slow at times.

After getting settled in we took a two mile walk down the road to Clark Dry Lake.

Unfortunately being on Pacific Time now means it gets dark (and cold) shortly after five.

Yesterday we hiked from camp up into the Coyote Mountains. Chris was parked in another boondocking area about a half mile away and had been exploring the hills. He thought we might be able to get up to the highest point, Coyote Peak, so we worked our way up the rough old jeep road and trails to a summit.

Our summit, after climbing over 1,000’ in 3.25 miles. We think we could see a faint trail that would take us up to Coyote Peak, but nobody was interested, since we still had almost 3 miles and 1,500 more feet to climb. Maybe another day….

Wonder what this sign used to say.

Citrus groves on the outskirts of Borrego Springs.

A glimpse of Clark Dry Lake bed from above. We could even see the Salton Sea, but it was too hazy for photos.

On the way back down we took a little detour and found the snake and quite a bit of additional rock art since our last time here two years ago.

It took a little imagination to try and figure some of them out.

I discovered what I thought was a fish, but Bobbie had me look from a different angle.

Where it looked like an eagle.

I thought this was a lobster, but then Bobbie decided it was a scorpion, which would make more sense in the desert.

Time to use your imagination. Coyote?

Big horn sheep? A lot of work went into making these.

Today we hiked through a slot canyon and more, but I’ll save that for another post. Although the lows have been in the 30s, at least the daytime temps have been pleasant, in the low 60s, and with no wind. But it looks like we’re in for a warming trend and 80 degrees by the weekend. Not that I’m complaining, but our Colorado buddies might think that’s a little too hot.