Prowling Anza-Borrego (The Anza Hapaha Loop)

First, the cliff notes:

Feb 2021

I think it's fair to say that I've leaned toward biking and bikepacking more and more over the last several yrs. I've come to love the sound of bike tires on dirt and the speed at which terrain is covered which is just right for me at somewhere between too-slow-walking and too-fast-driving. The southern deserts are so enticing in winter. Especially during the northern Nevada mud season, ie: when it snows and then warms up. Basically all winter. I've been wanting to get down to Anza-Borrego for a couple years. My childhood memories were motivational, but, they were childhood memories. Let's see how this plays out.

The drive down to Borrego Springs from where I live is pretty grim but I'd committed. Google maps although accurate routed me through some of the worst that the socal sprawl has to offer. I left my place at 9am and arrived in Borrego Springs around 7:45 pm. Lovely. From there I drove out to my proposed water cache site and camped at Fish Springs Wash.

I woke up to a gorgeous desert morning. There was no hard and firm timeline, agenda or dedicated cache site. So I leisurely got myself together and drove a short distance up the wash looking for an appropriate site. Well that was easy, I left a sharpie note on the gallon of water I'd cached asking for it to not be removed before the 21st. But it was well hidden, there was virtually no chance of it being discovered in just a couple of short days and soon I was headed back toward Borrego Springs to start my ride.

Packing up I was in the saddle and riding into the loop by about 10am. I rode out through the dinosaur sculptures, down onto Borrego Valley rd and turned off on dirt on Old Borrego Valley rd. Life was good. Then I hit hwy 78. And life was less good. Thankfully it was a short section but riding uphill into the blasting wind with no road shoulder and the RV wielding end-of-holiday merry makers skimming by within what felt like millimeters made it seem interminable. But it was over soon enough and I headed up into Mine Wash. I stopped for lunch at the indigenous Kumeyaah peoples winter village site and marveled at the many metates in the area. Next up after a few more miles was the mandatory hike-a-bike section in Mine Wash. Check. Short 5-6 ft. rock step ahead. Hard to describe to those who haven't actually worked the process, how difficult it is to hoist an extremely heavy, loaded bike up vertical rock steps. Regardless how short they are. In fact, I wasn't sure I could even do the step without at least partially unloading the bike. But I gave it a try and with much grunting and plenty of huffing, I made it up without having to unpack the bike. It was still a bit early when I stopped to camp and I could easily have made it down to Shelter Valley before dark. But I wanted to camp in the solitude of the desert. Mission accomplished. A beautiful pink evening followed with the bonus of wind abatement.

Cholla Forest

Metates in Mine Wash

More metates

Ocotillo!

Camp 1

It was a very quick climb to the top of Mine Wash the following morning before starting the fun descent into Shelter Valley and the Stagecoach Trails RV park for a water refill. For future riders reading this post, the RV park is perfectly placed for resupply and has a pretty well stocked store. I could've carried less...as usual. Heading back up into the desert I began the several hour climb up Pinyon Valley rd. The elevation at the top was 4k+. I certainly was not expecting the technical hike-a-bike step nor the "The Squeeze" and the following rather attention demanding downs and ups. And then came the "Pinyon Drop," aka "Heart Attack Hill." All names apparently coined by the off road crowd that I discovered by doing some googling after returning home. Surviving that I descended on easy terrain to "Split Boulder," another indigenous peoples winter camp site. I was now on a long slightly downhill section of route that lasts all the way to the end of Fish Creek Wash. But don't be deceived into thinking it's all trivial. The deep sand and jarring washboard takes its toll. I was thankful, again, that I had choosen to ride the fat wheel set. I finally ended up calling it a day several miles before my planned camp. That's one of the (many) things I love about bikepacking, there's usually no mandatory stops. Fly past your plans or stop early, whatever. My shoulders and wrists were happy to be done for the day and it was only marginally windy where I camped.

Split Boulder

Camp 2

Fish Creek Wash

Happy to be riding fat tires!

In the morning there was little wind. Aka a "sucker hole." I packed up and headed back down wash. It wasn't long before I was being nearly stopped in my tracks by the headwind. But as a counter balance the walls rose scenically and the canyon became almost slot-ish. I had to stop for the photo ops. A hour or so later and I was at my previously placed water cache. Probably wouldn't have needed it but nice peace of mind. And then I was on pavement. It was only 2 miles beyond my cache and I was on Split Mountain Rd for some fast-ish miles. You always hear, "enjoy it while you can." Well it held true once again because after about 4 and a half miles the route heads out Old Kane Springs Rd. Sand. Deep sand for 8.5 miles. Uphill. I had a route change planned at that point to avoid riding anymore hwy 78 and then repeating the first 5 miles of the route. So finally reaching my route change I deviated out across the desert on a barely-there old two track to hwy 78. A couple hundred yards or so on 78 and I could turn off on Borrego Valley Rd. Fast pavement miles with a nice shoulder back to the turn off up to my truck. I retraced my tracks through the dinosaurs and I was done. Much to my delight there had been very little 4x4 traffic on the whole route. No ATV's and only a couple 4x4's on the lower reaches of Mine and Fish Creek washes. A delicious burger and, ahem, 2 Pacifico's, at the Red Octillo, a place suggested by my friend Jack, topped off a great ride in an area I'd wanted to revisit. And about those childhood memories? Confirmed.