Category: California

19 Feb 2022: Finally Bighorn Sheep

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / California / Campgrounds / Camping / State Parks / Wildlife

11am – an hour before departure from Borrego Palm Canyon Campground: on our way back to campsite 105, we drove to the day-use parking lot to turn-around. A Ranger directing traffic for Palm Canyon Trail parking had me pull into a parking spot and before I could tell him “I’m just turning around”. He pointed out the Bighorn Sheep near the road. We were finally able to see & photograph a pair of young male Bighorns. They were less than 100yards from our new campsite – if we were still at site 97, we probably would have missed them. They were not disturbed by the dozen hikers in the Palm Canyon parking lot & trailhead. In fact, they crossed the trail & were unconcerned with our presence. I brought my 200-500mm Nikon zoom lens this trip just for this reason. It was a bright enough morning that I was able to hand-hold this long lens. Here are some of my favorites taken just 30mins before we were to leave for 29Palms/Joshua Tree.

After Anza-Borrego, we headed to Twentynine Palms/Joshua Tree, a 2.5hr drive. I was on Cloud-9. Our Anza-Borrego stay was fun but this morning’s Bighorn Sheep encounter made it extra special. Some regulars at Anza say they see them all the time. I’m just glad we did before we left.

18 Feb 2022: The Slot

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / California / Hikes / State Parks

Anza-Borrego State Park is the largest state park in California so the drive to The Slot actually leaves the park then re-enters. From Borrego Palm Canyon Campground it’s ~17mi 27mins. The dirt road ‘entrance’ (Borrego Mountain Wash on Google Maps) is pretty easy to miss since it’s not marked. Our navigation app said to park on the CA-78. But do not do that since the trailhead & parking lot is ~0.8mi up the wash. This road is not paved and has some soft spots but a 4×4 isn’t required unless muddy. The day-use (fee required) parking area near the trailhead has minimal facilities, just directional signs & a vault toilet restroom. Be sure to bring drinking water since there isn’t any running water.

Google Street View of The Slot entrance, Borrego Mountain Wash ‘Road’

Alltrails describes the trail as a loop but we hiked to the”Drop Off’ then back. The Slot is a canyon with some VERY narrow passages ie you have to slip through sideways or scramble over. Some canyon walls look like dirt/mud with layers of sedimentary rock and others are sandstone. A couple spots require scrambling over fallen rocks & cliff-side that block the trail. Otherwise it’s fairly flat & has wider areas amongst the narrow sections. These wider areas are a good place to stop if you hear people approaching from the narrows so there’s room for them to pass. Although it feels claustrophobic in the very narrow sections, the trail opens into wider canyon frequently. This isn’t nearly as breathtaking as Antelope Canyon or Buckskin Gulch. But it is a beautiful, worth-while, unique hike if you are in Anza-Borrego.

17 Feb 2022: Palm Canyon Trail-Montezuma Rd

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / California / Hikes / State Parks

Since we were staying in Borrego Palm Canyon Campground. The trailhead was just a feet hundred feet from our campsite. On Thursday, there were fewer hikers especially at 9:30am. This trail can get pretty busy especially on the weekends. Plus it is a popular trail for school & nature tours with a day-use, fee-based parking lot on the north side of the campground.
The reason it’s a popular hike is it an easy well-maintained trail with a creek & waterfall. Plus Bighorn Sheep are often in the area and spotted on or close to the trail. Seeing and photographing Bighorn Sheep was my main goal when booking this campground. But they are wild and unpredictable so we did not see any this day.
The Palm Grove Oasis area at the end of the trail is off-limits so the trail ends in a rocky overlook. Charring of the palm trunks is visible on most of the tall palms. New growth is flourishing and hopefully they’ll be able to open the area up again in a few more years. Since this is our first trip here, we do not have any idea what it was like before the fire.

No Bighorn Sheep spotted during our hike this morning so after grabbing lunch at Carlee’s Place in Borrego Springs. We headed up Montezuma Valley Rd since Bighorn Sheep are often spotted along that stretch of Anza-Borrego. Along the way, we drove by the DeAnza Country Club where other hikers mentioned seeing sheep – no luck there either. Their website has a photo of several Bighorns drinking from the golf course water hazard – pretty funny. So they do visit there during the drier time of the year.
The drive up Montezuma Valley Rd is scenic, with a beautiful panoramic vista at the lookout, but no sheep were spotted. It’s actually an alternate route to San Diego and we passed several RVs as we drove to the summit before turning around.
So I settled on metal ‘animals’, photographing some of the sculptures we missed during our Jan Anza-Borrego day-trip. Photographing wildlife is very much like fishing or going whale watching.

16-19 Feb 2022: Anza-Borrego State Park

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / California / Campgrounds / Camping / State Parks

After a short Valentine’s Day visit with family in Indio, we moved to Borrego Palm Canyon Campground in the State Park. Although Sat-Sun were completely booked for months, we were able to get three nights – two at one site (97), one nearby (105). So on Friday we had to move a couple hundred feet to a different site. It was a pain to have to move but the new site was only a few hundred feet away. It turned out to be quick and easy since we were dry-camping without any hookups. But we were much farther from the restroom, in a more remote spot. This would turn out to be a lucky change in my quest to photograph Bighorn Sheep.

Borrego Palm Canyon Campground has full hookup camping (parking-lot-style camping, completely booked) and dispersed campsites (some spotty availability during the week). There’s a very well-maintain restroom with flushing toilets, sinks, and hot private showers that require tokens (2 for $1). Scattered around the dry-camps are also vault toilets and water faucets to fill containers. It’s a very nice State Park campground – highly recommended.

13-22 Feb 2022: Indio/Anza-Borrego/Joshua Tree

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / California / Campgrounds / Joshua Tree National Park / RVing / Trips

Our original plan to head east through Arizona to New Mexico this month changed because of the cold front that hit much of the US mid-Feb. On our way back from New Mexico, our hope was to stop in Peoria & see a few Padres Spring Training games. So with Spring Training being canceled & Albuquerque down to 18°F, we decided to camp closer to home where we knew it’d be warmer.

Since we enjoyed our stay last month at Indian Waters RV Resort, we booked 3 nights this trip. This would give us a chance to visit family on Valentine’s Day. We picked a premium grass site this time since last visit they looked nicer. Turns out grass vs gravel really didn’t make much difference for us. Perhaps if we spent more time outside the RV in the evening. The only issue with the grass sites is lawn maintenance every few days plus sprinklers. Mowing means you have to move any gear onto the concrete pad.
After staying in Indio for 3 nights, we moved to Anza-Borrego Palm Canyon Campground and dry-camped for 3 nights. On our Jan 2022 trip to Indio, we day-tripped into Anza-Borrego and saw there much more we wanted to explore. So, although we couldn’t get more than 3 nights, we were able to dry-camp in the park. I really hoped to see & photograph the Bighorn Sheep that are often spotted around Borrego Palm Canyon.
After Anza-Borrego, our next stop was TwentyninePalms/Joshua Tree National Park. Every campsite inside the park was booked so our only option was to stay in Yucca Valley or TwentyNine Palms. TwentyNine Palms RV Resort had full-hookup sites available and is just a few miles from the North Entrance. We wanted to camp inside the park but enjoyed the full hookups after dry-camping 4 days.

22 Jan 2022: Salton Sea

by JamesCalifornia / Day Trips / Hikes / Indio/Palm Springs / Sightseeing / State Parks / Trips
Salton Sea Route from Indio

After a lot of driving to Anza-Borrego & Fonts Point yesterday, another long drive into Joshua Tree will wait till next trip. So while Carol visited family, I did a shorter drive to the Salton Sea. I’ve seen photos of this area and thought it looked interesting photographically. It was still windy and there were great clouds that made for beautiful light.

21 Jan 2022: Anza-Borrego Day-Trip

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / California / Day Trips / Hikes / Sightseeing / State Parks / Trips
Route to Fonts Point & Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor’s Center

Although we have lived most of our lives in SoCal, we’ve never visited Anza-Borrego. It’s always been on our list of places to go but we’ve just never made it out there. Working as an oceanographer, with month-long cruises in Jan and April, kept me busy during the prime months to visit. Now that we are retired, it will become a regular destination when we are itching to get away during the winter months.
The park’s visitor center is 75mins away from Indio/Indian Waters RV Resort. There are some great hiking trails there but we opted to hunt down the metal sculptures that are a mile or so east in Borrego Springs. These are another group of local landmarks we have never visited.
Note: parking & hiking at the State Park Visitor Center (and two other popular parking areas in the park) requires paying a day-use fee but everywhere else is free and open. Dry RV camping in several areas is ‘no reservation first come first serve’.

Our Indio family, Jim & Susan, had posted beautiful photos of Fonts Point (see map) they took while off-roading in their new Jeep. The amazing panoramic views of the Badlands looked worth the slow 4-mile washboard road trek. Like their Jeep, our Tacoma TRD Offroad 4×4 is also very capable on roads like these. We made it a point to visit in late afternoon and wait till sunset. As the sun set, the wind really picked up and it got cold quickly. The drive home in the dark through a dust storm added to the adventure.
Directions to Fonts Point Trail Junction can be found using Google Maps. Note: this is the turn onto the 4mi dirt road leading to Fonts Point. There is a small sign but its easily missed. Navigating to Fonts Point using Apple Maps will take you to the wrong endpoint. To reach Fonts Point lookout, you drive 4mi south on a washboard dirt & soft sand road. It’s mostly wide and level with sections of soft sand, a 4-wheel drive is recommended but not necessary. We saw many 2-wheel drive vehicles parked at the lookout. Just avoid the soft sand.

19-23 Jan 2022: Indian Waters RV Resort, Indio

by JRWilkinsonCalifornia / Campgrounds / Indio/Palm Springs / RVing / Trips

Our first trip in 2022 was a short 5-day trip to visit family in Palm Desert & Indio, CA. This area is popular with snowbirds this time of year, their peak season. The weather in this area is perfect for escaping the frigid north and east winter conditions. Even though we live in SoCal and could find warm places to RV closer to home. We prefer the Palm Springs area because of family, the hiking & photography possibilities. Joshua Tree National Park, Anza-Borrego State Park, and Salton Sea Recreation Area are an hour out of town.
We stayed in-town to be close to family, at a RV resort with full hookups – Indian Waters. It has great reviews on the Good Sam’s website. It’s just a few miles further away than Shadow Hills RV Resort, where we stayed the last time we rv’d to Indio to visit family.
Indian Waters has a variety of activities and perks like complimentary breakfasts. Pickleball games & socials, water aerobics & yoga classes keep the many snowbirds busy. We didn’t stay long enough to enjoy all their hospitality but will definitely stay here again. I highly recommend the lawn sites versus gravel but they are all spacious with large close-to-level concrete pads.

Between visits with family, we did a day-trip to Anza-Borrego State Park instead of Joshua Tree this trip. I also spent a day on the north shore of Salton Sea to Salton Sea Recreation Area & Bombay Beach.

17-20 Oct 2021 – Silver Strand Beach

by JamesCalifornia / Campgrounds / Day Trips / E-Biking / RVing / Southern California / State Parks / Trips

When we first brought our 20ft travel trailer home in Nov 2020, we wanted to camp locally to practice & learn. We ended up staying at Campland-On-the-Bay, which was a great 1st trip. But we also were interested in staying at some other beach campgrounds like Silver Stand State Beach in south San Diego. Unfortunately, it was booked solid for months but Carol found a block of three nights available. This opening was Oct 17-19 2021, late into our camping season. In fact, pretty much ending our summer camping season. This state beach is open year-round and a great place for winter camping although the ocean is obviously colder in autumn or winter.
Across the bay from Sun Outdoors RV Resort, which we enjoyed in August. Silver Strand State Beach campground is a small, beach-front ‘parking lot’ with water & electric hookups. There is a fee-based ($10) dump station but we noticed most rv’ers preferred to hire a mobile pumping service. The campground is the last of three large parking lots next to the road so road noise is noticeable, louder that the waves.
We brought our e-bikes since we figured this flat stretch of beach would have good bike trails and we were right. There is a great bike trail next to highway 75, Silver Stand Blvd, dedicated to pedestrians, joggers, & (e)bikes. Being later in the season, the beach weather was cool and windy so we did not spend too much time on the beautiful, wide sandy beach. We brought our dog Bodhi, our ~38lb terri-poo, since he did not travel with us to Zion. Bodhi tolerates RV travel because he loves being with us 7/24. But because we started rv’ing later in his life (9yrs old), he does not adapt well to the tight confines of Howie & trailer living. But he does enjoy getting out with us, he just doesn’t have the stamina for long outings. Coronado has a great dog beach about 6mi north so we took him in the late afternoon when the tide was low. Both the bike trail, which we rode to the Hotel Del Coronado, and the dog beach are highly recommended if you stay in this area.

28 Jul-01 Aug 2021: Glamping in San Diego

by JamesCalifornia / Campgrounds / RVing / Southern California / Trips

With full campgrounds, wild fires, and heat waves in areas we’d like to camp. We were lucky to find a vacancy at a campground an hour south at Sun Outdoors RV Resort San Diego Bay Sun Outdoors is a chain of upscale RV resorts which opened a new campground in Chula Vista CA in Spring 2021. They have a lot to offer rv’ers who like “glamping”, offering resort-style amenities. Like Campland-By-The-Bay, it’s “urban camping” and near San Diego points-of-interest such as the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Coronado, & Petco Park. They are also located next to the Living Coast Discovery Center – an educational place to learn about our coastal environment & wildlife. Entry is complimentary for Sun Outdoors RV’er families.

With our grandkids starting school in a few weeks, we took them here on a 4-day trip, July 29-Aug 1st. It’s very family-oriented, with lots of activities for young people (crafts, foam party, playgrounds), adults (fitness classes/gym, casino nights, live music, bar, bird watching), and families (arcade, movies, pool, Discovery Center tour, shuttles into San Diego). There’s even a small fenced dog-park & multiple dog stations scattered throughout the park. Unlike dry camping at San Onofre, where activities are the beach, biking, & hiking. This place is a resort with places to dine & play away from the RV. Great for camping with young kids 3 & 5yrs old.
If you like camping in the mountains or by a peaceful river, this is not the place. There is a lot of open area west of the RV park with views of south San Diego Bay & Coronado Bridge so you are not in the middle of town. But it is urban camping/glamping.

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