Anza Borrego Part II - A Ghostly Wind

Sunrise came not early enough on our first full day in Anza Borrego, since we were on Eastern Time, and 6 AM felt like noon. As the sun rose, we were treated to a wake up call by the dozens of quail “hooting” around the tent. After being serenaded for a moment, we were off to the brand new bathroom where the old sand lot used to be (As kids, we played baseball and had water balloon fights in this lot). As an adult, I’m glad the new bathroom is there. The bathrooms even have piping hot showers, but they cost 25 cents per 2 minutes. Trust me, this is a deal, especially since the old showers by the kiddies pool only run cold water now (as my body unfortunately learned the night before).

Sunrise in Agua Caliente

After a quick wash and breakfast, we were off to Blair Valley, home of the Marshall South Homestead (aka Ghost Mountain), the Mortero Trail and the Pictograph Trail. This area was a Thornburg Family staple growing up, probably due to the lure of “Ghost Mountain” and the relatively easy trails to reach the Indian settlements. Once we got to the Ghost Mountain trailhead, I had to gloat and call my parents, but they did not answer (Amazingly enough, the entire park had excellent cell coverage. I guess the towers on the Laguna Mountains are the reason!). Analee gently reminded me that we were on vacation, and cell phones were not the reason why we were there... of course she was right.

Once I finally learned how to use a Camel Back, which is a giant leap forward from our old steel canteens, we were off for the South Homestead. Now, I must go back a moment in time, and say that Analee teased me for months that she would blow me away on the trails and I wouldn’t be able to keep up. So…Analee, how does crow taste? The exact opposite happened, I ended up way ahead. However, this is probably due to her interest in geology, so she spent more time examining the ground, while I was covering it.

The remnants of the Marshall South Homestead aka Ghost Mountain

Anyways, we made it to the homestead site, and saw that it was definitely in worse shape than when I was a child. Basically one wall remained standing, and the bed was a birds nest of metal, yet it still had the same mystic as it did 20+ years ago. The cisterns and old cans were still there, and I even found the sundial, which I never noticed before. Of course, the view of Blair, Earthquake, Mason and Vallecito valleys is spectacular from there, and watching the clouds hit the Laguna Mountains was equally breathtaking. But those clouds brought the wind…

View of Vallecito Valley

And the wind howled. The strong winds on top of Ghost Mountain cut our visit short some, and we descended back to the valley floor with a few side stops looking for Yonis (I’ll explain later – this became sort of an obsession for Analee after a while). Next we were off to the Mortero trail. This was a quick and easy 0.2 mile hike.

Listen to me act like I know what I'm talking about...

Now if you’ve never seen a mortero before, they can be difficult to find if your eyes are not trained. Morteros are grinding holes that the Kumeyaay and Cahuilla Indians used to mash grains, dyes, etc. for their meals and rituals. Well, we couldn’t find them at first until we consulted the digital picture we took of the trailhead marker to find a reference point (yes, we are nerds). We found the split rock, and then the morteros came out of the woodwork. We must have found 30+, and I even spied a pictograph I’d never seen before. But, once again, the wind drove us back to the safety of the car.

Analee and the elusive Split Rock

From there we went to the Pictograph trail, but by this time the wind would not stop gusting through the canyons, so we took a nap in the car. Now, this nap was not because we were tired, but because Analee started getting sick, which she didn’t fully reveal to me at the time, uh oh.

So, the rest of the day was cut short by the strong winds, and sore throat, so we spent the remaining daylight driving down every wash we could find between Blair Valley and Agua Caliente. It was a fun day, and the wash driving brought out Analee’s inner 4WD beast, which would emerge many, many, many, many, many, many more times.

My Drunk Cowgirl

Ugh, this sounds so boring. Thanks for reading.

UP NEXT: Anza Borrego Part III: "Where did the mountain go?"