The Summer Solstice hike last Friday and Saturday was with the objective of seeing the sun rise Saturday morning through some rock slits and to locate some Indian rock paintings.

 

Leaving the coastal area last Friday (June 20/21st) was interesting since the sky was overcast and we kept wondering if it would be cloudy Saturday morning obscuring the morning sun. We even got somewhat more apprehensive as we passed through Ramona and Julian. Jaye had me riding shotgun and Jeremy and Dorothy in the back giving directions as needed. We took the bypass around Julian which is a winding road and it was made even more interesting because of the sharp drop offs and dense fog  which we had run into.

 

After coming out of the Banner grade, we started to see rays of sunlight and within minutes we were out of the fog and into a clear blue sky over the desert.

 

We started the hike around 5pm with the temperature in the low 90's heading up a gorge with lots of rocks and no trail although from time to time we did use what appeared to be animal trails. On the way up we had to find our own trail avoiding rock outcroppings, choya, and vegetation. We also had the problem of reading the map which we had of where we were going. Well, we really did not have trouble with the map. We just did not know what the extra markings on the map meant. GPS's are great but in this case they only directed us to where we thought we wanted to go.

 

So as the sun was setting, we arrived at what we thought was the area we were interested in exploring. Jeff had already split off from the main group and took a ridge route in hopes of being able to spot what we were looking for from the ridge opposite to the one we were hiking along. We took off our packs and fanned out looking for the rock cave areas but since we did not know exactly what we were looking for, we finally ran out of time and came back to set up our camp site. About this time, we were rather discouraged since it was getting obvious that we had failed to locate the Indian paintings and the Summer Solstice cave we needed to be in at sun up.

 

We all fanned out and set up our sleeping bags (Jaye had a tent) and prepared to get a good nights sleep to rise early in the morning and continue looking for the "lost" items. I was up against a long two foot high rock which protected me from one side and also served as my table for the evening and morning meals. After going to bed at 10pm, I awoke to some noises at 12 and then slept solidy until 5am.

 

Before leaving the cars Friday afternoon at 5pm, Jaye had a pack of 32 pounds, mine was 36 pounds with Jeff and Julie under 30 pounds. I think that the others were under 30 pounds also. I carried  5.7 quarts of water since I was afraid of the heat we would be hiking in Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

 

I started with 101 ounces about 90% ice and ended up with ice remaining on Saturday morning when we returned to the car. Of the 101 ounces I drank 74 ounces. A second plastic container contained 80 ounces and I drank 50 ounces of it for a total consumption of 124 ounces in less than 24 hours in up/down hill hiking in mid 90 degree temperatures. Sot it looks like I drank almost a gallon of water on this hike (3.875 qt).

 

Jeff and Julie Saturday morning decided that they would make an additional  hike out of this solstice attempt by climbing one of the local mountains which we failed to climb last year. I have not heard from them so I assume they made it or are still lost this Tuesday evening.

 

Failing to locate the paintings and the cave(s) was disappointing but we did have a good nights sleep and we left camp in the morning thinking that we would check some interesting rocks on the way down to the cars. After dropping several hundred feet in altitude, Dorothy pointed out a rock formation across the gorge that she thought looked interesting so Jaye, Dorothy and I dropped our packs and took off for the other side after having crossed a dry creek bed.  I found a cave with Indian paintings on the ceiling and have pictures of all of the paintings. Dorothy, Jaye, and I after looking at the paintings and taking pictures, explored in the immediate area and found no more paints or the main cave we were looking for. This first cave was not the main one we were looking for but time was running out and we vowed to return in better weather and locate all of the caves in anticipation of returning for the summer solstice in 2004. You almost have to camp in the immediate cave area the night before so that the next morning you can go before daylight to the exact spot necessary to see the light coming through the slit.

 

The rest of the hike down was uneventful if you can ever call rock hopping uneventful. I slipped several times falling down to my knees. This is always lots of fun with a full pack. Jeremy also lost his footing on a rock that rotated and fell into some bushes but unfortunately when he stuck out his right hand to break his fall, he put it directly on a choya ball which turned out to be quite painful and required Jaye to pull out all of the little barbs.

 

So what happened to us? As near as we can figure it, the markings on the map we were given indicated the camping area of the Indians and that is where we stayed Friday evening. We thought that area was where the caves were located. Jaye even found a pottery chard where we camped. The actual location of the paintings and the solstice slit we had apparently passed on the way up to the Indian campground.

 

Even if we would not have found the one cave with the numerous Indian paintings, I would have considered the hike a success from the standpoint of it being a great hike in an area that I have never been in before. .... and besides, I like rocks ... and we had lots of rocks ... big rocks .. small rocks  .. and medium size rocks. I ended up with 70 some photographs of the hike, Indian paintings, and rocks and rocks.

 

I can't wait to go exploring in the area again sometime when there is not so much heat.

 

Leaving the desert Saturday morning was even more interesting than driving out of the fog into the sunshine Friday afternoon. As we approached the Banner Grade we were in intense sunhine but we could see the Pacific moisture laden fog flowing over the mountains like a slow motion wave crashing down on the eastern slopes of the mountains. We stopped to take some very interesting pictures of these "waves" breaking over the mountain tops. As usual, I have the 70 pictures set up as a "screen saver" and when I return to my computer I drop in on some segment of a great hike into the Anza-Borrego desert. Fantastic memories.

 

I am sorry that I have not been specific on roads, mountains, trails, etc. but this is a rather sensitive area that we were hiking in and at no time did we see any human trash of any kind and it would be nice to keep it that way.

 

73,
Stan
W9FQN