BorregoWrangler

SoCal & AZ Overland Adventure Dec. 23-26th, 2011 I thought some here might be interested in this. I'm planning a four day trip towards the end of December (Fri, 23rd to Mon, 26th) that starts at the west side of the Bradshaw Trail and ends at either the Imperial or Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. Most of what I have in mind are areas that I have yet to travel. However, I don't want to stick to a strict or rigid route and schedule. I can always bypass an area I've already seen if looks like we're running short on time. Date: Dec. 23-26, 2011 Meeting Location: 99155 Sea View Dr Mecca, CA 92254 (Site of the old Salton Sea History Museum) Meeting Time: 8:00AM Fri. Dec. 23rd Departure Time: TBD Difficulty: Easy-Moderate CB Channel: 34 2M Simplex: 147.510 Highlights: Bradshaw Trail Cibola Wildlife Refuge Trail Black Mountain Picacho State Recreation Area Ferguson Lake/Lower Colorado River Imperial National Wildlife Refuge: Red Cloud Mine Road (Arizona) Kofa National Wildlife Refuge: Palm & Kofa Queen Canyon and Castle Dome Mts (Arizona) Day 1. Thursday 23rd- Start out along the East side of the Salton Sea to the Bradshaw Trail. The end of this trail will put us just a few miles from the Cibola Wildlife Refuge, along the Colorado River. Set up camp somewhere along the river. Miles: 115.5 Day 2. Friday 24th- From Cibola Wildlife Refuge, head south to Black Mountain Road to Indian Pass Road which heads into Picacho State Recreation Area. Follow Picacho Road to Ferguson Road which will take us to a backwater lake along the river. Camp next to Ferguson Lake. Miles: 101.3 Day 3. Saturday 25th- Break camp at Ferguson Lake and head into Arizona to Martinez Lake. Take Red Cloud Mine Road into Imperial NWR, which will take us to the Arizona side of the Cibola Wildlife Refuge. North of Cibola Lake, follow Ehernberg-Cibola Road east through Yuma Proving Grounds to Highway 95. Enter Kofa NWF, a short distance away, and make camp along Palm Canyon Road or Kofa Queen Canyon. Miles: 99.3 Day 4. Sunday 26th- Break camp and head south along Hwy 95 to King Road and Castle Dome Mountains. Make our way along trail to Big Eye Mine and eventually back to Hwy 95 and back home. Miles: 65.4 Logistics: El Cajon to trail head at Salton Sea: 141 miles Bradshaw Trail 79.4 miles 8.3 paved miles Cibola Wildlife Refuge Trail 27.8 miles 22.2 paved miles Black Mountain 15.5 miles Picacho State Recreation Area 38.0 miles 17.2 paved miles Ferguson Lake 16.8 miles (round trip) 22.8 paved miles Red Cloud Mine Road & Imperial National Wildlife Refuge (Arizona) 32.0 miles to Cibola Lake then 25.6 miles to Hwy 95 3.3 paved miles Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (Arizona): Palm Canyon Road- 7.2 miles (one way) Kofa Queen Canyon- 8.7 miles (one way) 15.9 miles total 8.5 paved miles Castle Dome Mountains: 48.2 miles Trail end to home: 192 miles Overall Route: Total Mileage: 381.5 (Not including from and to home.) Here's the thread over at OAUSA with a bit of info on each area: http://www.oausa.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=116&t=2991 If anyone's interested, be sure to post up!

Thanks guys. I think one of my first AZ adventures will be the Kofa NWR.

A few sandstone steps to negotiate. After making our way a bit further we decide to head back into the main wash. A short detour into Hawk Canyon. Airing up at Butte's Pass Road along Hwy 78. Except for Ollie's gas cans falling off, we had no difficulties along the way. Temperatures averaged in the high 90's. I was great actually having AC in my vehicle! A big thanks to Ollie for coming along. Looking forward to BorregoFest!!!

Highway 78 bridge offers some welcome shade. The route along San Felipe Wash starts to narrow. We find ourselves in a deeply cut maze of washes. From San Felipe Wash, we make our way to Pole Line and Old Kane Springs Road to Carrizo Wash. I decide to cut out the loop around San Sebastian Marsh as this entails miles of slow going whoop-ti-doo's and some pavement time. San Sebastian Marsh boundary at Carrizo Wash. Dodging one of the many muddy holes along the way. Carrizo Wash. Nearing the end of my route. From here we follow the trail along the Gypsum Mine railroad track to Split Mountain Road, which marks the end of my Anza Expedition Route. We covered 54 miles in about 3 1/2 hours. From here we decide to check out North Fork Fish Creek. Ollie had some problems keeping his fuel tanks secured to his roof rack. So far, I'm loving how my TJ is preforming. Oyster Shell Wash. Lots of fossilized oysters in the ancient reef.

2011 BorregoFest Prerun Ollie and I met up early Saturday morning to check trail conditions on my Anza Expedition Route as well as a few areas along Fish Creek that we have not been to. Starting out at Old Borrego Valley Road. Airing down at the trail head and I'm looking forward to my new Jeep's first off-highway outing. Before County Road S-22 was built, this was the road taken to Borrego Springs after coming from Warner Springs down Grapevine Canyon. View of Borrego Badlands in the distance. Ollie, bringing up the rear of our small convoy. Passing through Borrego Sink. The Anza expedition arrived at the original Borrego Spring, near this location, 5 miles southeast of the present-day town of Borrego Springs, on March 12th 1774, where he encountering 60 Kumeyaay Indians. A historic marker near here indicates that Anza named the spring San Gregorio. Passing the Borrego Badlands and Fonts Point on our right. There are two trails that penetrate the heart of the Badlands- Rainbow Wash and Hills of the Moon Wash. We now enter the wide, sandy course of San Felipe Wash. Our route takes us through a section of Ocotillo Wells OHV Area. We have the whole desert to ourselves. Markers note the historic route of Juan Bautista de Anza.

Yeah, just barely though. Its a good thing my wife is short because the passenger seat has to be moved forward quite a bit. I can position it in the middle too. I do plan on making a few tie-downs to secure the baby seat even better for when we're out on the trail. I'm definitely going to need a rack for our weekend getaways. October 22nd will be her first wheeling trip out in Anza Borrego.

No, just a D35. I might have to upgrade. (If I can get away with it.)

Thanks. I'm hoping to venture into AZ one of these days.

I picked this up the other day and absolutely love it! 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4.0L 5-speed manual AC CD 30" BFG AT's Momma and baby are happy with it too. Starting her out early. I was considering the Jeep Patriot but I just love the Wranglers so when I came cross this deal I had to jump on it. Future plans include roof rack, budget boost, disconnects, aussie locker and swing-away tire carrier.

You bet! I'll definitely post up here when I plan my next trip out there. Its a little on the hot side right now. I usually head out there between October and June. Its a fun area to fish, camp, hunt, and explore with 4WD. My family usually stays at a cabin a bit further south on a lake just off the river. There's plenty of primitive campsites along the water out there too.

I've spent a lot of time out there my whole life. Would hate to see it close down. Here's an article in the Yuma Sun: http://www.yumasun.com/news/parks-72361-state-park.html In the event of the park closing, I hope they at least still allow access for the public. They are also in a contest to try to win one of 3 grants in the Vote For America's Favorite Park campaign sponsored by Coca Cola. Even without wining the grant, it sends a message that people care about this place. Voting ends Sept. 6th. http://livepositively.com/#/americasparks/vote Also, if you're on Facebook.. they have a page located here: https://www.facebook.com/savepicachostaterecreationarea "Help save Picahco!"

Awesome trip report and pictures! I think I convinced my wife that we need to head out there someday.

What a gnarly looking trail! Looks like a blast! Kinda reminds me of some of the stuff out my way.

You bet. Sandstone Canyon is a must-see!

The crystal clear, cool water was very refreshing. After a bit of relaxation, it was time to head back down. By the time I reached the trail head it had warmed up considerably, making me glad I had packed enough water. It turned out to be a 4.6 mile round trip that took about 3 hours with an elevation gain/loss of 900 feet. I really enjoyed this hike and look forward to returning to this little desert oasis.

A short hike from the hot, dry desert flat into a narrow canyon and to a hidden waterfall, full of mosses, vines, and trees, this tiny oasis felt like a world away. Hellhole Canyon is home to Maidenhair Falls, a seasonal 20-foot waterfall that makes a refreshing hiking destination on a hot day in the California desert. Looking back at the trail head. The trail begins out on the flat alluvial fan well outside the canyon containing typical California desert vegetation. What's up with these rock stacks? Graves? They seemed a bit on the small side. Looking back towards Borrego Springs. Deeper into the canyon the terrain gets rockier and vegetation starts closing in. Once you reach the first set of palm trees, the trail gets a bit strenuous and the vegetation turns into jungle-like thickets of palms, sycamores, canyon grape, and those pesky catclaws. My destination, Maidenhair Falls, Pictures don't do it justice. Continued...

It was a nice, if somewhat windy, day out in the desert. Thanks to Steve (Lexus), Eric and son (Land Cruiser), Steve and his wife (FJ), and Tyler (Nissan) for coming out. Even though I froze on the way out there (and back) and had no sleep the night before, it was still a great time. You are in the Split Mountain Fault Zone. Split Mountain was formed by erosion along this fault line. Flood waters cut down through the layered rock, forming Fish Creek. During flash floods thousands of tons of debris tumble through Split Mountain, scouring out the deep gorge. The gorge you see before you provides an exit for much of the rock that was formed in the Split Mountain Fault Zone over the past 20 million years. More than 40,000 acres of watershed is funneled through this canyon. From here the flood waters flow more than 20 miles towards the Salton Sea. Note the countless layers of rocks. They have much to tell about the history of Split Mountain. Fossilized reef. One of the canyon collapses from the earthquake. Steve getting up and over the boulders that defeated him back in 2007. Success! Now Eric's turn. Winding our way through... End of the line. Even from here I can tell its gonna be cold on the way home. I decide to take the extra credit line back through the collapse. We then ran into about 20 Jeeps coming through. All of my pics can be viewed here.

Thanks, everyone! She's a week old today. Since I have a few aquariums, my wife gave me a card with this inside...

...fatherhood! My daughter, Audrey Ellen Graham was born 3-8-11 at 4:26pm. She was 8lbs3.6oz & 21 1/4" I showed off the ultrasound sounds pics I had on our Jacumba run, so here are the newest. New mother. New father. My grandmother Audrey, whom she's named after, holding me as a baby. Her first camping trip will be at the river towards the end of the year. When she's about a year old, we'll head out to the Mojave Road. For now all I can say is, wow!

Awesome trip! I would love to get out there one of these days.

I just came across this thread. What a beautiful snake! Reminds me of what I would often find growing up in Ramona (a more rural part of San Diego county). Are you guys allowed to keep rattlers as pets in AZ? In CA you can kill and eat them if you have a fishing license, but we can't keep them. I did once though, when I was younger for a bit. Its amazing to see how fast their venom works on a mouse or rat!

Awesome trip guys! Mojave Road "backwards" in the snow! I liked the pictures showing the flood damage at the crossings. Last time I ran it, we camped up in Caurthers Canyon. That was the only place we had snow. But rock spring was frozen.

A square had to show a rubi how its done! Now Jerry is wanting a lift, disconnects, armor... the sickness has begun!

lol!

Newest addition to my Jeep... Thanks, Diane!