Ghost Mountain and Pictographs

Ghost Mountain and Pictographs
by Joel Hawk, 1/6/2013

With my trusty sidekick, Chris, we set off for a day of adventure in the desert.  She doesn't get to experience the jeep off-road much, so we buckled her in tight and set off in the early morning hours for an all-day adventure in the Anza-Borrego Desert.  She's a moderately experienced hiker and likes difficult hikes that come with trails (polite interpretation meaning "don't take me on any of your rock or open country scrambles")!  Armed with clear guidance, I selected a couple of nice hikes I had wanted to do for some time which included discovery, some exercise, and seeing some of Southern California we had not seen before.
Selecting a comfortable and most direct route, we set off for Ramona for our first adventure.  I wanted to hike Black Mountain if we could get to the top and had planned a jeep trail.  Along the way, I thought we would drive by the Sutherland Dam and Reservoir.  What a great little drive along a paved road just outside of East Ramona.

To be honest, I didn't even know this reservoir was out there.  One can tell it's toward the end of our Summer Season by how low the water levels are in the reservoir.  This is beautiful country and a nice morning drive to explore our countryside.

I'm a believer that one should always make plans and try to follow them...no matter what twists and turns we experience along the way.  We drove all the way down to the dam and then exited onto a dirt road riding along the mountain side to Trucker Canyon Road (where the access to the jeep road up Black Mountain is).  It was a great drive and we found Trucker Canyon Rd just like we planned, so I turned onto it and started looking for my dirt road turn-off.  We drove all the way up to Mesa Grande Indian Reservation without seeing our turn-off.  I could see what I thought was Black Mountain to the West, so I knew we were close.  We returned back down Trucker Canyon only to find the gate was closed/locked which is why I drove past without noticing.  So we thought we would just drive around to Black Mountain the other way.  Plans do change...
Along the way we stopped a couple of mountain bikers, Mike and Christine, and asked for directions.  Being local Ramona residents, we got some good gouge and set off for another adventure.  Armed with new directions we found and drove up Pamo Valley Road to Santa Ysabel/Black Mountain Rd.  Driving up this road we found the trailhead and started putting on our hiking gear.  Within just a few minutes, both Mike and Christine appeared having rode their bikes up the very road I had originally planned.  We then learned the summit was about 5 1/2 miles from the trailhead, so we decided to bag the idea for the day and continue on our adventure into the desert.  We'll come back for this one next week.  Back to the main highway and off to Julian for lunch.
With our tummies satisfied, we headed for the desert.  Traveling on a dirt road of the S-2, we were headed for the pictographs.  This may seem like a whole lot of nothing for some folks, but we both found it interesting and curious.  We wondered what the symbols meant and per the sign at the trailhead, so does everyone else.  This is a short 2 mile total hike, but was very pleasant and interesting. 

Chris says, "Finally, we're walking."  In just a few hundred yards or so, I found the "real" Birdrock.

Spot on, 1 mile away we came upon a solo boulder proudly displaying the pictographs we had set out to find.  One can see the sun and what looks like possibly someone walking.  There is one drawing that looks like a horse (which is very hard to draw), but this is all conjecture.  That's one thing that is fascinating about this little adventure; you can let your imagination wander and see if you can come up with your own story.

Chris says this is great, but I'm freezing!  Let's get into the sunshine.  (The horse drawing is just off her left shoulder).
I've lost my beard, but have a little shadow on my chin.

 One must strike the pose!

Once satisfied there were no other pictographs for us to see, we set off along the trail a little farther into the desert just to see what else is out there.  The trail does continue so if there are that many other folks going out that way, there must be something right?  There was; great views of the desert floor and a great viewing spot at the mouth of Smugglers Canyon drop off.  It's only about 1/4 of a mile farther and you can see the spot at the low point on the near horizon.

 With yet more to do today, we turned and headed for our next little adventure along the same foothills.  Along the way, I started planning for one of my next adventures; hiking Whale Mountain.  This is about a 10 miler and through open country with some boulder climbing, so I know Chris would not like to join me - although I asked!

Our next stop was the short Morteros hike.  This is a large rock where Indians ground out a "bowl" where they could grind the pinon nuts, mesquite beans and agave and make their dishes.  With the number of these Morteros on the boulder, Chris said this must have been an early Indian restaurant.  Could be!

Off to visit the remains of the South Marshall home called Yaquitepec (I think), we were headed for the last fun and short hike of the day.  This is a great story about the stubbornness and strengths of early pioneers who simply wanted to live off the fruits of the land.  The hike is again only a 2 mile round trip although this hike does require climbing a trail with some difficult parts for young ones (or older ones with bad knees).  It's fun though to stand at the top and just imagine what this looked like back when it was the Marshal South homestead.

If you were interested in learning more, I found this link online.  Apologies about the ads/pop-ups, but it's not my site.

http://www.examiner.com/article/hike-to-ghost-mountain-and-the-marshal-south-homestead

Some of the scenes from the site show some of the walls still standing, their water well, an old bedframe and a morteros grinding spot.

Chris bailed and went back to the jeep while I headed off to bag Ghost Mountain.  This ended up not being the summit, but was one along the way.  The sun had dropped behind the mountains by the time I reached the summit, so no good pictures.

We were so close and it is on my list....not wanting her to be waiting very long, I actually ran/jogged up to the summit and then all the way back down to the jeep.  Along the way, I took one last photo of the desert floor.

I was a mess by the time I got back down and a literal pretzel with stiffness when I got home.  But it was a fun day...a very fun day.  I would recommend this/these hikes for the family.

Be safe, enjoy living and appreciate our lands.   ~ Joel