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elgatoloco
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4332
Registered: 11-19-2002
Location: Yes
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Day trip on Sunday! Maybe. 
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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Bob53
Senior Nomad
Posts: 661
Registered: 2-24-2014
Location: Fallbrook, CA & Bahia de los Angeles
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Have any of you been to the mud caves further south off of S-2?
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
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Bajaboy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4375
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico
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Yes, in Tapiado Canyon?
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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Bob--------I assume you mean the one's along Arroyo Tapiado, a feeder canyon of Vallecito Creek, which in turn flows into Carrizo wash-----yes, been
to them several times, starting in the early '50's with the Sierra Club, San Diego chapter. I have not been IN the caves, however, as I am
distrustful of anything made out of "mud". For the most part, they are only "caves" because the sides of very narrow slot canyons have collapsed onto
each other. They have changed over the last 60 years that I am familiar with, which tends to support my suspicion that they are rather unstable. They
ARE in neat bad-lands country and fairly deep semi-slot canyons, and I really enjoy it all. Last time there at the "caves" was spring of 2001. They
are normally accessible via SUV, and occasionally you might need 4-wheel drive due to sand or mud, and/or exposed rocks.
Barry
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Fun in the desert... USA or BAJA!
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Bob53
Senior Nomad
Posts: 661
Registered: 2-24-2014
Location: Fallbrook, CA & Bahia de los Angeles
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I have been all over that area and inside a lot of the caves. There are more hidden ones if you are in the mood to hike back and look for them. They
actually seem very stable to me.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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Those caves look like snake magnets!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Quote: Originally posted by Bob53  | I have been all over that area and inside a lot of the caves. There are more hidden ones if you are in the mood to hike back and look for them. They
actually seem very stable to me.
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Did you do the 'belly crawl'? Very intense, scary if there was a quake! I learned of it back in my Geocaching days, around 2001, with my kids. It is
past the first caves of my photos above... and to the right... takes you to the top of the mesa.
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Bob53
Senior Nomad
Posts: 661
Registered: 2-24-2014
Location: Fallbrook, CA & Bahia de los Angeles
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K | | Quote: Originally posted by Bob53 | I have been all over that area and inside a lot of the caves. There are more hidden ones if you are in the mood to hike back and look for them. They
actually seem very stable to me.
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Did you do the 'belly crawl'? Very intense, scary if there was a quake! I learned of it back in my Geocaching days, around 2001, with my kids. It is
past the first caves of my photos above... and to the right... takes you to the top of the mesa. |
Haven't been inside that one. I'll check it next time I go which will probably be in April. A bunch of us usually camp a Blair Valley every April and
head down to the caves.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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| Quote: Originally posted by Bob53 | I have been all over that area and inside a lot of the caves. There are more hidden ones if you are in the mood to hike back and look for them. They
actually seem very stable to me.
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Whatever turns you on. (-:
I was much more comfortable hiking and camping all over the now-closed "Carrizo Bombing Range" just north of the "caves" back in the late '40's and
'50's, even with blown-up tanks, and ordinance sticking out of the ground. (No touchy, tho)
Barry
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Bob53
Senior Nomad
Posts: 661
Registered: 2-24-2014
Location: Fallbrook, CA & Bahia de los Angeles
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| Quote: Originally posted by Barry A. | | Quote: Originally posted by Bob53 | I have been all over that area and inside a lot of the caves. There are more hidden ones if you are in the mood to hike back and look for them. They
actually seem very stable to me.
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Whatever turns you on. (-:
I was much more comfortable hiking and camping all over the now-closed "Carrizo Bombing Range" just north of the "caves" back in the late '40's and
'50's, even with blown-up tanks, and ordinance sticking out of the ground. (No touchy, tho)
Barry |
I really enjoy doing that too. I have been trying to find one of Patton's tanks that was left stuck in a wash out there for years. I have yet to find
it.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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I significant sweep of the Bombing Range was accomplished many years ago by the Military, and I believe all the "visible" military stuff was removed.
My understanding is that it remains closed because new military stuff kept resurfacing after the "sweep" after rains, which scared the Manager's
immensely (and understandably). Now, they are very serious about the closure, and there are big fines for going in there, I believe. My last trip
thru the Bombing Range was solo back in about 1961 via auto (Fish Creek Wash over the divide to N. Fk. of Deguynos Wash and down to Carrizo Wash with
side trips up Red Rock and Barrett Washes, and the Military caught me in Barrett  . ) They were great guys, but I definitely got an escorted evacuation out to Plaster City, with an admonition to NEVER do THAT again.
Barry
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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But Barry, did you keep the black nuggets??? 
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by Bob53 | | Quote: Originally posted by David K | | Quote: Originally posted by Bob53 | I have been all over that area and inside a lot of the caves. There are more hidden ones if you are in the mood to hike back and look for them. They
actually seem very stable to me.
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Did you do the 'belly crawl'? Very intense, scary if there was a quake! I learned of it back in my Geocaching days, around 2001, with my kids. It is
past the first caves of my photos above... and to the right... takes you to the top of the mesa. |
Haven't been inside that one. I'll check it next time I go which will probably be in April. A bunch of us usually camp a Blair Valley every April and
head down to the caves.
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I just checked Geocaching.com... and it is an archived cache (from 2001), it is no longer there or active, so enjoy the description of where we went
back then:
Mud Cave Cookie Tin N 32 55.830 W 116 11.756
Geocache Description:
This cache is fairly hard to reach due to it's location even though it is not far from Palm Spring and the corner of Hollywood and Vine (you will see
when you get out there). The scenery and views are well worth the trouble! Four wheel drive is recommend due to sandy washes or an extra 4 mile hike
from the main hwy. While you are in the area, be sure to visit the Palm Spring.
Located in southern Anza-Borrego desert, this cache will require some thinking on your part to find the right path to get there. If you find this
cache, please hide it well again due to its exposure. Please be thoughtful of where you walk as the ground is susceptible to erosion and crumbles
easily.
There is a hidden split in the path that is the best way to take (very near the cache), but is hard to see (really hard!) at N32 55.773 W116 11.770.
Then get on your belly and crawl Be careful of the path you take, the ground is unstable in places and a fall could be fatal.
Additional Hints
The cache is located above the mud caves in Arroyo Tapiado canyon wash. Enter the larger mud cave at N32 55.628 W116 11.725. Follow this back for
about 10-15 minutes. Watch for the belly crawl on your right about knee level at N32 55.773 W116 11.770. You really have to get down on your knees to
see this! It's a 35 degree up-hill crawl on your belly for the first few feet, but really isn't too hard. Work to the top the ridges once you find a
safe spot, you will see a group of 5 ocotillos at the cache site. The cache is buried under the largest of the ocotillos, under a pile of
rocks.
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JohnMcfrog
Nomad
Posts: 156
Registered: 8-1-2012
Location: San Diego, Punta Abreojos
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My wife Kathy and I go to Anza Borrego quite frequently. About mid January, we camped free at Peg Leg Monument (BLM land) and got an early start on
Villager Peak. The parking area for the hike is a little over a mile from the turnoff to Font's Point, on the left. We started hiking about 6:30
because I had run out of daylight in November. It is a 5000 foot elevation gain in 6.5 miles. Great views the entire hike.
View towards the West from Villager Ridge
Google View of the route
Got back to the truck about 4 PM. Met a guy on the mountain named Dave who rides every year with some vaqueros in Baja Norte for a week in the area
around San Pedro Martir. Small world!
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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Great pics, McFrog, and a great hike.
With a little more effort you could also bag Rabbit Peak. 
(something I never accomplished)
Barry
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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No, I traded them all in for Stocks in America's and the World's premier Corporations which have rewarded me many times over what the actual "nuggets"
would ever have.
-------and JoJo, I know you will brand this statement as BS, and for once you will be right!!!
Barry
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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One thing Choral Pepper told me she regretted doing was giving the black gold nuggets to the new Desert Magazine publisher when she sold the magazine.
As you might know, the person who claimed to have found Peg Leg Smith's gold (that was coated with a black desert varnish) in letters to Desert
Magazine, mailed them to her as proof. I believe she made one into a piece of jewelry she kept.
When she sold the magazine, she sold everything that was part of it, 'furnished' if you will... except for the Baja related letters, and photos...
which was given to me per her wishes, by her children.
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