When we can't get to Baja and need a 1 or 2 day 'desert fix', the Borrego desert fits the bill!
Both the Anza Borrego Desert State Park and the Ocotillo Wells State Off Road Vehicle Park are next door to each other and both have the 'fun and
flowers' we were seeking!
We traveled south on S-2 from Scissors Crossing... first stop was between Shelter Valley and Agua Caliente:
We left the pavement at Canebrake and headed east into the desert in Arroyo Vallecito. The 'famous' Hollywood and Vine street sign was messed with...
sadly.
Here is a photo I took 5 years ago:
Hollywood & Vine... As a gag, soldiers stationed in the desert placed the famous street sign out here some 50 years ago... the tradition is
maintained by locals.
We turned up Arroyo Tapiado to see the mud caves...
Be sure to bring a flash light!
No light inside the big room cave...
Next we drove to the Diablo Dropoff... a 'one way' drop way down to Fish Creek (Split Mountain)... popular run with 4WD clubs... We parked and let one
group head down, so we could watch...
There are two drop offs, and another group was parked on the ledge between the two...
We spotted a mushroom (?)
Here goes the group of Jeeps and Broncos:
A WWII MB
A 1967 CJ-5
This new Wrangler was full of girls, who liked to screem...
A 1947 CJ-2A, but with a single piece windshield (that fools us Jeep history buffs into thinking it is a CJ-3A!
We dropped dow to the mid level parking and watched some more four wheelenrs enjoyin a beautiful day in the desert! What a great thing to get people
outdoors and into the desert, a place that before 4WD and buggies was ignored as desolate and dangerous!
The second half of the Diablo Drop Off, Sandstone Canyon and more in the next part...David K - 3-28-2010 at 08:52 AM
The Diablo Drop Off:
My turn for the second (steeper) drop off...
Tougher than the drop off was getting through 'Broken Shaft Gulch'... Baja Angel had to help spot my tire placement... and we got the new truck
through without a mark!
Next we reach Fish Creek, and turn up to see Sandstone Canyon and Olla Wash...
The Mud Palisades at the end of Olla Wash.
We drove over to Devil's Slide to play on the sand dune before heading home...
I made some runs on the dune face, and almost topped it... This was at full street air pressure.
TRAC works great in sand... no more digging in at full pressure.
On the way home, a country tavern has a sense of humor during these terrible economic times!:
Great pics!
Ken Cooke - 3-28-2010 at 09:55 AM
David,
It looked like you had a great day, and as you mentioned with your A-Trac system, it sounds convenient to not have to air down with all of the sand
you encounter (mostly in Baja).
When the new Mrs. and I traveled there with friends in Feb., we all had a great time, but Baja is so much more fun. I really miss the roadside tacos
and beer and the fun, desolate desert in Baja.
All in all, a great day, amigo!
-KenDavid K - 3-28-2010 at 04:01 PM
Thanks Ken!
Yah, there are no good fish taco stands with cold Pacificos in Anza Borrego!Udo - 3-28-2010 at 06:44 PM
Thanks for the terrific fotos, David.
That drop-off looked pretty hairy
I was going to call you in a little bit to ask how the trip went.
This better than a U2U!Bob H - 3-28-2010 at 07:36 PM
Nice pics David. Wish we would haved known. Audrey and I drove through Anza Borrego Saturday morning and early afternoon before heading back to San
Diego. Lots of flowers!
Bob HBajaWarrior - 3-28-2010 at 07:51 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Bob H
Nice pics David. Wish we would haved known. Audrey and I drove through Anza Borrego Saturday morning and early afternoon before heading back to San
Diego. Lots of flowers!
Bob H
Ditto on that David,
I've always wanted to get off of the road out there, count us in next time.
We have an '06 4x4 F-150 ready to be scratched up.David K - 3-29-2010 at 07:35 AM
Great to hear amigos... Lot's of places to see out there, for sure! We didn't leave Oceanside until 10 am (weekends are for sleeping in, right?)...
Had an awesome breakfast burrito at Jilbertos in Pauma Valley... Not sure if your full size pickups would have been real happy on the one road we
took... but the rest are great.Curt63 - 3-29-2010 at 02:23 PM
Real nice trip and pics. Not bad for a toyota...I've been hearing bad things lately.
Im boltin up my paddles on my quad for some big sand bowls at Glamis this weekend. Maybe I'll have some sick non Baja photos for next week.
Have you ever been to the sand drags at Glamis? What a HOOT!David K - 3-29-2010 at 05:30 PM
Nope... just the usual stuff at competition hill, osborne wash, oceanside bowl, etc. I don't even know if those name are still used!??? It has been 30
years since I played at Glamis!
Baja Angel loves drag racing... I think she may be an NHRA member... or is that an NRA member?
Let me know when there is a sand drag event... I think that would be a cool way to get Baja Angel to go to Glamis. Right now, she is under the opinion
it is crowded there... and we like small groups or solitudewhen we are in the desert camping.
Thanks Curt!
BORREGO LANDSLIDES from Easter Quake
David K - 4-12-2010 at 09:43 PM
A week after we were there, this person (n2baja) on a Ford forum posted photos of the landslides the day of the quake that closed Sandstone Canyon and
Broken Shaft Gulch! See his photos!: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8730354Barry A. - 4-12-2010 at 10:25 PM
David-------I suspected that some slides had happened as they always do during big quakes-----the area is so fragile!! I went down Vallecitos Wash
on March 16th and the "Hollywood and Vine" sign was in it's normal place atop the small mud promotory-----what a shame that some knothead had to
vandalize it. Hope somebody puts it back up------it is a long tradition.
I also drove across the "Diablo dropoff" crossover, and down "Broken shaft gulch", as well as the full length of "Sand Stone Canyon" on that
day--------glad I did as it will be a while before I can do it again--------needs a huge flashflood to open em up again, or some really heavy work by
dedicated 4-wheelers.
BarryDavid K - 4-12-2010 at 11:02 PM
The Park Service won't re-open those roads?Neal Johns - 4-13-2010 at 07:27 AM
It was a bright and windy day....and the world was young. I found myself at the top of the drop off with our accountant, Bob, and his wife in my FJ-40
Land Cruiser. At that time the posts/fence was not there to make the traffic go all the way to the left (the easy way).
Bob had a 4wd parked in camp but was riding with me to see some of the rougher places nearby. After all, the only reason he had a 4wd was to cope with
the snow in his vacation cabin driveway. I parked where the fence is now, and we got out and looked over the edge.
"Wow!" Bob said, "Look at those tracks where someone drove over the edge! Hope they are OK!". We got back in and Bob said "Make sure you have it in
reverse!". Gruffly, I said "I know what gear this thing is in!" and looking backwards through the back window, dumped the clutch. Forward over the
edge we went. They screamed all the way down.
Oh, for the good old days before my wife tamed me!David K - 4-13-2010 at 07:40 AM
Cool story Neal!Barry A. - 4-13-2010 at 08:32 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
The Park Service won't re-open those roads?
Probably not! Tho I was with the "National" Park Service, and don't know how the "State" Park Service works, our attitude normally was what happened
naturally, stayed as nature intended it. Of course major access roads were re-opened, but often the backcountry "roads" were left to their own
devices-------in line with the mandate that the Park Service has to preserve Nature, not improve on it. Also, the State just does not have the money
to do this type of stuff, and they don't have the equipment there at the Park, I suspect. We will see. It is entirely possible that if feasible,
4-wheel drive clubs, or the like, will come in and do the work if they are interested, after coordinating their plans with the Park Staff. Or maybe
folks will just open it up on their own--------hard to say.
That HOLLYWOOD AND VINE sign needs to be rescued before somebody runs off with it, tho--------or reinstalled pronto, and the Park probably will not do
it unless one of the Rangers takes it upon theirselves to get er done. (that's what should happen, in my opinion) Hope the Parkies know that it is
down and vandalized.
BarryDavid K - 4-13-2010 at 08:41 AM
Agree! Thanks Barry...Barry A. - 4-13-2010 at 11:35 AM
David, et al--------
I reported the HOLLYWOOD AND VINE sign vandalism to the staff at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park via their internet "contact" site-----
Hopefully they will take care of it soon before it is too late.
BarryBarry A. - 5-25-2010 at 11:48 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Thanks Ken!
Yah, there are no good fish taco stands with cold Pacificos in Anza Borrego!
David---------Yes there are!!!! JILBERTOS across the street from the Anza-Borrego Natural History Association building and CARLEE'S bar and grill,
on south side of street just west from Christmas Circle in downtown Borrego Springs is an excellent "taco shop" and well worth stopping at--------we
eat there all the time-------pretty "authentic" food, we think, but your right you have to bring your own Pacifico's, I think.
By the way, the State Park Staff answered my e-mail about the vandalism of the "Hollywood and Vine" sign in Vallecitos Wash, thanking me (and you) for
reporting it-------hopefully they will take some action.
