The Starting Point

Six years ago (January 2004) my wife and I started hiking as a way to get in shape and to reduce stress from work. As an accomplished coach potato, we both needed to get in shape but knew we wouldn’t stay motivated in a traditional gym or by running. We decided to give hiking another try. We hiked some a few years earlier but never truly warmed up to it for one reason or another.

I decided to lead us on an intermediate hike in the local Anza-Borrego desert that started at the Bow Willow campground off S-2. After hiking up Bow Willow Canyon we would take an off-trail route up a rocky draw to connect with another parallel canyon called Rockhouse Canyon. We would then hike up Rockhouse canyon to an old cattleman’s line shack, have lunch, hike up over a saddle and then across into Bow Willow canyon, before following the canyon back to our waiting vehicles. Simple enough!

I’m writing this blog to share my experiences and knowledge about this exciting hobby. Living in the U.S., and especially in the southwest, we’re blessed with so many national parks, forests, national monuments, state parks, BLM land, and wilderness areas. Hiking has changed my life, enriching it with experiences and friends. I only wished that I picked up on it years earlier.