NM To San Diego: Part 4 (Anza-Borrego)

After enjoying the 28th Annual Western Winter Blast Pyrotechnics Show at Lake Havasu, we headed south and west to Anza-Borrego.

Poor Monkey!!!

This was an interesting drive. Before heading into California we filled up with gas in Parker, AZ. Gas in California is about a dollar and a half more than in Arizona. The desert is pretty cool in this area.

We scooted along the east side of Joshua Tree National Park and then the southern edge of the park. We got off interstate 10 at Box Canyon Road to head south towards the Salton Sea. Box Canyon Road is a really interesting drive though a box canyon. There were folks camping in the canyon.

We went though the town of Mecca and then along the western shore of the Salton Sea.

At Salton City we turned west again onto the Borrego Salton Seaway. On the first stretch of this road we saw a bunch of boondockers with lots of ATVs all over the place.

We had heard a lot of good things about Anza Borrego State Park and the area in general.  A lot of our boondocker friends have gone to this area and reported having a wonderful time. We wanted to see the area and we weren't disappointed.

The town of Borrego Springs is surrounded by the huge Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We drove into the town and up to the State Park visitor center.

As we used the visitor center restrooms, we ran into our boondocking friends, Evie and her Mom. They were touring the visitor's center too. It was fun to see them again.  (Click HERE to read about our first visit with them.)

Evie's mom (Joy) is in her early 90's and is still out there on the road enjoying life to it's fullest. She is an inspiration to us and an amazing woman.

Joy, Evie and Greg

We love to run across RV bloggers that we follow. It's a big thrill for us to meet the people we read about.

The town of Borrego Springs is really a cute town. There is a HUGE roundabout in the center of town with a park in the middle. I (Greg) am a huge fan of roundabouts, and this is a really good one. It's called Christmas Circle.

The Anza-Borrego State Park visitor's center is a good one and they have a desert garden to tour. We got some maps and a book about stars there. We got a recommendation for a good hike from the docents at the visitor's center.

Next, we toured the Galleta Meadows sculptures. Artist Ricardo Breceda has created a bunch of really cool metal sculptures that are dispersed across a large area of the meadows property in Borrego-Springs. The visitor's center gave us a chamber of commerce map to all the sculpture locations.

After viewing Galleta Meadows sculptures, we headed to the Peg Leg dispersed camping area to find a nice boondocking spot for the night.

We stayed one night in the Peg Leg area. this is a dispersed camping area and there were a lot of ATVs zipping around while we were there on Sunday night.

It's a large area so you don't have to be right next to anyone. We drove around a bit and found a great spot with an existing fire pit. The land is nice, mostly hard packed and very level in this area. There are existing fire pits to be found.

As we drove onto the dispersed camping area we noticed a big sign that said some of the land was "for sale." It may be that some of this land is private and will be sold at some point and possibly developed. Let's hope not, as this was a great boondocking spot.

The sunset and sunrise were fantastic. The area is surrounded by beautiful mountains. We will definitely return for another, longer visit. Verizon was working, but weakly at our spot. If we stood on one side of our van, we could get a fairly good Verizon signal. The other side was a whole different story. It was very, very weak. A booster would help here.

There was some noise from ATVs zooming by, but we enjoyed watching them. Luckily, the trail they were using was down-wind from us, so we didn't eat their dust.

Watch out! One star deduction for ATV noise and potential dust. Nearby is Clark Dry Lake Bed dispersed camping area that might not have as many ATVs. We did't have time to check it out on this trip.

The next morning we drove into the small town of Borrego Springs and had a great breakfast at Kendall's Cafe. We also went on an awesome hike to wonderful Palm Canyon.

A sign on Box Canyon Road that shows back roads.

Info on the sign.

Sculptures at Galleta Meadows

Four Wheeling with friends!!!

Run Monkey, Run!!!!

Very bad things happen to people who take the money from the old rusty prospector!!!!!!

Peg Leg dispersed boondocking area.

Our spot at Peg Leg.

Peg Leg dispersed area.

Great sunrise and sunset.

Beautiful Anza-Borrego

Great breakfast at Kendall's Cafe in Borrego-Springs.

Along the Palm Canyon hike.

Palm Canyon hike beauty.

Karen along the Palm Canyon hike

You cross a cold stream a few times on the Palm Canyon hike.

A small waterfall along the Palm Canyon hike.

The oasis in Palm Canyon

A great Ocotillo plant.

We saw a lot of Desert Big Horn Sheep on the Palm Canyon Trail.

At the palm oasis of the Palm Canyon hike.

Greg and Karen at the oasis on the Palm Canyon hike.

"Making of" the Monkey Shot!!!!

The Monkey Shot

Sock Monkey in the weeds.

Next up: After a visit to Claremont (near Los Angeles) to spend some time with Karen's parents, listen to her Dad's concert, help them with some consolidation and furniture moving, we headed for the San Diego area.  

For more information on the Anza Borrego hike:
https://www.hikespeak.com/trails/borrego-palms-canyon-trail-anza-borrego-desert/

The natives are restless.