Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Whale Peak via Bisnaga Wash - ABDSP

I finally got around to hiking up to Whale Peak. I planned a route up from Bisnaga Wash almost one year ago and never went. I would not recommend this route for anyone who just wants to summit Whale Peak, I would suggest one of the more popular routes up from Blair Valley or Pinyon Mtn. It took me most of the day to hike it but in the end it was worth it.

See all the pictures from the trip here http://www.darensefcik.com/Photography/Anza-Borrego-Desert-State-Park/Whale-Peak-10-07-2011/19490750_TmpnG6

Here is a Google Earth image of the actual route recorded by my GPS
Google Earth image of my actual GPS recorded tracks

This is the route going up just after getting out of the wash. Whale Peak is way off in the distance about 5 miles away
Whale Peak way off in the distance, I have a long way to go

This was a steep wash ravine Google Earth didn't show me
Google Earth doesn't always show you the deep washes you have to go down and up

Yours truly
Yours truly..I think I am getting old and pudgy..

Started finding pottery going up
Starting finding pottery on the way up

More "trail"
Here is the trail going up

Got to walk in a small sandy wash for awhile, lots of animal tracks
Picked up a nice sandy wash with lots of animal tracks

There was some more pottery and a small milling feature along the way
There was some pottery near a small milling feature going up
More pottery going up

It was at this steep climb near the top I almost convinced myself to turn around and go back to my truck where there was cold beer waiting
This is where I started thinking about turning back and going to my truck

I pressed on and found this cool old Juniper tree at the top of the ridge line
Old Juniper near the top of the ridegline

I still had two valleys like this to cross to get to the top of Whale Peak, that would still be another 1.5 miles or so.
Once I got to the top ridgeline I still had to cross two valleys to get to the top of Whale Peak

At the top of Whale Peak looking west towards the Laguna Mountains and Vallecito Valley below
From the top of Whale Peak looking back down into Vallecito and the Laguna Mountains in the distance

On the east side of the peak you can see the Salton Sea
You can see the Salton Sea on the east side of the peak

There is a rock shelter that guards the hikers register. There were many great places to camp overnight at the top.
The rock wall shelter that guards the register

The register. This is a popular peak with entries every few days.
The register. This is a very popular peak to summit it seems as there were entries almost every few days.

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