Sunday, January 20, 2013 (Ocotillo Wells SRVA, Borrego Springs, CA)

We woke to clear blue sky again...ah...going to be a gorgeous day...and a great day for a quad ride!    We had planned on getting an early start but as usual, we seemed a little slow this morning.  Steve also had to install the mounts for the radios on our helmets before we headed out.  He installed his but when he went to do mine, he discovered the mounting brackets were not in the box...great.  I guess we will be calling and seeing if they can mail the missing pieces to us in Borrego Springs.

After packing our lunch and loading the cargo box, we headed out...it was just before 11:00.  The area here is very rugged and desolate looking...but also very beautiful in it's own way.  Unfortunately, I don't think the pictures do the scenery justice.  Our first stop was at Devil's Slide...

"The last nub of an ancient mountain, this outcrop was once the site of gold prospecting.  Sometimes people report seeing ghostly lights here, usually at night after one of our rare rainstorms.  Nowadays, the dark, decomposing rock face and nearby sands present a popular challenge for a variety of OHVs."

This fellow was coming down the very steep, rocky part of the hill after stalling near the top...

Then it was onto Shell Reef..."Hard to believe, but about 4 million years ago, this desert was covered by a sea.  At the top of Shell Reef one can see the proof: a five-foot thick layer of fossilized shells that projects at an angle.  This hard 'coquina' resists erosion so well it has preserved this ridge and a window to the past."

It was too hot and steep to climb to the top...especially for Steve as his lower back started bothering him yesterday.

See the dirt-bike rider climbing the hill opposite Shell Reef...

After taking "Shell Reef Expressway Trail", we ventured onto "Crossover Trail" that heads north through a very hilly area...and came across a group of jeeps slowly making their way through...

A pretty busy area with trails going every which way...you really have to watch where you are going...

We rode for a couple of hours, making it almost to another primitive camping area off the Borrego Salton Seaway (highway 22 that goes from Salton City to Borrego Springs).  It's shown in the distance in the picture above.  At this point, since we weren't going to find anywhere with shade, we decided to just have our lunch here.

After lunch we decided to retrace our route a bit and then take Tula Wash Trail west to the Pumpkin Patch Trail...

...and, of course, The Pumpkin Patch..."Created long ago when the climate here was wet, then shaped through years of erosion, the Pumpkin Patch has sadly shrunk over the years due to collecting."

There was a restroom at this stop (see if off in the distance?)...all I can say is, thank goodness!  Since there are not a lot of trees or big bushes around!!

More unique scenery...

I got myself into a bit of pickle on this hill.  I was ahead of Steve and thought I would be brave and go up one of the side trails...well, it went up quite high and the "going down" spot was more for dirt-bikes.  I stopped and let Steve pass me...he took this picture...

...and then I had to turn around (yikes!)...yes, I made it down okay!

As you can see, there were plenty of OHV's out...and a good view of them from up there...

Such varied landscape...

Once back to the 'Shell Reef Expressway Trail', we boogied along at a good clip...and then Steve veered off the trail and started heading up a big hill...where the heck are you taking me?  He said that he saw a truck way up top and figured we could get up there as well.  The truck parked up there happened to be a couple of State Park Rangers.  We parked near the truck and took in the fabulous vistas from up there...

We were getting ready to go over to the other side of the hill when the rangers asked us if we had a few minutes...they would like to conduct a "noise-level" test on our quads.  We had no problem with that especially since they were stock...they had better be within acceptable levels! They did mine first...

...and Steve's...

Both were within acceptable levels.



After that was all done, we rode over to the other side of the hill...more fabulous views...

After admiring the views, we headed back down the hill (the way we came up) and continued on home.  It was just after 3:00 by the time we pulled up to our rig.  We had had a great 4+ hour ride in a very unique area.

Reading literature about the area, we found out that this area was used for training in World War II..."After the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Ocotillo Wells went from a sleepy backwater to a focal point of military training for the Second World War...Soon Army and Marine units were practicing anti-aircraft artillery fire and performing combat maneuvers...The conditions in the harsh and rugged deserts of southern California were perfect for conditioning American troops to fight against the Germans and Italians in the deserts of North Africa."

The area was also used in the making of a number of movies.  Five feature length films have been filmed in the park as well as the finale of a The X-Files series in 2002.  Movies shot here include Sahara (1943 with Humphrey Bogart), The Desert Rats (1953 with Richard Burton), The Young Lions (1958 with Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin), Bugsy (1991) and Into The Wild (2007).

We sat outside as the sun went down and made some phone calls.  The cell/mifi service here is a little sketchy but at least we have some service.  Steve called Nadine and Mike (sister and brother-in-law) and then we called Chris...here I am on the phone...

This is Blowsand Hill...where the emergency vehicles had to come yesterday (we since found out that the person was airlifted to a hospital)...can you see the vehicles and riders?