Anza Borrego (5)

Our Christmas tradition continues and we are definitely not getting bored with it. We again stayed in the Anza Borrego state park campground in Palm Canyon, with full hookups. The only thing to note about our site is that it is was a pull along this time, and if you want the door to open into the site, the hookups will therefore be on the wrong side of the trailer. It was not a big deal, because we could run the electrical cord under Dory. But it did mean we chose not to use the sewer outlet in the site, and instead opted to use the regular dump station. I am noting that we’re down a dump hose because ours broke at Calico. I won a bet with Richard by proving that you can obtain dump hoses at Arco stations when you are in Indio, CA, national capital of RV campers boon docking with their ATVs. We will be traveling with a backup hose stashed in the trunk from now on.

We also continued the tradition of renting e-bikes from I Bike Borrego. The owner, Ed Whipple, is now our Christmas buddy, and it was great to see him dropping off the bikes as we pulled into the campground. We got exactly the same bikes we did last year and I had some ideas on techniques I could try to feel more in control of these beasts. 

After setting up in the site, we had just enough time and daylight to squeeze in a hike up to the palm oasis. We rode our bikes up to the trailhead to save time, but this meant that Richard forgot to put on his hiking shoes. When faced with the question of whether to go back and get them, vs trudge along in his super white K-Swiss tennis shoes, he insisted on the latter. 

I remembered the trail being more rugged on the “alternate trail” side of the loop, so we took that going up. That was a great call because I would not have wanted him to be trying that with slippery shoes in the dark. Once the two trails meet up at the top, it’s another mile or so of tricky, rocky stair stepping up to the palms. He managed like a champ! The whole valley was alive with the sound of water from the recent rains. Dry river beds were flowing, and waterfalls were running strong. The oasis itself seemed tropical, with pools of water, the sound of the falls, and birds singing in delight. It was a magical welcome back to our favorite winter spot. We timed it just right, so that we hit the last part of the return trail at dusk, and arrived at our bikes by the time it was dark. The bikes have headlights and we carried our headlamps, so we nailed the return to Dory.

The next day, we set out with our bikes to go looking at statues in the sand. We ended up going further out, toward Coyote Canyon, to check that out as well. With plenty of daylight, and a full charge on the bikes, we headed up the sandy road after the pavement ended, with no particular goals in mind. I was interested in trying the idea of using the brakes to ease off the thrust of the motor, and that worked somewhat. These bikes are super powerful and have a major kick once the motor engages. To engage the motor, you have to pedal a little bit more than a half rotation. That means, you push forward with one foot until the pedal is all the way down, and then you have to just start pushing with your second foot when the kick hits. I was still finding this very difficult to manage in deep sand, and nearly fell over a lot. After a couple of miles, I was not having fun, and we turned back. Downhill was better, and pavement was even better than that. I used the throttle to zoom most of the way back to town without even pedaling. That part was fun.

For our next full day in town, we agreed to try again with Coyote Canyon. I had another idea about using the throttle to start up the motor when in deep sand, rather than the pedal assist. But mostly, we both felt it was important for me to conquer this and keep practicing with the sand bike. I was nervous about it, and honestly kind of bitchy most of the morning, but also determined to follow through with the plan. We went straight to the off-road beginning of Coyote Canyon and re-entered the wash. At the first sign of deep sand, I tried the throttle, and right away it worked. This was a game changer for me because now I did not have to worry about stopping the bike. I could keep one foot on one pedal, hit the throttle in low power, and start it up before committing both feet. It felt easier to balance that way, and much less likely to fall over on top of me. These things are crazy heavy, so the thought of tipping over sideways was not appealing. Now I was winning, feathering the brakes to better control my speed, and using the throttle for deep sand, or to start back up from a standstill. I was a badass sand biker in a much better mood.

We rode all the way up to a place called Desert Gardens and walked around to look at the cacti. From there, it was a little further to a spot where the road hits the first water crossing. We could see cars going through, and we rode up to it to assess whether it was worth the attempt. We probably could have made it, but there was at least a good chance we’d come out of it wet, so we deemed that to be as far as we wanted to go. 

Instead of continuing, we went back to the trailhead for Alcoholic Pass. This is an out and back hike that goes up about a mile to a marker, and then you either come back down, or continue on for an unknown number of miles. We were looking to get off the bikes for a bit, and were admittedly intrigued by the name of the pass. It was a steep and rocky climb, with the trail hard to follow in places. You are rewarded with a nice sweeping view of the canyon below before the trail turns back toward a low point in the mountains. For whatever reason, the pass is marked with a little mailbox containing a paper log book. We enjoyed a nice snack and celebratory photos before descending back down. It was an easy ride out of the sand and back onto pavement. I felt a sense of accomplishment, paired with exhaustion. It was a long, triumphant day.

Our next adventure took us to Julian, where online ads had told me there was pie. I noted this many months back, and have looked forward to Julian Pie Company pie ever since. Richard rode up Montezuma Valley Road to earn his pie, while I felt that my previous day’s successes had earned me as much pie as I wanted for the entirety of the trip. I picked him up at the summit and we drove first to Santa Ysabel, where there is another Julian Pie Company store. We figured why not try a piece there, and then also get a piece when we got to Julian. We had traditional apple pie, with vanilla ice cream. It was very good. We both judge the pie from Gowan’s Oak Tree in Boonville to be unsurpassed, but this one was good too.

Another nine or so miles down the road is the small town of Julian. Whoever is in charge of their marketing is doing something right. Not only did they entice me into visiting the town, but also a million other people. It is a very small town, not really set up to manage so many people and so many cars wanting to park. The line for Julian Pie Company stretched a full city block, matched by the competing line to Mom’s Pies down the street. It was one of the craziest scenes I have ever witnessed. Richard was immediately ready to bail, but I had set my mind to the plan and was prepared to work for it. I dropped Richard off and circled the town looking for a place to park. I ended up as far on the outskirts as I could get, which was still not really that far, because it’s a small town. By the time I had parked, walked .4 miles back, and found Richard, he was not yet at the front of the line. That’s how crazy it was. We got the cherry apple crunch, and it was very good. Again, not Gowan’s, but good. I would not say it was worth the wait except for having the whole experience. Crazy experiences are worth it to me.

We drove back to Borrego Springs and Richard got out to ride up Yaqui Pass. This is a beautiful canyon, that winds steeply up and over a ridge, before opening up to a breathtaking view of the Borrego Springs valley. 

That night, we did a night walk along the paved path to the Visitor Center. That night hike has become one of my favorite things to do. It is so cool to view the desert under the stars. I took pictures of the various common plants, hoping that maybe we could mimic some of the look of the desert in our backyard campground at home. I doubt that creosote would grow well in our clay based soil, but I wonder if we could get one to grow in a pot. That smell is so distinctive and makes us both happy.

And lastly, we got in a long hike from the campground, stopping at the Visitor Center, and continuing up Hellhole Canyon. All told, it ended up being almost an eight mile day, and that was only because we didn’t try to make it all the way to the hidden waterfall. People say that it is very difficult to find the falls, and that it requires scrambling over and around lots of boulders. We were content to make it to the palm oasis, and find a “mortero” (a place where indigenous people made mortar holes in a rock surface in order to grind grains). You could make this a shorter hike by driving to a staging area instead of walking from the campground. It would still be hard to find the waterfall, but it would then only be about five or six miles out and back.

We wrapped up our Christmas stay with a shopping trip to Center Market and a dinner out at Pablito’s Mexican restaurant. The market had everything we needed to stock up for a week in Joshua Tree. They even had Soy Miso paste. Impressive.

We hated departing what has become a happy, familiar winter destination. However, we continue to be disappointed with the lameness of the holiday display on “Christmas Circle.” Come on people. We have so many neighbors who do a better job with holiday spirit. We missed seeing our friends David and Cyndi, but left a note. Maybe next year.

Total miles from Calico: 204.4, 15.8 mpg, 4 hours 41 min. Site 25 full hookups. Pull along site so services were on the wrong side. Did not use site sewer outlet but campground dump is good. Great cell for both.