Winter Wanderings: Ironwood, Anza Borrego, and KofA

[DVD]

Nothing like a trip to the wilderness to reset, reflect on the year past, and contemplate the new year. This is why we love remote trips.

Sunset at Lake Mittry​

Sunset at Anza Borrego​

KofA campsite​

We rented a super capable offroad trailer for this trip, and it really raised the comfort level. It was great to pick a campsite and basically be set for the night. The fridge and kitchen open in seconds, the roof raises in a couple minutes, the air shocks allow leveling in seconds, the bed is already made. And the whole thing was just super solid - engineered for remote camping. Here are a few camp photos highlighting the rig (Lifestyle Reconn R2).

Really nice dispersed site in Anza Borrego - stayed here for a couple days​

Camp is set in KofA!​

Traveling mode with top down. This was at the decommissioned Titan missile site in Ironwood​

A few details on the trip. We picked up the trailer in Tucson and then hit the trails in Ironwood National Monument, northwest of Tucson. We've been here before, and I'm always amazed by the remoteness and solitude of the place, especially given the proximity to Tucson. We wanted to stay kind of nearby just in case we had any issues with the trailer. Glad to say, there were none.

More of a saguaro forest here​

Beautiful day, beautiful scenery, remote trails - what more could you ask for?​

The broad plan was to spend most of our time exploring/camping in Anza Borrego, but for specifics, we left things vague, so we could plan the next day the night before. With this approach, it seemed like a long travel day from Ironwood to Anza Borrego, so we pulled off the Interstate at Yuma to find dispersed camping along the Colorado River. Unfortunately, the Wildlife Refuge closed the trail to some great remote spots we've stayed at along Lake Ferguson (due to bird season or something), so we stayed at the somewhat crowded Lake Mittry state park. But we found a dispersed site on the water and had a great afternoon/evening.

Waterfront camping​

Next stop: Anza Borrego. We spent a couple days exploring Anza a few years ago, but you could easily spend a week there. We had a great time exploring, hiking, biking, wheeling, and generally re-creating at Anza.

Basecamp in Anza Borrego​

continued...​

 

[DVD]

We wanted to see the Goat Canyon trestle bridge and started the 8-mile hike (4 miles each way). I misread the description and thought it was 2 miles, and it was a really challenging hike. Good news: we got lots of good exercise and did a lot of boulder hopping. Bad news: after 2 miles and GPS indication that we were only halfway there, we turned around.

Cool to hike in the boulders, even if we didn't make it to our destination​

Another hike along the decommissioned "Impossible Railroad" to see tunnels and palm groves​

We made it to the tunnels​

An engineering marvel!​

With our plans to avoid detailed trip plans, when the forecast for Anza turned ugly for the last few days of our trip, we moved to Kofa, which had a much better forecast. We've been all over KofA in multiple previous trips, but I was happy to go there again. I consider KofA the epitome of dessert beauty: subtle, serene, remote, harsh - perfect for a reflective New Year's eve.

No place I'd rather be on New Year's Eve!​

Campsite view of morning clouds dispersing through the mountains​

We did the basecamp thing, and explored some of the trails and did some hiking and biking the next day. The highlight was the Big Eye Mine trail.

Interesting story. But we visited the nearby mining museum, and read a different story about the name: that the mine owner had an oversized glass eye.​

Nice place to visit, but I think I'll go back to the trailer for the night​

Checking out the mine​

Beautiful hike to the mine​

All in all, another great trip, enhanced by the "glamping" trailer. I like the idea of having a basecamp, detaching the vehicle, and then going out for the day's adventures in the vehicle. On the other hand, the ease of set-up and break-down made it easier to follow the good weather and bust out of Anza Borrego after a couple nights and head to KofA.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Thanks for posting!

 

[SDDiver5]

Sweet adventure! I have always wanted to give the offroad trailer a try and do something like this. Moreso for the kids but would still be fun to try it out.