Grapevine Mountain

The first peak of the day was slated to be Grapevine Mountain. The trailhead is just north of the scissors crossing in Anza Borrego. The morning was cool, but not too cold. The route to the summit follows the Pacific Crest Trail for some time, slowly snaking its way back up from the valley floor.

At some time point, it was time to bid fair well to the PCT and begin the off-trail ascent toward the summit.

Carefully weaving my way past the cactus and up the steep slopes, I found myself atop the first summit, but the actual summit was further east. I continued to work my way to the summit. I found the benchmark and the register with no trouble.

I spotted Sentenac Mountain to the south.

I did not stay too long as I knew I had to navigate the steep descent to the PCT and wanted to reach the summit of Ghost Mountain. I picked my way carefully down the slope as the San Felipe Valley spread out before me. Soon I reached the PCT and began retracing my steps back to the trailhead.

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.

Mount Tule

I decided to drive out and summit Mt. Tule. This peak sits just north of the small hamlet of Boulevard as part of the In Ko Pah mountain range. Since I needed to be back in San Diego by 9:30, I arrived at the trailhead just before sunrise, which I was rewarded with a gorgeous one.

I followed a Jeep trail southward for a bit, debating if I should have kept driving to save some time. Soon, the road ended and a use trail began to work its way up to the summit.

Once at the summit, the early morning light spread over the desert.

I found the register, and make sure you take the time to read some of the entries.

I worked my way back down quickly and back into town.

Whale Peak

I was finally able to arrange to go hiking with Derek, the creator of the 100 Peak Challenge. He had recently opened Burger Bench, which had been keeping him quite busy. He wanted to scout for possible campsites on Whale Peak for a camping trip with his daughter and I needed to summit it. Win-win.

We met in the early morning near our houses and headed out. The ritual stop at the Jack-in-the-Box in Ramona got some food in our bellies as we headed out into Anza Borrego. Just off S2, we turned east and worked our way down the dirt road. Derek had a high clearance car so we were fine as bounced along. The trailhead for Whale Peak is also shared by Pinyon Mountain. We hoped to summit it afterward.

After working our way up the wash, we continued south across a grassy flat along a faint trail. Then we began working our way upward again, past the junipers and pinyon pines. Soon, we emerged into a nice valley.

Derek poked around for some possible campsites for a bit before we headed toward the east. Derek pointed to the wash to the west and cautioned the watch yourself combing back down and not to accidentally head down that way…

The trail continues to push upward, with steep sections followed by flatter sections. The summit is still not in sight, even with all this hiking, but after some more quad-burning climbing, the actual summit is achieved.

We drank in the views, while we enjoyed some well-earned snacks. I found the register and signed us in, then photographed the Benchmark.

We headed back down to the car, stopping to chat with another hiker working his way up. Derek filled me more on the navigation story, but I won’t recount it here…

We chatted about the challenge some, as we continued back down. Back at the car, we refueled before we tackled Pinyon Mountain.

Pinyon Mountain

After a hearty snack after our summit of Whale Peak, our attention to Pinyon Mountain. There is no trail to the summit, so we surveyed the mountain and consulted our topo map. Once we reached the ridgeline it would be a straightforward push to the top.

We carefully slogged up the steep and rocky slope. The footing took some care between the loose rocks and the cacti. Once the ridgeline was reached, the route across was as straightforward, like we expected. Although there was not a benchmark here, we did sign the register before heading back down.

Rather than completely retracing our steps, we opted to use the route a bit further to the east. This seemed to be a better choice. I would recommend this option for future attempts.

Once back at the car, we drove back into town feeling good having summited two more peaks.

Sentenac Mountain

My third peak for the day was Sentenac Mountain. This peak is near the Scissors Crossing near the western side edge of Anza Borrego. I turned off the road at the Plum Canyon turn out and followed the dirt road until it ends, which is the start of the California Riding and Hiking Trail.

I followed the CRHT for a bit, before heading west up a wash toward the summit. This was really fun, as I scrambled over the dry waterfalls with some nice sandy stretches in between.

According to my research, I knew I would exit this drainage to follow the ridgeline to the peak. I meandered past the cacti as I drew closer to the top.

Once there, I found the register and views of Granite Mountain to the southwest, and Grapevine to the north.

The sun was beginning to set, so I headed back down the ridge into the wash. As I drove back home, I felt a nice sense of accomplishment on bagging three desert peaks in a day.

Borrego Mountain-West Butte

The second summit of the day was going to be Borrego Mountain West Butte. First, I drove back through Borrego Springs to Palm Canyon. I went out to the trailhead, as they were hiking the trail first. As I waited, I chatted with the volunteer for a bit, mostly about summiting Indianhead.

Soon, I spotted the Rabbi and his family coming down the trail. Once they were settled, we drove back to the turnout to the Slot. They parked the RV and piled into the Outback for the short ride to the trailhead. Once there, I pointed them in the direction of the Slot and I headed up the trail to the summit.

Unlike the scramble to the top of East Butte, the path to the top of West Butte was a well-worn trail. The summit was also a mostly flat butte. I looked for a register but found none. Knowing I had folks possibly waiting for me (I left them the keys), I headed back down.

As I got back to the car, they were enjoying their lunch after a wonderful time in the canyon. We piled back into the car and headed back to the road. I dropped them off as they were to continue their desert adventures, while I was off to hit my third peak, Sentenac Mountain.

Borrego Mountain-East Butte

I felt like I needed to get back out to Anza-Borrego and get a few more peaks under my belt. The plan was to attempt Borrego Mountain East Butte, then meet up with Rabbi Earne and his family and escort them to the Slot Canyon, while I summited Borrego Mountain’s, West Butte. Finally, with time and energy permitting I was going to try to summit Sentenac Mountain.

I arrived at the trailhead for Borrego Mountain just as the sun was just rising. I bundled up and headed toward the gully that would lead me up to the summit. One nice thing about this hike, there is a bathroom.

At the base of the boulder-filled gully, I surveyed my route. I opted to stick to the left side. I carefully and slowly worked my way up through the jumble of boulders. Soon, I found myself past this challenge and at a saddle between two portions of the East Butte. The summit was on the western side, so up I went.

The actual summit is atop a flat butte, as I walked around, taking in the sweeping views. I found the register and signed in.

I had an approximate time I needed to meet the Rabbi, so I headed back down. This time I opted to travel on the east side of the gully. It was about the same level of difficulty as the other side. I found myself back at the car and ready to continue the day’s adventures.

Mine Peak

The first peak of the day was Mine Peak. After the forgotten shoe incident of the day before, I was triple checking all my gear before heading out to Anza-Borrego. With the family out of town, I knew I could take my time with my summits. After following I-8 to S2, I made the right turn onto Dolomite Mine Road. This dirt road worked its way toward the remains of the Dolomite Mine perched on the side of the hill. My Subaru had no trouble getting close to the ruin, but other cars might need to find a turnout a bit further away.

This peak was going to be my first test of a trail-less desert hike. I knew from the trip reports that it was fairly straightforward, and the difficulty level was not terribly high. I followed the road up around the mine for a bit, then began my open desert adventure.

Following faint use trails and the ridgeline, I quickly found myself at the summit. Checking my GPS, I honed in on the register and benchmark.

The skies were clear and the desert spread out in all directions.

I took a short rest and began to retrace my route back to the car, still hoping to summit two more peaks that Saturday. This peak was a perfect intro to desert hiking for me.

Red Hill

The second hike of the day was up to Red Hill. The ‘trailhead’ was very close to the turnoff to Mine Benchmark. I use trailhead loosely, while there is a nice parking area right off the S2 and an informational sign, there isn’t a trail. So across the flat desert, I headed, weaving my way past the chollas, my summit stood clear out, as it certainly earned the name Red Hill. This summit is covered in the aftermath of volcanic activity. Following my map and GPS, I soon found myself at the base of the peak, I scanned the various routes up, picking one I began my climb upward.

As I worked my way eastward toward my planned route, the terrain changed from the ‘standard’ desert I have been hiking on all day, to that of more red rock.

With the summit drawing near, I began to pick my way through the rockier ground, taking care with each step. I did not want to turn an ankle with a misstep. (although I had better cell coverage out these hikes than I do at my home in Penasquitos!) Soon, I found myself on the summit plateau, a vast field of red rocks spread out before me.

According to my topo map, the high point was near the southern end, where I did find the register wedged in a small rock cairn.

The views were stunning from the summit, I think in part because I was feeling proud of completing two solo desert hikes.

Calcite Mine

I had gotten the first 4 of the 5 hikes of the Anza-Borrego 5 for 50 Challenge done pretty quickly, but life kept getting in the way of finishing it. I was watching the temperatures start to rise out in the desert, plus it was desert flower season, meaning the park would be more crowded. My final hike was out to the Calcite Mine. I was able to drag Dave Myron along for this adventure. This was in another part of the park I had never explored, out east along the S-22. We pulled into a small turnout, as I did not want to attempt driving on Calcite Road.

We hiked along the road for about 2 miles, even with the early start, I could feel the heat. I had to take a short break in the shade to cool off. We explored the mine area. Just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this mine was established to extract optical-grade calcite for gun sights, the only mine of its kind in the US. The mine was short-lived, but the deep cuts in the earth are clear evidence of the operation. Bits of calcite can be found scattered around.

We headed back down, we opted to take the slot canyon that parallels the jeep road. I had seen the junction for it when we were heading up to the mine and assumed we would be able to spot it along the way back. Well, we missed it. We continued following the wash that the slot canyon had opened up into. Instead of heading south, the route was now veering eastward. Dave and I debated our options. We could go full cross-country toward the cell tower, which we could see and was near the car, continue in the wash, hoping it would turn to the south and road (which we knew ran east-west), or retrace our route.

This section of the wash is drivable, and when we had exited the canyon, a truck had pulled up and three hikers set off to explore it from the bottom. While Dave and I mulled our options, they were heading back out. I flagged them down and ask if they knew how much further down the road. They offered to give us a lift, so we hopped into the truck bed and motored out. It turns out, that this wash heads east for quite a while. Off-roaders will know it as Truckhaven Wash. Glad we opted for the lift. They took us back to that car and with that, the challenge was over. I certainly was humbled by this hike, and would learn to improve my research and navigation skills for any future trips (oh, little did I know…). These challenges had been fun, I wonder what other hiking challenges might exist…say what is this “100 Peaks Challenge“?