Kay BM, The Sirens, Tuck BM, Pk 4014, Webo
BM, Ted BM
I
was very excited to have my first long desert day in a very long while. I had
planned out a big great loop starting from the bottom of Montezuma grade. I was
going to start at the Hellhole Canyon Trailhead/Maidenhair Falls TH but it
turns out its $10 just to park and have access to a vault toilet. I didn’t have
$10, so I parked about 1000ft down the road completely off the pavement and
called it fine. I ended up not getting a ticket so I’ll count it as a win.
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| Coyote & Santa Rosas |
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| Indianhead |
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| Sirens (center) |
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| Parked |
My planned route was to take the ridge just left of the ridge containing Ode
BM, follow that up to Kay BM, pick my way up to Sirens, then hit up Tuck and
4014 on the way to Webo, follow the ridge down to Ted BM and then walk back
across the desert floor to my car.
I had been a bit worried about the steepness of this route but now that I could
see it in person it didn’t look too bad – quite doable actually. I set off from
my car torwards the ridge, weaving through ocotillos and creosote till’ I was
there. To my right (N) I could see Ode, which I have done previously.
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Indianhead & Ode (rightmost bump)
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It was quite steep as I started up the ridge but very manageable. The surface
was hardpacked dirt/rock so definitely not as bad as it could have been. It was
lacking in agave and other sorts of prickly vegetation that often serves as an
obstacle in Anza-Borrego.
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| Coyote and Villager in the distance |
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| Looking back toward where I started |
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Looking south to a different ridge
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It was a steady climb until I hit Kay, maybe about an hour and a half. It was
great fun to watch as the desert floor grew further and further. About half way
up there was evidence of a agave roasting pit. The ground darkened from ash. I
could see out to Indianhead, Coyote Mtn, and the Santa Rosa range.
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Ridge upward
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About 500ft below Kay one runs into the “tricky terrain” a few spoke about on
peakbagger, honestly it wouldn’t even be worth mentioning in my opinion. A few
large boulders but no serious obstruction. I saw my first juniper trees of the
day which is always a treat.
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| First juniper of the day |
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| Good views |
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| Almost at Webo! |
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| Agave roasting pit - dark soil |
At Kay the BM was found intact. I spent maybe 15 minutes at the summit, not yet
tired. Bob’s signature was in one of the early pages, which is not really surprising
anymore. The desert was already fall below and I was almost level with
Indianhead.
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| Bobby |
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| Looking torward Sirencs |
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| Long way down |
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| Indianhead |
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| BM |
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Webo (the cluster of dark boulders closest)
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Between me and Sirens I eyed some actually difficult terrain. Steep and boulder
with a ravine in-between and lots of brush. I decided to head north a bit to reduce
my elevation loss due to the ravine before heading up the slope to Sirens. This
was much more intense than I expected. The rock here is that crumbly granite
that turns into gravel as soon as you try to scramble up it. I also hate not
being able to see where I’m stepping and there was plenty of tall grass and
brush to scare me. San Ysidro East was not to far away but having hiked it
previously I had no intention to make such a detour
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Looking back toward Kay
 | San Ysidro E
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I headed up to a saddle between the Sirens PB point and another peaklet. From
there I labored upward even more, going through a cave where two massive
boulders rested on eachother at some point. I was getting pretty tired from
this segment and was excited to take a break at the summit. About 100ft from
the summit there was some ice on the grass from the storms two days prior.
Around the back (west) side of Sirens I found some class 3 that I did not trust
myself on with the bad rock quality. I headed back to the east side where I
found a class 1 way up.
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Ice
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On the summit there was beyond excellent views out to Hellhole Flat, snowcapped
Volcan Mtn, and back down to the desert including the ridge I came up. It was
funny to see that only one page of the register had been signed since I was
here last, I guess it is quite a remote summit that is infrequently visited.
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| Zoom to Vulcan Mtn |
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| View W to Hellhole Flat |
I rested here for maybe 20 minutes or so as I needed to replenish my energy. A sandwich
and Gatorade helped quite a bit and I was ready to keep going, although with
such good views I could have stayed here much longer. I headed south through
the difficult terrain. I was starting to understand why this placed was called
Hellhole Flat. Poky bush everywhere. Somewhere on my descent from Sirens I
slipped on a sand covered boulder and scratched up my thigh really bad. I also
was able to cut my hand which bled for a bit and stung like a b*tch for the
next 30 minutes. Only a few hundred feet below me was Tuck BM and Pk 4014.
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| Tuck is in this small valley, 4014 is the rockier hill |
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| Owwwww |
Tuck BM ended up being missing, or it could have also been buried under sand.
Who’s idea was it to but a BM inside a wash anyway? Pk 4014 was largely
uneventful, only a few minutes from where Tuck BM should have been. There are
so many peaklets in hellhole flat I have no idea why someone decided this one
should be added. It did give me some good views torward Webo. There was another
small flat separating me from it, then a decent hill which looked both boulder free
and not too brushy, yay! From here Sirens and west to Ranchita could also be
seen.
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| Sirens from 4014 |
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| Hellhole Flat |
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Looking toward Webo from 4014 (left)
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I forgot to take any pics between 4014 and Webo although there wasn’t anything
out of place to note. More high grass before heading up a few hundred feet to Webo.
I did get a weird feeling in that valley. Something about being in hill country
and not having a good view of whats around me was freaking me out… the
possibility of a animal (lion) seeing me but me not seeing them. I was planning
to take a short break in the valley as it seemed homely but after getting this
feeling I just continued straight up Webo.
On Webo the BM was intact. Interestingly it was on the shortest of 3 boulders,
the HP was just a few hundred feet away. To the N was Sirens and the rest of
the desert. The ridge back down could be seen, looked easy enough. While I was
resting here a helicopter rumbled by, it took me awhile to realize it was
actually below me, flying through Hellhole Canyon! It’s always such a cool
feeling to be higher than a helicopter.
After a good rest and having some more of my sandwich I started down the ridge.
It was pretty open country but there was more of those crumbly boulders and
tall grass. Webo could be seen behind me as I headed down. Maybe 1/3rd
down the ridge the boulders and vegetation grew more frequent, slowing me down.
On the N side of the ridge there were lots of junipers, taking shelter in the
shade.
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Leaving Webo
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| S side of ridge |
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| Plenty of Juniper now |
A little past 1/2 way down the ridge I had arrived at Ted BM. There was a grove
of cactus blocking the way which seemed oh so desert, I took a pic because I’ve
never seen such a big cluster of these flat cacti. Ted BM was intact and
pointed up the ridge to Webo. There was also a red-can register with quite a
few names in it, many of which I recognized. Looking back torwards Hellhole I
noticed a secret palm grove, not marked on a USGS map. A hike for another day?
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| Hidden Palm Grove |
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| Ted BM |
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Cactus patch
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There was only a little bit of ridge left but there was quite a bit of agave
along the way. This is always a bit annoying, but I was still having a great
time just walking around the desert. I was down and back on the desert floor
soon enough, not before sending a section of moon cholla through my shoe and
into the side of my foot. I carefully extracted it with two rocks. I forgot
that cholla wound continue to sting for a few minutes after extraction. I was
seriously convinced there were still spines in my foot.
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Down down down
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After walking through the desert for a bit I arrived back at my car. I could
see back to the ridge I had went up and the one I had went down. What a great
hike.
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Looking back
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Borrego BM
Because I had not had
enough I decided to see if there were any bonus peaks nearby. There were two
spot elevations in Borrego Spring with no more than 40ft of prominence Terry
Flood had added to PB. I considered them, but that seems like too shameful of
stats padding. Then I noticed there was
a peak nearby (also added by Flood) that had maybe like 100ft of prominence so
I’d stat pad with that one. It’d only be like a mile extra on the day.
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Borrego Ridge
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I hiked cross country torwards the apparent highpoint. Along the way I noticed the
biggest ant hill I’ve ever seen. It was probably 4 or 5 inches high. Quite
impressive for such an environment and such tiny creatures.
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Ant Hill
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At the summit I was surprised to see a BM! This one isn’t on the USGS map I
had. Wow! It read State of California, I wondered if the park placed it. This
small peak served as an excellent viewpoint torwards Indianhead as the shadows
grew and the small town of Borrego Springs. |
| BM |
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| Borrego Springs |
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| Indianhead & Palm Mesa |
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| Looking back |
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