I stood in predawn in the park-and-ride, clutching my warm cup of coffee while waiting for Rick and Andrea to pull up. Today’s adventure was hopefully to be climbing to the top of Groan Benchmark out in the southern portion of Anza-Borrego. This was going to be the first peak of this year’s desert season and we were looking forward to it. We made our way out past Ocotillo and to the turn-off to Carrizo Gorge. We stopped for Rick to set up the camera for some footage for their YouTube channel.
I debated about airing down my tires but opted not to. Rick got his footage and off we went. This was the biggest uncertainty of this hike—could I drive my Outback to the actual trailhead, or would we have to stop early and begin from that point? The first time I hiked Groan, Matt Hanan took us in his Jeep, so there were no issues with the 6.7 miles of off-road adventures. The other time I had been back down this road was also in another 4×4. The road started off pretty sandy, but we got through that without incident. As the canyon narrowed, the road became rockier. With some care and my upgraded tires, we got through it all and arrived at the trailhead. On the flip side, the check engine light came on, and both the Eyesight and X-mode were not working. Great….. At this point, though, we opted to do our hike and see what happened with the car on our return.
With our packs on us, we set off. I opted to use my Daylight Plus instead of my Stratus, as I wanted to go a little lighter this time. After filming our walk-away shot and then getting the camera, we set off down the gorge. Our plan was to follow the same route we used during our descent from Groan back in 2020, and Greg Gerlach and Susie Kara used it when they did the peak in 2022.
The wash was a solid bed of smooth rocks, so we had to be mindful of our steps. After a bit, we made the short scramble up to see the pictographs adorning a small cave on the east side of the canyon. Once we were done marveling at them and wondering what various symbols truly meant, we turned back to the wash and trekked on. The weather was pleasant, albeit a touch warm. Originally, we had discussed car camping, as there was another peak I wanted to climb from the same trailhead, but a forecast for possible rain made that unwise.
We could see some trestles for the railroad along the east side of the gorge, but not the famous wooden trestle. That would not be visible until we reached the summit. We spotted the wash that would begin to take us westward. Cruising along, we came to the first of two dry falls we would need to climb over. Thankfully, both were passable without too much difficulty.
Our real issues were around the vegetation that grew along the canyon floor. We had to push through several sections of brush to continue. One section was pretty nasty, as it was choked with thorny plants. We were not looking forward to fighting our way back through that section. At the small palm grove, we stopped for a snack and some hydration, as we were getting closer to exiting the canyon floor and starting toward the summit. It was about 72°F or so in the shade, and I wished I had more fluids with me.
With our break over, we continued on for about .1 miles, and then up we went. Groan Benchmark was finally in view. Between avoiding the cacti and the steepness of the slope, we tended to follow a switchback-like pattern. Once atop the small bump, we had some side-hilling to reach the saddle next to the peak. I am not a fan of side-hilling (but who really is?) but we traversed that section without incident. As I reached the saddle, I could feel myself starting to bonk. I had been conserving my water and probably could have had another snack as well. The summit wasn’t that far away, so I pushed on. From the saddle, we would go up three fairly steep bits before finally reaching the summit proper. Once there, I plopped down, enjoyed my Gatorade, ate my lunch, and relaxed.
The view was stunning. Across the gorge is the Goat Canyon Trestle, and I wondered how many hikers made their way along the abandoned railroad tracks to walk across it. Next to it stood Puff Benchmark, which I have twice stood atop. Feeling better, I snapped a few photos and hunted for the register, which we could not locate. I tested out the satellite communications options on my new iPhone and let my wife know my status and that of the car. I am not ditching my Garmin InReach, but having a secondary communications device is useful, especially since I am already carrying it.
The descent went fine, and we discussed our favorite shows on Apple+ while watching our footing. The shadows were starting to get longer, and I realized I forgot to pack my regular glasses. We worked our way down those dry falls without any issues and scrambled up the south side of the canyon to avoid most of that thorny section. I motored ahead of Rick and Andrea to race against the fading light. Along the way, I found some cairns, which did allow for some slightly faster traveling. Soon, it was too dim, so I took my glasses off. Thankfully I could see well enough without them to hike at a decent pace. Once back at the car, I put on my regular glasses and enjoyed some cool water, and about 15 minutes later, Rick and Andrea arrived. We did not linger too long, as we still had to drive back out and the owner’s manual did not provide any real insight on the warning lights.
Once past the rocky sections, I felt relief. Even if we had a real issue, we were now in someplace more accessible to be recovered. As we cruised along the sandy portion, we spotted a young man walking along the road. We stopped and he asked if this was the road to Bow Willow campground. We informed him it was just a bit to the north of this road. It turned out he and his companion had gotten their Hyundai stuck in the soft sand, and he had been walking for a bit trying to find the campground with their buddies to help with a recovery.
He hopped in and we continued our drive out. After about a mile, there was the yellow Hyundai with its front wheel partially buried in the sand. Rick, myself, and our guest tried to see if we could give it a push to free the car, but it did not move. Since they had help back at the campground, and where they were stuck was actually not too far from the main road, we left the car as-is. We drove him to his buddies while his partner stayed at the car. As we neared the campground, the sun had set, so it took a bit to locate his friends’ site. As we drove away, we commented how lucky he was that we came along. He had no water on him and probably would have kept walking down the road for at least another mile before making the call to turn back. By that time, he would have been hiking in the dark, with the flashlight on his phone as the only source of light.
Back on the S2, we continued the long drive home. I took it a bit slower up from the desert, but knew we would now be back in “civilization” and my car anxiety lessened. All in all, quite a day. A good solid desert hike, got to cross off a peak from the San Diego Sierra Club list, helped some stranded people, and enjoyed some quality hiking time with some friends.
Update: I disconnected and then reconnected the car battery and the warning lights cleared. This issue has occurred before to other Outback owners, but I will be mindful of it over the coming days.
I am an avid peak bagger, sometimes backpacker, and former sea kayaker living in San Diego. In 2019, I became the third person to complete the San Diego 100 Peak Challenge. Not stopping with that accomplishment, I set my sights on the harder San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list, which I completed in 2021. In addition, I have conquered several Six-Pack of Peaks challenges (SoCal, San Diego, Central Coast, and Arizona-Winter). Beyond attempting the San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list a second time, I am looking forward to exploring new summits and new adventures across the southwest.