So we had a chance to head out to Blair Valley in the Anza Borrego Desert on Sunday afternoon to try out the utility bed and camper. We expected it to be very hot but surprisingly it wasn't. We entered at Little Blair Valley. Road isn't very rough but it was good enough to check the functioning of the camper.
We continued on to a camp site that we've used off and on for the last 30-odd years at the base of Ghost Mountain. This site has some bedrock morteros and faint pictographs on the opposite side of the big rock. It's one of our old favorites for an overnight desert fix.
Thanks to the recent rains this summer we were treated to a fabulous display of cinchweed over the entire valley when we got there. It's pungent odor was almost overpowering when you walked on it and the little yellow flowers really dressed up the desert. It soon had me sneezing. Here's the campsite with the cinchweed blanketing the valley.
We set up camp and had a good opportunity to try out the compartments. Everything worked out great. I think we're ready to take it to northern Nevada and Utah later this month. I'll see if I can post a trip report when we get back.