Anza-Borrego Wanderings 2012

[aeon]

We had a trade show in Vegas, and were definitely looking forward to spending some time in the desert afterwards


Left home in blizzard conditions...ice road truckers?!

Close to West Yellowstone:

In West:

Henry's Lake area:

In Vegas:

Truck did not like hanging out in a Vegas hotel parking lot, it wasn't her scene

Went shooting before departing Vegas :elkgrin:

Accuracy International .338 Lapua goodness:

Me ringing the plate at 1000 yards!

Group shot:

Got out of Vegas late, with no itinerary and it felt great


We landed in the Mojave National Preserve for the night, this was morning in camp next to the Kelso Dunes:

A couple shots of the Kelso Dunes:

Still in the Mojave Preserve:

Climbed on old Route 66 for a bit:

Some ruins along the way:

continued in next post...

 

[aeon]

Couple shots on Bristol Dry Lake near the Marine Corp air ground combat center:

Drove on into Joshua Tree...


Morning at Belle Camp in Joshua Tree:

Cholla Gardens:

Near the Salton Sea:

Continued driving to Anza-Borrego...


Morning in Yaqui Well camp:

Spent most of the day on sculpture safari, photographing Ricardo Breceda's work around Borrego Springs.


Elephants:

One of many giant birds:

A couple of the dinosaurs:

Wild horses:

Sabretooth tiger:

Gomphotheriums:

Camels:

Sloths:

And the awesome Serpent of doom:

Yeah, I don't think I would have taken that ride!

continuing in next post...

 

[aeon]

After an exhausting day of safari, it was time to head up Sheep Canyon for camp:

Morning in Sheep Canyon:

I got attacked by a cholla spine ball...they really are a nasty cactus! Had to get out the pliers to extract it :Wow1:

Pretty:

Playing in the Clark Dry Lake area:

Starting up Fonts Wash...soft sand ******!

Stumbled into a fashion/model shoot at Fonts Point, couldn't help poaching at least one photo :sombrero:

Some other shots at Fonts Point:

more to follow...

 

[aeon]

On the way to Vista del Malpais:

A zoomed in shot of the Salton Sea:

Early morning at Vista del Malpais:

Camp at the Vista:

On Arroyo Salado Wash:

At Seventeen Palms:

In the Five Palms area:

to be continued...

 

[aeon]

In the Borrego Badlands:

Military Wash:

Hills of the Moo!

The technical driving on this trail did not disappoint :safari-rig:

On our way to check out The Slot:

In The Slot:

Back out on San Felipe Wash:

Ah look, the truck picked her own flower

Found a cool place to camp for the night on Buttes Pass Road:

still more to come...

 

[aeon]

Bees, bees, bees in camp the next morning:

A few pics of the Cactus Garden on Old Kane Springs Road:

In the Fish Creek area:

Hiked in to see the wind caves:

We then decided to go and check out Blair Valley..

The next photos were taken in the Little Blair area:

Where we choose to land for the night:

Morning in Blair Valley camp:

On the trail in to see pictographs left by the Kumeyaay people long ago:

A few shots of the pictographs:

Then went to see the morteros in the village site:

A parting shot of Blair Valley:

A couple pics from Inspiration Wash:

continued in next post...

 

[aeon]

Then landed on Palo Verde Wash for the night:

Early morning on Palo Verde:

The Santa Rosa Mountains:

Home away from home:

From there we went and stayed at our friends house in Escondido for a couple of days, it was some nice down time

It was time to start heading back north...but the route took us too close to Death Valley. I swear there's some sort of vortex around there :elkgrin:


Hand held shot in total darkness at good ole' Badwater:

Woke up in the morning at Texas Spring:

Critter tracks:

Yep, poaching another model shoot...I think I've found a new sport, lol!

A couple pics from around camp:

Ok, one more post to go...

 

[crismateski]

Great photos

 

[aeon]

Morning with mourning doves:

Death Valley ravens:

Photo from Johnson Canyon Road:

A few shots from the Queen of Sheba Mine ruins:

Evening at the campsite on Warm Springs Canyon Road:

Was visited by a desert kit fox, and feel lucky to have gotten this photo! He was a sneaky one

Morning in camp:

Leeezaaaaarrrds!

Evening at same camp:

Dust trails in the evening light:

We had been dealing with windy conditions the first few days in DV with some strong gusts, so we took the rain fly off the tent which makes a big difference while trying to sleep. Sadly, it was now time to head home


A couple parting shots:

And our welcome home

Well, that concludes the adventure. Hope you enjoy the photos

 

[mbuckner]

Thanks for the report .... very, very nice pics .....

Mike

 

[Andy@AAV]

Wow! Great photos of an awesome trip!

 

[KSJeep]

Nice report and pics

 

[timber]

Really Great pics! looks like you Had a great trip and really made the rounds. Thanks for the posts.

 

[aeon]

Thanks so much guys!



I apologize for the photo bomb on the first page, hope I didn't blow up anyone's internet

 

[Rot Box]

Great report and pics! Thanks :coffeedrink: