Dos Cabezas Water Tower

Piedras Grandes
Elevation: 2,601′
Miles: ~2
Trailhead

Indian Hill
Elevation: 2,240′
Miles: ~2
Trailhead

On this Sunday morning, I scrambled atop a small rise and saw a large coyote turn and look at me, then run down the rise into the desert floor below, joining other coyotes to disappear among the cactus and chaparral.

The morning was beautiful, the sun was shining on my back and the breeze had enough chill in it to cool me from my exertion. Other than the birds, it was completely silent and I was the only person for miles. I was completely filled with the joy to be alive at that moment. I took a breath and continued up the mountain.

I found out later, that at roughly the same time, someone dear to me had passed away. It was sudden, and it wasn’t supposed to be her time to go. She was too young and too healthy. Random. Shocking.

Over the last few days, I have moved from denial to grief and acceptance. She was my favorite aunt. She gave me my first cassette tape, U2’s Unforgettable Fire, when I was 12. I was initially disappointed, since I didn’t know any songs on it. But it quickly became one of my favorite albums of all time. I learned every word and nuance on the album. Over the years, I felt like she always understood me. Her sons, my cousins, became my good friends throughout my childhood years.

She wasn’t my aunt by blood, but that didn’t matter to me, or to anyone in my family. She could always be counted on. Since my childhood, we grew apart, as people do, I moved away and I saw less of my cousins and my aunt. I still enjoyed her company on holidays and always knew she was there.

My wife had to break the news to me and I’ve made it very clear over the years that this aunt was very special to me. She took care of all of those around her, from her mother to her grandchildren.

As my emotions run all over, I’d like to think that the coyote I saw on Sunday was a message sent from the spirit world saying a last goodbye before she rejoined other spirits in the great desert basin of the sky.

Their video compression leaves a little to be desired, but it is a good introduction to the world of desert wildflowers we have here at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. From March, 2010.

Daley Ranch Trailhead

Elevation: 1,983′
Miles: 5.5
Trailhead

I was all set to go out to Anza-Borrego to bag some peaks and see some wildflowers, but the weather wasn’t looking very hospitable. Traveling on dirt roads after heavy rains isn’t advised, even with my all-wheel-drive Tiguan.

Instead, I set my sights on a “backup hike” that I’ve had in my mind for a while. This hike is in Daley Ranch in Escondido, which is pretty well visited. On this morning, however, the rain likely kept everyone but the loyal away.

On my way to the trailhead, it looked like the clouds were clearing up, which bode well. However, once I got about 15 minutes up the trail, the rain started and didn’t stop until I reached the summit.

The trail was nice and maintained, a welcomed break from my past few hikes. It dipped down past a rushing stream and meandered through what would have been a nice meadow, if it hadn’t been raining so hard on me.

In some places, the trail was pretty muddy and I could see where horses had recently sunken pretty deep into it. But overall, there were firm spots here and there, so I didn’t get the mud weights on the bottom of my shoes like I did for the McGinty Mountain hike.

Villager Peak from Rabbit Peak

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
200 Palm Canyon Dr
Borrego Springs, CA 92004
760-767-5311
anzaborrego@parks.ca.gov
Agency: California State Parks

Other Links:
The Anza-Borrego Foundation
The Anza-Borrego Natural History Organization

Encompassing 600,000 acres, Anza-Borrego Desert SP is one third of San Diego County. While mostly desert, there are a few places in the higher elevations that have some pine trees and have seasonal snowfall. A large draw for visitors is the annual spring wildflower bloom, which is especially powerful after a wet winter. There is also an extensive trail system for OHV, as well as a great variety of hiking trail of all difficulties. The area is so large that driving long distances is necessary to see the popular locales within the park, such as Fonts Point or Borrego Palm Canyon.

03/02/2010: UPDATE: Chelsea King’s body has been found and the search has been called off.

Lake Hodges will never be the same. I will think of her every time I am there and every time I drive by it, which is very often.

These used to affect me before, but, now that I have a child of my own, my heart goes out to her friends and family.

Regarding hiking safety, I don’t know what to say. Lake Hodges was one of the areas where I felt a lone woman could be safe. There are trails like Black Mountain and Woodson Mountain, where the trails are sufficiently filled with people to deter a would-be predator. But that is what I thought about Lake Hodges.

Hopefully, putting this guy away will remove a great percentage of danger from San Diego.

I won’t say any more about this except it is tragic and pointless. There are going to be new debates about the release/punishment/rehabilitation of sexual offenders, but it is really outside the scope of this site.

Stay safe out there on the trail.

Ocotillo on the way to Villager Peak

Every year around this time, people start wanting to know if the wildflowers in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park have started blooming yet. After all, much of the park is about a 2-hour drive from most of the county and people want to know if the drive for a day-trip will be fruitful.

From what I understand, the bloom is about to be upon us. We are expecting some more rain in the park on Saturday, but the weather report indicated that Sunday, February 28th will be beautiful.

The bloom is starting right now, with a great amount in the coming week or so and should last in various forms until April. Reserve your lodging as soon as possible, since March tends to be the park’s busiest month.

The website that I always check is the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association (ABDNHA). They regularly update their observations of the wildflower bloom situation and include recent pictures and descriptions, as well as current locations of blooming flowers.

Another resource is the Wildflower Telephone Hotline at 760-767-4684.

If you head out there, be prepared for wide weather and temperature fluctuations, lots of wind, bring plenty of water, and make sure your vehicle is sufficiently fueled, for the service stations can be few and far between.

I am not sure if I am going to be able to get out there for the peak of the blooming, but I hope you do.

Update 02/25/2010: The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park page updated their information about the Wildflowers and included a map. Scroll to the bottom and click on the PDF, or you can get it below:

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Map (PDF – 1.71MB)

Charity Workouts

I wanted to write a quick blog about a friend of mine, Brian, who leads a workout boot camp at Balboa Park. It’s called Charity Workouts in San Diego and they workout on Sundays. The boot camp was named “Best Workout with a Purpose” by San Diego CityBeat and Brian was named Volunteer of the Quarter by Outdoor Outreach.

If you’re going to get in shape and are looking to join a fun boot camp on Sundays, you may as well do it for charity.

Details:

What: Boot camp for fitness and fun
When: Every Sunday @ 9:20AM
Where: 3088 5th Ave, San Diego, CA (Café Bassam)
Cost: Donations only ($5 is appreciated)
Why: 100% of all proceeds benefit San Diego Charities (e.g. Outdoor Outreach)
Details: www.CharityWorkouts.org
Email: CharityWorkouts at Gmail.com

Storm Canyon at the edge of Garnet Peak in Mount Laguna

Laguna Mountain Recreation Area
Descanso Ranger District – Cleveland National Forest
Owen Martin, District Ranger
3348 Alpine Boulevard
Alpine, CA 91901
(619) 445-6235
Agency: Cleveland National Forest

Laguna Mountain Recreation Area is located about 45 minutes from downtown San Diego and is adjacent to Rancho Cuyamaca State Park, is part of the Cleveland National Forest, and is seated at the edge of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Also known as Mount Laguna, it features several miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, some of it that runs along the edge of a steep drop off into the desert to the east, providing unparalleled views into the valley below. There are several large meadows that have large ponds (lagunas) that are well worth the hike.

An 18-year-old SDSU student named Sandy Khoo died this weekend while hiking in Torrey Pines. She was hiking alone along the trail that meanders near a cliff. She appears to have fallen about 50 feet and ended up below the Torrey Pines Glider Port. She was found by beach-goers who saw her blue jeans up on the cliff just after noon on Sunday.

She may have been hiking at night, since she was found with a flashlight that was turned on.

Torrey Pines can be a dangerous place, as we’ve seen several fatalities there over the years. The cliffs can be unstable and the sandy, gravelly trail can be very slippery. Don’t let its beauty lull you into thinking it is a walk through the park.

My condolences go out to her friends and family.

Be careful out there on the trails, people.

The site was down for a few days while I upgraded my hosting plan through my host, Aplus.net. Through a comedy of errors on both our parts, the entire site got wiped out, since WordPress relies on a database to manage all the posts.

However, due to the dilligence and regular backups at Aplus.net, everything got sorted out. I had to repost my Lawson and Gaskill Peaks trip report and I lost some comments.

Which is a shame. Because the comments on my posts really motivate me to do better at this.

This quest for 100 peaks and book-writing has been challenging. I’ve had to refine my gear selection, and learn about a lot of things, including:

- Social Media and all the platforms available (Twitter, Flickr, Panoramio, Picasaweb, Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube, etc.)
- Shooting and editing photos and video (Well, I knew how to do this already, but now I shoot more video than I used to).
- Being a spokesperson and advocate for the outdoors, encouraging people to get outside and enjoy the wilderness.
- Promoting stewardship of the lands that we enjoy.
- Helping local and out-of-town people maximize their outdoors experience in San Diego.
- WordPress ins and outs, including blog, photo, video, html, javascript, css, rss, plugin, widget, subscription, categories, post tags, SEO optimization, affiliate accounts, and database management.
- How to attract and manage followers and offer people a way to follow my posts.
- Follow and research local and worldwide outdoors news and trends.

And the list goes on. In addition to all of this, there is the fun part: actually researching trails and peaks, and getting outside and hiking them. Having a small child makes getting outside more difficult than it used to be, but where there is a will, there is a way. I am hoping to be a role model for her and stoke her interest in the outdoors.

In the coming months, I am aiming to include a lot more trip reports, but also highlight local land conservation trusts and volunteer programs, as well as adding park profiles to the San Diego Parks page. I am aiming for this site to be the place to go for San Diego Outdoors information. I will also be posting retro trip reports from past world-wide trips, more gear reviews, and general San Diego Outdoor News.

If you are ever hoping to see something specific here, please let me know and I will do my best to get it here. Once again, your comments are most welcome and thank you for reading.

If you’d ever like to support me in some way, head on over to My Gear page and see if there is something you’d like. In addition, I also have some 100 Peaks items on my Cafepress page that would help defray some of the costs of this endeavor.

Another thank you to the folks at Aplus.net for coming through for me. They host websites at a really reasonable price and their service and support has been great over the years. Tell them Derek at 100peaks.com sent you.

I hope to see you on the trail!

-Derek