Anza Borrego Wandering

[Crawdaddy]

I left work at noon on Friday and headed out to Butterfield Ranch Resort for the weekend ( http://butterfieldresort.com/ )………this will be the home base for the upcoming SDAR Desert Dash (http://www.dualsport-sd.com/dualsport_events.php ) and I wanted to get out there and explore/scout a bit beforehand……

Wasn’t too hard to find a spot when I arrived……I was literally the ONLY person in the campground ……that's my Toybox in the distance.......I’m glad we throw these folks some business for the Dash



I still had an hour or so of Daylight so I rode over to Blair Valley for the sunset and also did a bit of snooping on some side/spur trails……Blair Valley/Little Blair Valley are really nice areas to dry camp with the Dualsports……..closer to North SD County than Ocotillo Wells and no stickered bikes/quads allowed ……..which also means the area is quiet/serene and the trails aren’t whooped out like Ocotillo Wells…….not a lot of riding to be had there but a good place to base camp……

A couple of Sunset pics in Litte Blair Valley:





I had planned on heading out Friday with a friend but he wound up getting sick so I just headed out solo…….it was really quiet/serene out at Butterfield on Friday/Sat night…….pitch black, great star show, and the sounds of coyotes in the surrounding hills…..if you’re out there solo as I was I’d recommend bringing a good book……NO CELL service (at least not with Verizon).

I didn’t post the Sat ride up on SDAR or DSM because I had planned on bringing a couple of buddies who had never ridden in the area…….wanted to keep the group small…....unfortunately Ron wound up getting sick but Ken made it out……Ken pulled up at Butterfield at ~7:30 on Sat. morning and we were on our way over to the Pinyon Trailhead by 8am to meet up with a few other guys……..I took Ken through Blair Valley/Little Blair Valley on the way over to Pinyon….much more scenic/fun than slabbing it on S2…..

The other guys (Schwinn, Bagstr, ZRacing, Lorac) were ready to roll when we got there….apparently we just missed Rexr and his buddy who just happened to be out there at the same time and shot off in front on their own……they joined us after Heart Attack Hill......

All the riders in this group were journeymen though it was the first time riding through the area for Todd/Ken………we literally blew around a few jeeps at The Squeeze by riding up on the side hill to the right then shooting through the gap in front of the lead jeep……you could see the “Dualsport Envy” in their eyes …….I’m sure they were out there for hours negotiating The Squeeze/Ledges/Heart Attack/Fairchild and then their day was done ……….we blew right through all that stuff with MILES more ground to cover ……I didn’t snap any pictures in this section as the pace was brisk and the stops were few……

I did snap a couple of phone pics of the group taking a breather deep in Fish Creek:





Once we reached Split Mtn Rd. it was irritating to see so much property closed off between the intersection of Fish Creek/Split Mtn Rd and the Blu Inn……we used to be able to diagonal (legally) over to the Blu Inn……I’m sure some options still exist but many have been closed off……..even Old Mine Rd. is now marked “Private Property/No Trespassing” …….we headed down Split Mtn Rd. and stopped by to see Hoss for a few minutes (he was out there helping some friends fence off their property near Octotillo Wells……)

I led the crew a short ways on Kane Springs Rd. and Main street to get over to Blow Sand………I won’t bother with that section again…….too whooped out……better to just stay on Split Mtn Road to 78 and turn west…..

We “blew” around the front of Blow Sand, before turning south to hook into the entrance down into Slot Canyon……FYI, the drop into Slot Canyon has some DEEP/soft ruts now…….once out of Slot Canyon we headed north again before turning south in a little ridden side spur of San Felipe Wash that drops down to Borrego Springs Rd (relatively whoop free/fast/fun)……..from here we hung a left turn and headed up to hwy78 and proceeded west on 78 to Old Borrego Springs Rd. (fun Pole Line Rd. which runs you back over to Borrego Springs Rd.)…….then the group splintered…….those needing gas headed into Borrego Springs……I led Rexr, his Buddy, and Bagstr though a few of the Sheet Metal Sculptures before hooking into Borrego Springs to meet the others for lunch at Carlee’s

After lunch/gas we headed up S22, Culp TT, Jasper TT, Grapevine Canyon TT before returning back to 78/Pinyon………fun day…….

Hobiee drove out to ride with me on Sunday morning…….no change in the Campground…….still had the place to myself….



I put the KTM back in the Toyhauler and broke out the WR250R…….



We decided to head over to Borrego Springs for breakfast……..we rode up Rodriguez Spur and explored a bit too…….then we hit Grapevine/Jasper/Culp and dropped down to Kendalls for breakfast (it’s located in the back of the strip Mall near Christmas Circle……it’s about your only option for a traditional bacon/eggs breakfast)

After breakfast we headed out to the Trifecta of view points (Inspiration, Fonts, Vista Del Mapais)…….I need to improve my gps tracks from the dump to the wash that leads to Inspiration Pt…….staying down in the wash appears to be a better option than the misc. roads/trails above……the trails/roads were really whooped out……..I used to like to stay up top because there’s a lot of fun stuff to ride up there….unfortunately much of it is closed off (now)……our Government at work once again

Here’s a pic of Hobiee taking in the view from Fonts Pt:



Once we left Vista Del Mapais we headed to the Truckhaven Trail and linked over to Techtonic Gorge…….then we rode up Pole Line Rd. to Gas Dome Rd. and took Tarantula Wash back over to 78…….Hobiee disappeared in the distance once we hit the wash…….when we checked his GPS at the other end it was apparent that I wasn’t riding THAT slow…….turns out he had wicked the KTM up over 90mph in that stretch…….oh to be young and fearless once again

I had planned on riding Old Mine Rd. back over to Fish Creek but we were turned away by the Private Property signs ……so we headed down to Split Mtn Rd……..we hammered up Fish Creek to Diablo Dropoff and rode up the drop…….this hill isn’t worthy of such a nickname……we breezed right up it……..then we took a tour through the Mud Caves of Arroyo Tapiado and made our way back to Butterfield……

We got back around 3:30, had a beer, and I waved goodbye to Hobiee around 4pm…….figured I’d shower up and split……..then I ran into a problem with the awning on my Toybox…….the spring had lost its tension and the awning wouldn't re-coil……I fiddled with it a bit but it was getting dark and I wasn’t interested in screwing with it in the dark…….guess that means I’ll need to fix it in the morning and ride again on Monday?

Hobiee came back out on Monday and we reversed Sunday’s track over to Split Mtn……..here’s Hobiee at the top of Diablo Drop



Making our way through some the slots around one of the mud caves



Another scenic tour through Fish Creek…….this wall always impresses me……



Once we reached the intersection of Split Mtn Rd/Hwy 78 we decided we should really go up Blow Sand to show the non believers that you can ride a trials tire in the sand (Hobiee went up the steeper left side and I went up the right side)……BTW, my set of MT43 Trials tires has ~1600 miles thus far…..could your desert specific knobby go up after ~1600 miles???.........it was funny to watch some guy on a KTM 520 struggle with his knobbies as we sat there with our trials tires equipped dualsport bikes (HEAVY dualsport bike in my case).....trials tires are clearly NOT the best choice for a pure sand tire but they make great "all around" dualsport tires....there's more involved in sand riding than tire selection.........just ask the guy we saw on the "knobbied" 520

Proof we were there......:





Then I led Hobiee into Borrego Springs via the same path I’d ridden with the other crew on Sat……

Hobiee above Slot Canyon



I rode around to another spot above Slot Canyon and took a photo of Hobiee at the viewpoint where the above pic was taken……it was taken with my phone so it’s nothing special but it does offer some perspective on Slot Canyon……Hobiee is perched on the ledge just right of center in the below photo:



We ate lunch at Carlee’s and then made our way back to Butterfield via Culp/Jasper/Grapevine/Rodriguez Spur…..

Another fun day of riding/exploring

Stats for the weekend



See some of you out there in February

[Hobiee]

heh hmmmmm........... we were working yesterday!!!! Ha hahahah Thanks again to the Crawdaddy for showing me around, man there is a lot of stuff to ride on a plated bike out there. I love the rocks and stream-bed going up Rodriguez spur. I guess crawdaddy says its the manly way, so he let me fumble through while he took the smart way??? The so called Diablo drop is a joke in both directions as stated not worthy of such a name. Slot canyon is great and the pole line rd into borrego springs is a blast. There is a connector trail from ocotillo wells over to the pole line road that is a pure blast, heck even the old slow pimpdaddy managed to keep it near 50 mph or so on it. Again a great time on both days and once again crawdaddy knows how to put the tracks together to bring out the smiles

[Strega]

Another C.O.R.E trip is in the books, well done!

Nice write up Chris. I had a great time on Saturday.

Sorry I came down with a bought with the creeping crud. Looks like a fun time was had by all.

Nice write up...Thanks....I loaded my trailer and took a load of junk to the dump saturday...Your day looked MUCH more interesting...
and how sad you got stranded out there an extra day....

[paulmbowers]

Me likey. Some other of these too.

Is Diablo Drop also called One Way Trail on some maps?

Is Diablo Drop also called One Way Trail on some maps?

That is the hill I was thinking of and it is marked one way on some maps, it`s a little tougher to go up in a stock 4X4 with skinny tires.

Is Diablo Drop also called One Way Trail on some maps?

When I hear one way trail I think of "Pinyon Trail" which has "The Squeeze" and "Heart Attack Hill"