SoCal Tom
Explorer
I work with several consultants, and a few of them requested I take them to the Mud Caves in the Anza Borrego, and a tour of the area.
There were four of us set out from Ramona in my 2007 JKU on Saturday. The weather was projected to be mid 70s, with wind and a 30% chance of rain. From Ramona we went out through Julian and down Banner grade. It was in the high 40s as we descended down towards Shelter Valley. Our first stop was Blair Valley. I wanted to show them the change in vegetation as the altitude changed. We checked out the trail heads for the Marshall family home site on Ghost mountain, and the Mortrero hike. We hiked down the Pictograph trail as far as the Pictographs. We left about 11:00 and the temp was about 50, with a steady 15 to 20 mph wind.
From there we jumped back on the S2, and headed down the the Vallecito Stage Coach station. To my surprise it was open. The last several years they have only opened it one day per year due to budget issues. The new volunteer is opening up every weekend. Here are a few pics.
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We had lunch and use the bathroom, from there we headed to Canyon sin nombre aired down and headed to the mud caves. We played there for about 2 hours. Then moved up towards split mountain via the Diablo drop off. There used to be a very rocky canyon below the drop off, but it looks like it's been bulldozed and was much wider and rock free.
I might a slight navigation error, and we ended up at split rock so after back tracking we got to Split Mountain about 5.
We drove from there to the Ocotillo Wells SVRA and I took them up blow sand hill. Then we jumped back on the highway and headed into Borrego Springs for dinner at the Palm Canyon RV resort/ Hotel. Barbecue ribs taste really good after a day on he trail.
All in all it was a great day. I'll post some additional pictures once I get them for our designated photog.
Tom
There were four of us set out from Ramona in my 2007 JKU on Saturday. The weather was projected to be mid 70s, with wind and a 30% chance of rain. From Ramona we went out through Julian and down Banner grade. It was in the high 40s as we descended down towards Shelter Valley. Our first stop was Blair Valley. I wanted to show them the change in vegetation as the altitude changed. We checked out the trail heads for the Marshall family home site on Ghost mountain, and the Mortrero hike. We hiked down the Pictograph trail as far as the Pictographs. We left about 11:00 and the temp was about 50, with a steady 15 to 20 mph wind.
From there we jumped back on the S2, and headed down the the Vallecito Stage Coach station. To my surprise it was open. The last several years they have only opened it one day per year due to budget issues. The new volunteer is opening up every weekend. Here are a few pics.
.We had lunch and use the bathroom, from there we headed to Canyon sin nombre aired down and headed to the mud caves. We played there for about 2 hours. Then moved up towards split mountain via the Diablo drop off. There used to be a very rocky canyon below the drop off, but it looks like it's been bulldozed and was much wider and rock free.
I might a slight navigation error, and we ended up at split rock so after back tracking we got to Split Mountain about 5.
We drove from there to the Ocotillo Wells SVRA and I took them up blow sand hill. Then we jumped back on the highway and headed into Borrego Springs for dinner at the Palm Canyon RV resort/ Hotel. Barbecue ribs taste really good after a day on he trail.
All in all it was a great day. I'll post some additional pictures once I get them for our designated photog.
Tom
