Be Prepared and Be Safe on the trails

I wanted to write an article about several educational things to keep you safe such as, what to do if you get lost on the trail, or how to signal for help when needed, etc.  In researching this project, I came across a website that has a ton of great information already posted so thought I'd share that with you vs. writing my own article. 
There is a ton of great information on the site below so again, in an effort to help keep you safe, feel free to visit and learn what you can.  Be sure to come back to my site to keep up with my travels.

http://www.hikingdude.com

Pinyon Ridge and Wilson Benchmark

Pinyon Ridge and Wilson Benchmark©

February 23, 2013, Joel Hawk

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

 Chris "Warrior" Hogue and I decided to bag another couple peaks on our way to completing the San Diego 100 Peaks list.  Chris has not committed to completing the list, but she has done a couple of long hikes with me over the past couple of weeks.  Pinyon Ridge and Wilson were burned last year in August 2012.  At last count, 11,669 acres were burned per the NBC website.  It has only been 6 months since the fire, but it only takes a few minutes to get a glimpse of just how devastating fire is. 

This is a relatively easy 9 mile hike along a trail if you follow Jerry Schad's directions.  If you use my track below, you're in for 11.2 and a little cross country.  The fires made the cross country trek very easy.

Chris was a bundle of energy when we first started.  It was just a little cold with some small patches of snow on the ground from the week before, but we were bundled up nicely.  This is officially her first open country scramble.  I told her all my open country hikes are this easy...ok, I lied, but let's keep it our secret or I'll never get her to go with me again.

After a little trip up/down and through some small run-offs, we made the ridge and received our first sighting of Pinyon Ridge.  Chris was a little concerned about the distance and the rocks that she could see from here.  I did my best in explaining it may look easier once we get closer.

Part of my journey is to always look around and see what's going on along the horizon.  Here is a nice shot with snow capping the Volcan Mountain ridges.

Another gorgeous view.

It was a great day for a hike and I'm looking forward to our adventure.

Although the fires destroyed so much, there are signs of life returning to the desert.  We saw signs of big horn sheep and heard a pack of coyotes howling, but never saw any of them.  We did see birds, rabbits and ground squirrels.  I thought I saw some deer print, but it may have been a baby sheep.  Tough to tell.  In this picture, Chris said we're not alone and up on the ridge to the left of the rock, it looks like two people walking.  It ended up just being cacti, but it sure looked real for a while.

There were a lot of natural things to wonder about and then some not so natural...

Chris loves the snow and though she could have opted to walk around, she walked right through it.  Tough to take the kid out of the adult when you're enjoying the great outdoors.

Following the well-used trail, we finally found ourselves at the turn-off to start our ascent up to Wilson Benchmark.  Honestly, with the vegetation being burned off, it's a real easy scramble up the face of Wilson vs. walking around to the other side.  We descended off the front face with ease.

Some forever views from a lookout point and the summit.

After a quick snack and signing the register, we pushed off to retrace our steps and bag Pinyon Ridge.  This benchmark was placed here in 1939.

I saw this rock formation on the way back and I just know I've seen a bird like this before, but the closest I can come up with at the moment is it's similar to a chick-a-dee.  If anyone knows a better likeness to a different type of bird, please let me know.

In just a short while, I climbed up Pinyon Ridge.  Although I did not find a register nor a benchmark, Garmin told me I had summited.  I plotted a backup coordinate and my track went right over it as well.  I did not climb these rocks.  I felt I could get up, but the getting back down would have been more of a challenge than I really needed at the time.

Taking a different path back to the jeep, it was a lot of joy to see new signs of life returning to the desert.  All things must have balance in order to survive.  I'll bet the rains will really bring out some new growth over the next month or so.

At the 11 mile mark, Chris had had enough fun and was ready for the hike to be over.  We climbed the last ridge and she remarked, "I've never been so happy to see a jeep before."  I did promise her a wine tasting adventure as part of her reward for being such a good sport on the hike, so that helped keep her happy.

Once packed up, we headed off to Hawk Winery just outside of Warner Springs.  Great people there and of course, add a little wine and people start doing crazy things.  Oh wait...I do this on every hike.  But today, the winds were so strong I couldn't stand upright on just one leg.  I thought I was going to get thrown out striking a Captain Morgan pose, wearing a Jack Daniels ball cap and hanging out in a winery.  But it was all good.

This is a very cool sign and with my last name being Hawk, I'll need to find one for myself.

Once we got home, I saw that we had brought back a lot of the desert with us.

All cleaned up and ready to go again.

When we going
...When we going
......When we going???

Our little trek is one we'll always remember.  That's what I love about hiking in our countryside - we always come away with fun and different memories.

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

Directions and the numbers:

Travel to Ranchita on Montezuma Valley Road just before dropping down the grade into Borrego Springs.  Exit on Yap to the South for about .5 miles or so and turn left onto a jeep road (can't remember if there was a street sign or not, but it's called Old Wilson Road).    This is in the Anza-Borrego Desert and there are lots of dirt bikes on the trails so be careful.  You will come upon a circle four-way and if you wanted to add a little mileage to your hike, you could turn South on Jasper Trail here or if you want to go only around 9 miles or so, press forward on Culp Valley Road to the trailhead. Total round trip the way we went is appx 11.2 miles, 3234 total ascent with a max elevation of 4623 ft.   Overall this took us about 4:45 hours.

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Gasp and Groan Mountains

Gasp and Groan Mountains ©

February 9, 2013, Joel Hawk

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Jack "Bagger" and I left early so we could be parked at sunrise.  As always, best laid plans have a way of changing themselves.  We initially parked where we thought we should only to find out we were about 2 miles off.  We did make a note of this spot so we could come back and take on a different challenge when we plan to bag Peak 3640.  But that's another story.  What we did see was a fantastic ring around the moon when we first climbed out of the jeep.  The picture does not do this moment in time any justice, but if you look hard enough, you can just make out a bit of the ring.  (click on the picture to enlarge for better viewing)

Since we knew we were in the wrong spot, we left and made it to the correct spot just in time for this picture.  God I love starting my day like this.

It strikes me as odd that no matter how much planning or forethought I put into a hike, the adventure always promises to be more than I bargained or hoped for.  That's part of the excitement I look forward to while on my hikes.  Learning about the local areas where we live is so much fun and if one takes the time to look around while out there walking through our lands, they could see so much.  All it takes is a little imagination and a playful nature to see things differently.  For example; this rock is simply some rock formation on the ridgeline that I'll bet many have walked right past and never even noticed.  As soon as I saw it, a voice went off in my head that said, "I'm watching you" and naturally, I started giggling.  This is another reason why I hang back and let Jack get up a few hundred yards from me.  Being easily amused is a gift - or so I say.

We hadn't gone far, but I already knew I was in for a fun day.  I hollered at Jack to look at the rock formation above.  This rock structure is looking down over Redondo Flats.  Walking through this area, I saw a white pole and being curious, we went over and found a survey marker.

This is a beautiful meadow and in a rare sighting of late, we saw two coyotes running through the meadow.  No pics because I was a little slow on the draw.  Good thing I didn't grow up back in the Wild West when being a fast draw was the difference in living another day...but I digress.  This is a look back down over the meadow once we've crossed over and climbed the ridge.

The views were incredible this morning.  Following the trail (sometimes), we climbed this ridge on the way to Gasp.  We could see many signs of sheep, but no sheep.  I'll bet they saw us a lot during the day, but we didn't get a glimpse of any of them out there.

These are some of my favorite shots of Jack as he picked his way across the ridge.  The colors were just popping in the early morning sun.



Jack took a couple of me picking my way down the ridge.

This was an unexpected large rock formation just as we were descending down before our last climb up to Gasp.  Not sure how such a large rock can get a sheer face like this, but it's interesting to look at.  Love how the trees and shrubs grow wherever they can.

Along the way, we came upon some cool openings in the rocks.  Not sure if the rains or the winds caused this, but they were nice and comfortable.  A little tight for me, but a nice diversion just the same.

Not too long after this, we found ourselves on top of Gasp.  There was no benchmark, but we did find some old wire.  In trying to figure out how this mountain got it's name, we came up with a couple of different hypothesis.  One was because of the views.  One could literally lose their breath in looking around.  Another was from the challenge of climbing this peak from Goat Canyon.  It's not for the faint of heart.  Whatever the motive was for naming this view point, it's a must climb.  A quick snack, strike the pose and head on over to Groan. 

This is where the hike really started to take on some character.  We pushed off right over the edge and started our ups and downs as we crossed over a couple of canyons.  Our trek was pretty steep and took a little more time than we had planned, but opting for safety over speed wins the day every time.  Pushing ourselves to reach Groan at a reasonable time, but still taking time to look out over the countryside reminds us why we're really here.  

 One can see the train trestle across Goat Canyon.  I had seen this a few weeks ago when I hiked up Puff.  Beautiful scenery.  Oh, and can you see the Hawk just under the tunnel opening?  Nice colors in the sky.  It seems a little odd to be looking down on a Hawk in flight, but he didn't seem to care as he was just looking for a little breakfast.  I can respect that.

 Another snapshot of the Hawk in flight with the sun glistening off his wings.

We've just climbed down this.

That saddle was our crossing point a little time ago.  We're headed down loose and slippery dg (decomposed granite).  Down below, we can see some palm trees in the canyon.  How odd is that?

The next part of our adventure was hiking up to the ridge above and head on over to Groan.  This is a great shot from the canyon in front of us.

Another shot looking back where we've been.  Thats the saddle we crossed through.  Look at the reds coming through now.

The chollas will be in bloom in just a couple of weeks.  I can't wait to get back out here and see the desert flowers.  If you ever get the chance, you must see the desert floors yourself, but I'll do my best to bring you pictures so you can appreciate how Mother Nature smiles in the desert.

In one of my most frightful moments of hiking, I found myself pushed to my very limits.  I had been following a sheep/animal trail and it completely disappeared all of a sudden.  I found myself fully exposed and climbing up through these boulders and if you can't tell, I wasn't very happy about it.  I could have turned around and gone about 1/2 to 3/4 miles out of my way to come up a different route, but if you've been there, you'll know what and how I was feeling.  I decided I would be as safe as possible and if it reached a point where it just wasn't going to happen, then I would turn around.  I made it through, but I most certainly came down a different way.  If you look closely, you may be able to see one of the rocks in the upper left corner groaning.  I've cropped it for you in the next picture.  Is this how the mountain got it's name?  Or is it from the natural groaning from seeing what you had to do to reach the top?

Another oddity is once you find the benchmark and azimuth markers, they are named "Moan" but we all know this is Groan.  I had hiked Moan last week and it's across the canyon.  Strange, very strange.

As always, I needed to strike the pose so I did.  But I was tired!!! So I struck another pose which was much more comfortable.

Oh yea, this is why I wear long pants.  You can bet bucks I put on my leggings before we started off on the way back.  Just part of what you sign up for when you scramble or go open country. 

Having already gone the one way, we opted to go in a loop to discover more of what's out there.  

One more look at those rocks I'd shimmied up earlier and with a sigh of relief, off I went to head home. 

We were keeping on a contour around a mountain and came upon a pretty deep ravine covered by a tall shrub.  There wasn't any other way across, so we walked right across the top of this tree.  Jack hollered out for me to walk on the "big" branches....you bet!

Nearing the end of our day, we came across a water catch at the Overlook.  Looks like it had been repaired recently.

This was a fun and very challenging hike for me.  We reached the jeep a little after dark, but we were on roads so it was pretty safe.  What amazed me most was how fast the temperature dropped once the sun went down.  Just another reminder to always be prepared for extreme weather changes (and we were).

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

Directions and the numbers:

Travel East on I-8 and exit on Ribbonwood.  Go right and then turn left at the first red light onto Old Hwy 80.  Follow this for a short while until you come to McCain Valley and turn left.  Cross under I-8 and take the second dirt road to the right.  Take the first left and follow until you come to a sharp turn to the right.  Unless you have a high clearance, you'll only go another 1.2 mile or so and then park.  We looped to Gasp - Groan - and back.    Total round trip is appx 11.9 miles, 3572 total ascent with a max elevation of 4010 ft.   Overall this took us about 6 hours, 45 minutes.  This was a very aggressive, open country scramble and not recommended for the family. 

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