Nopal Benchmark

After climbing Blue Angels Peak and Whip Benchmark, our next destination was Nopal Benchmark, which sits to the southwest of some communication towers. We drove up past them to a small turnout. A small fire ring had been built and next to it was a small frying pan. We wondered who would have left it behind. I spotted a use trail that led up the slope of the peak and began following it toward the summit. Not more than a minute later, a car pulled up and out hops a kid to retrieve the frying pan! He had slept there last night and missed it when he packed up. We asked how it was overnight, and he replied it was nice except for being a bit windy. He hopped in this car and drove off. We continued upward following the use trail. We had to climb over a couple of rocks, but other than that it was a straightforward ascent.

The summit did not have a benchmark nor a register, but it had great views of the 8 freeway just below us.

Once back at the car, we saw that it was getting close to lunch, so we decided to skip Quirk Benchmark and Smuggler’s Den. There are a couple more benchmarks back here (Gold and Tehe) and I am sure I can convince Dave to go driving back here again. We hit The Outpost in Alpine for some great pizza and a beer before heading home. A great day to cross two more of my Borrego Benchmark Club list and have some fun in the Rubicon!

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.

Whip Benchmark

Today’s adventure was a combination of climbing some peaks listed on the Borrego Benchmark Club list and some fun off-road adventures in the Valley of the Moon area. We stowed our gear in the back of the Jeep after hiking Blue Angel Peak and set off toward some of the other minor benchmarks scattered around the area. Just to our west was Whip Benchmark. I wanted to get it last time I was here but had some time constraints that prevented me from hiking to it. We carefully made our way back down from Prospect Mine. At one point we had a 25-degree tilt, which was a fun bit, as we came down the road. The road up toward Whip also had some fun off-road bits, but nothing like that section we just drove down.

Whip Benchmark was a quick walk up. In fact, there was a benchmark and register that was guarded by a cactus on the summit. The last person to sign it was back in March 2021! We snapped some photos and cruised back to the jeep. We missed a turn when leaving Prospect Mine for the road I thought we should take, but could now see it to our east. That road actually rejoined the road just above that “fun” section, but this time Dave found a better line and it was a cakewalk.

Blue Angels Peak

Today’s adventure was a combination of climbing some peaks listed on the Borrego Benchmark Club list and some fun off-road adventures in the Valley of the Moon area. Dave picked Ted and me up and headed down the freeway toward the Valley of the Moon. Ted has been wanting to climb Blue Angels peak to cross another SoCal county high point off the list. We pulled off the freeway and lowered the tire pressure on the Rubicon before setting off. We drove up the road that takes you into the Valley of the Moon. Past where I had parked my Subaru on a previous excursion, the road had its first real section that would take some care getting through, but the Rubicon had no issues. Our first designation was the trailhead for Blue Angels Peak. It was nice just driving there and not having to walk on the road like I did the first time. Just before we reached the trailhead, we had to drive up one tricky section. We parked and grabbed our gear for the much shorter hike to the summit than last time.

First, we inspected the quartz mine, as well as the abandoned Chevy, before heading southward along the use trail. To our east, we had some nice views of the actual Valley of the Moon. Huge wind turbines stood off to our south. We cruised along toward the summit, and scrambled up what I thought was the peak, only to discover it was the bump to our north. Since Boundary Marker 321 was just a few hundred yards away, we headed over to it first. After snapping a few photos of it, we retraced our route and ascended the correct bump.

Dave is dealing with some tendon issues, so he found a nice rock to lay on and enjoy the sun, while Ted and I made the short scramble to the summit. I could not find a register, but at least it now has a wooden sign. After snapping our photos and me scrambling to photograph the reference marks as well, we dropped back down off the summit and began working our way back to the jeep. We stowed our gear in the back and set off toward some of the other minor benchmarks scattered around the area.

Jacumba Mountain

Decided to tackle Jacumba Mountain today. This was a peak Susie, Ted, and Matt Hanan all needed. I initially was going to take the Subaru out to the trailhead. It made it to a different trailhead back in 2019, so I had some confidence that it was up to the task, but Matt offered up his actual 4×4 again, so I was happy to turn the driving over to him. We pulled off the 8 at In-Ko-Pah and backtracked to the dirt road that would take us back into the Jacumba Wilderness. The road was rough and took some care as we navigated around the rocks and ruts. We made it to the trailhead and parked. Off to the north stood the summit Jacumba. The route appeared fairly straightforward and without any major concerns other than it looked steep.

After climbing over some initial boulders, we dropped into a nice wash that took us toward the base of the mountain. Spying some cairns, or homemade markers, we began climbing the western side of Jacumba. We took a couple of short breaks to catch our breath, but also to take in the views.

Once we crested, the windmills of Ocotillo were spread out to our east. This is where this route connected with my previous route. Now it was a simple stroll over to the summit. We climbed up the summit block and took in the sweeping views. It was a fairly clear day, so we could see the Salton Sea off to the east.

After a nice break and signing the register, we retraced our route. The descent went fairly smooth, until almost the end. We left the wash too soon and spent a bit of time scrambling over the rocks. Oh well. Once back in the car, another off-roader was nearby and inquired a bit about our adventure. We made our way back down the dirt road, which seemed a bit easier in this direction. Back on the 8, we made a bee-line to Alpine Brewery’s Outpost for some food and drink. The hike was just over 3.1 miles in 2:56 total time and an elevation gain of 1,280 feet. Nice to cross this one off the list!

Puff and Moan Benchmarks

Since Ted was on call, Susie and I looked over our remaining peaks for ones that Ted had previously done, and Puff and Moan Benchmarks looked like a good candidate. I knew Matt Hanan needed Puff Benchmark, so I asked if he wanted to tag along. He also offered to drive! While planning an upcoming backpacking trip in Joshua tree with the “other” Ted, I mentioned my weekend plans and he was very interested given all the planned points of interest along the way. Since we were hiking on Sunday, he drove down from Santa Barbara on Saturday evening. We caught up a bit—he was one of my groomsmen after all, before turning in. We picked up Susie en route to Matt’s house for our 6:00 am departure. As we drove east on the 8, we caught a wonderful sunrise.

We opted to take the road via the windmills as opposed to via Mortero Canyon. While a bit longer, overall the road is without any issues. As we made our way to the parking spot, I spotted a lenticular cloud to our north. I don’t think I have ever seen one before in real life. Once at the parking spot, we grabbed our gear and set off along the desert floor to our first goal, the Blue Sun Cave. I visited it last year when I was hiking out to Windy Benchmark. My memory was spot on and we found the cave without issue. We all spent some time looking over these reminders of people long since gone. But we had a lot of miles to cover, so we looped around Indian Hill to take the old road toward the tracks. Just before the tracks, there are some remains of one of the railroad camps.

Our route paralleled the abandoned train tracks. Full disclosure, the tracks are considered private property, and walking on them is considered trespassing. Our route gave us some great views of the Carrizo Gorge, various small trestles and even two derailed train cars. Soon we found ourselves at the base of the ridge that would take us up to Puff Benchmark. Avoiding the cactus was the biggest challenge we had as we made our way up the ridge. Off to our right, the famous Goat Canyon Trestle stood majestically.

Once at the summit, we took a well-earned break. We snapped our photos and grabbed a snack, as the easy part of the hike was almost over. We saw some folks down near the trestle, and later we learned it was Tara, Kali, and their friend David. They spotted Susie’s bright pink jacket and my blue shirt up on the summit. Small world! Once off the ridge, we retraced our route to pick up an old road that would take us part way toward Moan Benchmark. While we debated going over to the Trestle, Susie and I were here for the peaks.

The road could barely be seen. The years and weather have not been kind to it. Along the way, we passed another set of ruins from the track’s construction. Unlike last time, we had a pretty good route up to Moan. We soaked in the views to our east. The sun was even reflecting off of Matt’s car in the distance. After signing the register and another snack, we set off for the hardest part of the hike—the descent back to the desert floor. Neither Susie nor I were looking forward to it. It was going to be a steep and tough down climb. We debated just heading almost straight down just a bit south of the benchmark or following the route from last time. Ted opted to try the direct route, while we headed out along the previous track. Our route started off quite nicely. Off to the northwest, I could see Windy Benchmark. I wondered if that route might be an option, but we did not want to go exploring. Unfortunately we continued north a bit too far, but since the terrain was still easy, we continued until it was time to really begin our downclimb. The mess of boulders seemed much like the last time. We did eventually reach a spot from where we could not descend. We surveyed our options and worked our way south toward another possible route. We really did not want to up-climb and connect with our original track. We carefully pushed on downward.

Along the way, we did find a nice shard of pottery. Leaving it where we found it, we continued working our way down. Finally, we reached the desert floor. I took a photo of some of the stuff we climbed down. I dubbed this section “Bruno”, because “we don’t talk about Bruno”. Back on the same road we took out to the tracks, we cruised back to our starting point. We would scan the desert to our south to see if we could spot Ted. As we approached the car, he was sitting happily on the bridge waiting for us to arrive. He beat us by about 25 minutes. This was a milestone hike for me, as I now have just 25 more peaks to climb to complete the San Diego Sierra Club list a second time. The hike covered 10.9 miles in 7:27, with 1,814 feet of gain.

Split Mountain West

After climbing Split Mountain East in the morning, Susie, Ted and I set our sights on Split Mountain West. The trailhead is about ½ mile from where we had parked. These two hikes are contrasts of one another, Split Mountain East is mostly a ridgeline hike, while Split Mountain West will mostly be within a wash. The road out to the trailhead was also a bit more difficult, but the mighty Outback got us to a nice pull out to begin our hike. Unlike when we did this hike in 2020, we didn’t start the day as early, so we were needing to be mindful of the time, as I certainly did not want to be driving the off-road section in the dark.

Once again, we planned to use our track from 2020 as the basis for our route. We followed a small wash for a bit, before climbing a steep, loose, rocky slope. Unlike our forgetfulness earlier in the day, both Susie and I recalled this section. After reaching the crest of the ridge, we followed it a bit before dropping down the other side into Oyster Shell Wash. This portion of the wash is a bit rocky, and we remembered that while we could follow it out back to the road, it would not be easy going.

We left a marker to tell us when we should exit the wash and back over the ridge. I took the lead as we began working our way up the wash. This initial portion of the hike had several dry falls to navigate. Sometimes we could climb them directly, but there were a couple that required us to bypass them. After about ½ mile in the wash, it opened up some and became more sandy. We cruised along, weaving our way mostly northward toward the summit. Eventually, the wash began to end and finally the summit came into view. There is another peak directly off to the east from the wash, and on some older version of the San Diego Peak Club list, it is listed. Susie and I talked about making a detour for it. But, being mindful of the time, we decided not to.

We took the left fork of the fading wash for a bit before just tackling the summit straight on. After the steep climb, we reached the summit.

We took a short break, grabbing a snack, signing the register and snapping our photos. Once we were ready, I led the group back down from the summit. This time I headed due east to intersect the gully we exited earlier. It really did not make that much of a difference. We cruised back down the wash, keeping an eye out for the couple of dry falls that would need to be bypassed. One of the falls, I did elect to downclimb, but Ted and Susie opted to bypass it.

We missed our exit marker just a little bit, but still found a nice route out of the wash. Susie had brought her partially broken pole, so we would need to share one of my poles on this descent. We slowly and extremely carefully made our way down the slope. I remembered how much we all hated it the first time, and I still hate it. Susie and I commented that if we ever return, we might spend some more time exploring other options for this section. There is another peak near the one we submitted that used to be on the San Diego Peak Club list that we might climb one day. Plus, the wash is filled with tons of interesting geology, and it would be nice to explore without a time constraint. Although I have yet to spot any Oyster Shells embedded in the walls!

Once back at the car, I drove us out as the light was fading, making it back onto the pavement just at sunset. Another great day in the desert. I logged the hike at 3.7 miles in 3:36 with 1,040 feet of gain. Susie and Ted tracked a longer distance, a good reminder of the differences in tracking devices.

Split Mountain East

The first of two peaks planned for the day was Split Mountain East, and if you guessed the other was Split Mountain West, you would be right! We left from our standard rendezvous point and headed out toward the desert. Along the way we caught a lovely sunrise just before Ramona.

We stopped at the Ocotillo ranger station to use the facilities before heading down toward Fish Creek Wash/Split Mountain. This was the first time Ted had been here, so he was fascinated by the Canyon. The Subaru once again handled the terrain like a champ. The canyon opened up and we parked just a bit past the trail sign to Wind Caves.

While the skies were overcast, the temperature was pleasant. We gathered our gear and set up. One of the reasons for picking the hike was both Susie and I recalled it being fairly straight forward and one that should not put too much stress on my knee. The trail starts off with a short climb to a plateau. I could feel my knee a bit as I worked my way toward the Wind Caves. Once we reached the caves, we took a bit of time exploring the amazing wonders. But, the peak was calling us, so we continued on following the trail. This trail followed a ridge for a while. To our left, there was a decent drop down to a wash. To our right, the Carrizo Badlands and the Elephant’s Knees. The route took us around and over several small bumps, some which we followed on the use trail around to the side, and some we had to go up and over. FInally we reached the point where we would leave this ridge and pick up an old mining road for a short bit. We finally got our first glimpse of the summit.

After a short stint on the road, we had a careful descent down a steep and rocky slope to cross over the wash that we had been following for some time. From there, we began climbing back up toward the summit. When we did this hike back in 2020, Susie and Matt stayed in the center of the gully, while I stayed to the left and found a use trail. Remembering this, we followed my previous route to the final ridge to the summit.

Throughout the hike, both Susie and I commented that this hike seemed harder than we remembered, and the next section was going to be a reminder of our forgetfulness. Our route took us straight up a steep slope toward the summit, however off to our left was a very large cliff face. Coupled with this drop-off, the ground did not provide the best footing. The only saving grace was the lack of cacti. We pushed upward, being ever mindful of our steps. Finally, the true summit came into view. What we had spotted from below was not the actual summit. Thankfully, it was fairly benign to reach. We sat at the summit for a bit, enjoying a snack and the views. The cloudy skies subdued the landscape. There was just enough breeze to make it slightly cool, and we wanted to try for Split Mountain West, plus I was still keeping a close eye on my knee.

We carefully began our descent along that ridge. Susie had left a broken trekking pole back at the car, so she was having trouble working her way down the slope. I took the lead and would proceed about 10-15 feet ahead of her, then toss her one of my poles so she could safely come to me. Once off this section, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Ted turned to me and commented that I said this was an easy hike. I resisted the urge to reply “Did you die?!” 😉

The rest of our descent went without issues and my knee held up just fine. Upon reaching the Wind Caves again, Ted and Susie opted to explore them a bit more, while I felt like cruising back to the car. Once back at the car, we had some lunch and I took the opportunity to ice my knee. I was up for trying for the second peak, so we packed up and drove to the other trailhead. I logged this hike at 4.3 miles in 3:50 total time, and with an elevation gain of 1,630 feet.

Lute Benchmark

After refueling with some Mexican food in Borrego Springs, we decided to swap out our next planned peak. Originally, I thought about hiking Hans Benchmark, but instead, I suggested we go for Lute Benchmark. If you have ever climbed Villager Peak, the sloping shelf off to the west as you make your way toward the Villager Ridge is where Lute Benchmark sits. So we parked at the Villager trailhead and set off. Following the path along the desert floor north, we reached the turn-off to begin the east climb along the slope. It was weird looking at Villager and the other peaks in the Santa Rosas in the middle of the day. Usually, we are taking in this view at dawn. We kept heading west until we finally spotted two cement pedestals upon which the benchmarks were mounted.

After taking our photos, we started back down. Almost at the junction with the Villager path, we met two other hikers making their way up. We chatted a bit before parting company. With that our 5 peak adventure was over. While I did entertain doing Hans Benchmark, I was just beat enough and I was also the driver. This was a fun day hopping around Anza-Borrego and kicking the New Year off right.

Arena Benchmark

After “warming” up on Foot and Walker Benchmark and Shake Benchmark, our third peak on my list was Arena Benchmark. I drove back up the S2 to the turnoff that the third peak on my list was Arena Benchmark. I drove back up the S2 to the turnoff that normally one would tackle to hike Whale Peak. Taking a quick left, I drove along the dirt road to the trailhead. There were a couple of spots where I had some need for my high clearance, but nothing too extreme. Once we parked, we scanned for a good route up. We again quickly found ourselves on the ridgeline and followed it east toward the summit.

The ascent was an easy climb, just avoid the cactus and keep climbing up.

The views were breathtaking from the top, the air was extremely clear, and the Salton Sea was easy to see off to our east. Our southern view was now dominated by Whale Peak. We signed the register and took our photos and headed back down. The plan next was to head to Borrego Spring and continue our multi-peak adventure, next up Ship Benchmark.

Ship Benchmark

After climbing three peaks around Little Blair Valley, we headed toward to Borrego Springs, and eventually some lunch. The next peak on the Borrego Benchmark Club list for the day was Ship Benchmark. This peak was going to be another short one, but it was just off the S3.

We climbed the rocky slope to the summit and found the benchmark. We again were rewarded with some impressive vistas. Now we could see Borrego Springs to our north. The snow-capped San Gorgonio and Toro Peak could be seen as well. We were starting to get hungry, so we returned to the car and headed into town.