Anza Borrego Backpack

Dennis and I did an overnight backpacking trip in the Anza Borrego Desert over the weekend.  It was quite an adventure!  We got our packs loaded the night beforehand but the next morning I found that my water bladder had leaked.  I had a moment of panic when I thought my down sleeping bag was soaked.  It wasn't though thank goodness!  Only the hip belt was wet.  The bladder didn't actually have a leak- the shut off valve was in the on position and it got squeezed up between the wall and the hip belt so that's what caused it.  I thought Oh great, we're off to a really good start here. 

We made it to the trailhead without further incident and we were the only ones out there.  I guess only idiots go backpacking in the dead of winter in the desert.  That would be us. 

At the beginning of the trail I found that my camera was totally dead and my cell phone had minimal battery life left.  We ended up doing some cell phone battery swapping and I was able to get a couple of pictures on my phone thank goodness.

Our destination was Pinyon Ridge via Wilson Trail which is actually an old road that is now only open to foot traffic.  The trail is traveled sparsley and in some areas we needed to do some creative route finding which also made my panic levels rise a bit.  It would be so easy to get lost out there because the landscape does not vary.  It looks like the surface of the moon and is easy to get turned around. 



Pinyon Ridge is at an elevation of 4300 feet so we had some difficult climbing to do.  Our backpacks weighed 40 pounds apiece since we were both carrying at least 6 liters of fluid each.  There's no water out here so you have to carry what you'll need for 2 days and plus I had Pico's food and water as well.  We stopped quite a bit in the first mile to mess around with the backpacks and figure out what adjustments were necessary for maximal comfort.  My sleeping pad was tweaking my neck so we stopped and had to adjust that.  I was getting pretty irritated.  I just wanted to do it and quit messing around.  It was a pretty difficult hike in and we stopped frequently to catch our breath. 



It took us 3 hours and 15 minutes to walk 4.5 miles.  The views were worth the agony.  We had an expansive view of the Anza Borrego desert and the Salton Sea from where we camped up on the ridge. 



The last bit of sunset behind us:



We set up our tent and used our Jet Boil to make our delicious freeze dried meals.  Dennis had thai chicken and I had chili.  Pico had his dried food and a couple of doggie chicken jerkies.  He started growling at something at sunset so we freaked out a bit thinking a mountain lion or coyote was stalking us.  We went on alert for a bit but things calmed down as night set in.  It got super chilly so we burrowed into our sleeping bags.  Pico snuggled up into my sleeping bag hood and we snoozed the night away. 

Sunrise over the desert:



I made oatmeal with walnuts and raisins in the morning while enjoying the sunrise.
We were packed up and walking out by 8:40AM.  The walk back took only 2 hours and 20 minutes, mainly because of elevation loss and our backpacks were lighter as well. 

See where the trial kind of ends in this picture?  Creative route finding....



Dennis and Pico on the second day:



Tina and Pico on the second day:



We made it out alive and with no major mishaps.  After we got back to the truck, we went to Ramona and had an Angry Whopper and french fries to end a fun adventure.