Saturday, December 27, 2014

5 Day Backpack Canebrake/Potrero/Inner Pasture

5 Days of backpacking with Craig was a blast, we did a big loop from Indian Valley, thru Canebrake, over to Potrero then straight over to Agua Caliente and finished up going thru Inner Pasture back to Indian Valley. We spent a full day exploring the upper reaches of Potrero Canyon and found some good running water. Beautiful weather and clear starry nights and some wildlife...a perfect trip!

My new Sil Nylon tarp up on Egg Mtn for the looming rain the first night but never got any. We met up and spent the first night (of 6 total) car camping on Egg Mtn
My new Sil Nylon tarp Tent setup for the rain that was looming

Anybody see these new wind turbines in Mexico? I just noticed them this trip driving thru Jacumba, Looks like the Sunrise Power Link is right there with them
Wind Turbines in Mexico seen from Jacumba

Another beautiful sunset over Sombrero Peak, hard to get tired of these
Sunset on Sombrero Peak

Kicking it with some beers at night we had a small kit fox poking around our camp, we threw him a couple pieces of fresh bread and he seemed no stranger to getting handouts




Also hard to get tired of beautiful sunrises, here the moon is joining the sunrise near Carrizo Mtn
Sunrise with the moon over Carrizo Mountain

And turning around you get Sombrero Peak again
Sombrero Peak at sunrise

Out in Canebrake


Saw several tarantulas this trip, does anyone know how to tell male/female?
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Even had a baby crawl up under my sleeping bag for the night
Baby tarantula slept under my sleeping bag

Some nice flora
Fishhook Cactus

Sumac

Some nice green Ocotillo with blooms - in December??

A cool micro inch worm
Inch worm

I thought this was cute, a Mama and a baby wind blown brush team
Mama and baby wind blown brush

Never know what you will find out in the desert
Taking a bath out in the desert!

A couple nice projectiles
Cottonwood Projectile

Desert Side notched Projectile Point

Here is Craig heading up the saddle from Canebrake to Potrero
Craig heading up the saddle towards Potrero

Up at the top you can look north and see Toro Peak way off in the distance, a pretty cool view!
Looking down into Potrero. Toro Peak is way off in the distance

Found another old ranchers/cowboy camp. This one had a shower, tub and a makeshift kinda kitchen with faucet
Old ranching camp debris, looked like a water station

Hey, what can I say...? You notice my new Dirty Girl Gaitors? They are awesome!!
Hey...why not..?? You notice my new Dirty Girl Gaitors??

Some gorgeous starry nights
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And even a shooting star
Shooting Star

Milky Way
Milky Way

An interesting combo of scat on the trail
Nice combo of scat

Found an ejection seat from a military plane. I have heard rumors of a plane wreckage in the area, that may be another trip to find the rest of it
Old pilot ejection seat



The last day sunrise on Redtop before we head back into Indian Valley where my truck was parked
Looking towards Redtop at sunrise


Total Mylar Ballons this trip - 12 (1 not pictured)
11 Mylar Balloons, 12 total for the trip


More photos on my gallery here, way too many to show on this post...hope you enjoy!






2 comments:

  1. Hi Darin,
    Great Photos. Thanks for the writeup. Was out at little blair last weekend with the kids and it got down to 17 F.

    I am going to be hiking into the Inner Pasture in mid january with several friends. We are hoping to hike south from the Vallecito Stage Park up Vallecito Valley to an old cattle tank that is up against the north face of the Sawtooth Mtns near the Laguna Rangefront. We hiked up Vallecito Valley up to the Radar Station a couple of years ago and ran into a horseman along the way who told us about this tank. We feel this would be an ideal basecamp for day hike exploration into the Inner Pasture and RedTop. Are you aware of any water in that area? We saw water in the drainage at the base of Laguna but the tank would be closer to our objective. Did you see any evidence of migrants in the Inner Pasture?

    Any advice would be appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Andy Thomas

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Andy, use the Contact Me tab on my website to email me direct and we can discuss in more detail, thanks!

    ReplyDelete