Anza Borrego Desert State Park

Clark Dry Lake BLM

After boondocking for 5 days outside of Joshua Tree National Park, we moved southwest about 80 miles and setup for more boondocking in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We met up with our friends, Jim and Corinne, who were just finishing up a stay at this interesting park in southern California. One of the unique attractions in this area is the collection of sculptures scattered through out the desert. The most popular sculpture has to be the serpent that spans the road north of town. We also enjoyed the giant bird feeding its babies a snake. The various dinosaur sculptures were also very interesting. The level of detail was amazing!

The hike through “the Slot” came highly recommended so we ventured out into the desert to see what all the fuss was about. The trailhead for the hike is about 1.7 miles off the main road. To get to it, you need to travel a well-used single lane dirt road. Luckily, there are small turn offs every 100 yards or so to allow opposing vehicles to pass. Some of these passing locations were barely big enough for our truck. The hike started with a slow descent into the slot. Once in the slot, the walls would converge to the point where you had to turn sideways and shuffle along in order to get through. We are hoping this is a taste of things to come as we hike more slot canyons when we make it to Utah later this spring. After about a half mile of hiking, the slot opens up and you have the option of returning back through the slot or taking a loop trail out that covers about 2 miles total. We opted for the longer hike with hopes of getting views back down into the slot to see what it looks like from above. One part of the hike followed an off road trail used by Jeep enthusiasts and other off roaders. The hill we had to hike up seemed to be almost vertical and I can only imagine what it must be like to drive up the hill.

Speaking of Jeep enthusiasts, Jim and Corinne had planned to stay in the area around the Salton Sea but things were booked. It turns out this was home for the 57th annual desert safari for Tierra Del Sol, San Diego’s Four Wheel Drive Club. We had plans to head out that way on Saturday to check out a location to dump our tanks and take on water when we leave on Tuesday. The scope of this event didn’t really dawn on us until we approached the area and saw the hundreds of RVs parked in the desert with dust clouds everywhere as people scooted around with the 4 wheel drive vehicles. The gas station was a zoo with most lanes occupied by UTVs instead of normal road vehicles. We felt a bit out of place with our big F350 dual rear wheel truck. But, hey, it is four wheel drive so I guess we did fit in somewhat.

The BLM land we are staying on is called Clark Lake BLM. About 2 miles further off the road from where we are parked is what looks like a dried up lake bed so we think this must be Clark Lake. On our first morning here we hiked out to the lake bed to check it out. The lake always seemed closer than it was and the hike to the dry bed was almost 2.5 miles. It was worth it as it was a unique experience and the surface of the ground was dried, cracked mud. A couple days later, we rode our bikes down to the dry bed to enjoy the freedom of riding around. Although very different, it did remind Dan of the times he used to go skating on the frozen lake in Canton, Me.

Another hike that Jim and Corinne recommended was the Cactus Loop trail. This trail comes with a self-guided educational brochure that describes the various cactus you see along the hike. The highlight of the hike for us was coming across a blooming agave plant. These plants live to be 50 to 60 years old or more. They bloom only once, at the end of their life and then they die. So, to see a blooming agave plant is indeed a treat. The plant shoots out a stock straight up to 6 feet to 10 feet and that is where the flower blooms. This particular one was around 6 to 7 feet tall. Other cactus we saw on this hike includes the beaver tail cactus, the barrel cactus, and the fishhook cactus to name just a few. We also saw several ocotillo trees, many with blooms. After we finished the hike, we drove an additional 20 miles or so up to almost 5000 feet to the town of Julian, CA. This small town was crowded! I’m not sure what the attraction was but we could not find any parking except for a small lot behind the Julian Brewery Co. The lot said it was for customers of the brewery only. Oh well, I guess we would have to patronize the establishment and have a lunch of pizza and beer before heading back to our RV. Some parking fees are easier to tolerate than others.