The end game

Another photo on the cross-country section.

We decided to hike in the dark since the route over the saddle was relatively simple, and once in Bow Willow canyon, the navigation was simple: just hike down canyon to the vehicle. The steep canyon walls prevented us from making any wrong turns.

Having escaped the possibility of spending a cold, winter night in the desert with relatively little clothing, we decided to get some training to become better informed and knowledgeable hikers. We didn’t want to rely on luck, or to limit ourselves to only following more experienced hikers.

So, we took a class offered by the San Diego chapter of the Sierra Club called “Wilderness Basics Class”. This 10-week class has been successfully offered for over twenty years. Both Christine and I completed the 2004 class, and eventually became experienced outing leaders for the club. In fact, as outing leaders, we take groups of students on that same outing each year as part of the course. It’s such a simple route it’s hard to image how one could go wrong. Ha! Talk about coming around full circle.

The decision...

The photo is of the old cattleman's line shack, also known as a "rockhouse", which is why this canyon is called Rockhouse Canyon. Not very creative. Note the old stovepipe on the left side.

Winter days in the desert are mild but winter nights can dip down to 30-degrees. Plus, winter nights are long. Routes look relatively simple on topo maps once you understand what the contours mean, but associating physical features and judging distances between the map world and the real world is not easy, especially in the desert where colors are muted and land features are indistinguishable.

Ultimately I led us down a rocky gully that was far steeper than I recalled, and we popped out in Rockhouse canyon. Then we hiked up canyon for a mile or so in deep sand and eventually reached the cattleman’s line shack a little before dusk. After a quick bite of food it was time for a decision. Do we try and make it up and over the saddle in the dark, and back in Bow Willow canyon where we’re just a few miles from our vehicles? Or, is it safer to spend the night at the shack, in the cold, and start hiking the next morning?

At this point we were unaware that the hantavirus can be caught by inhailing the virus in contaminated dust. On subsequent hikes we noticed plenty of mouse droppings in the rockhouse so the possibility of exposure is real.

The day of the hike....

This photo from last year shows the correct route, and was taken about half-way into the cross-country part of the hike. Just aim for the center of the mountain on right side of the photo and you'll end up in Rockhouse Canyon.

The weather was cool, dry and sunny. It was a typical winter morning in the desert. We followed friends on this same route a few years earlier. They were seasoned hikers who could navigate difficult terrain with ease. I wasn’t as experienced but felt sure that I could recreate the route. It would be easy except for the off-trail route connecting the two canyons. Still, I could recall it clearly in my mind and I brought paper topo maps along just to be sure. How difficult could it be?? What could go wrong??

By late afternoon I was getting worried because we weren’t yet at the cattleman’s line shack, which is the half-way point of the loop hike. I got hung up in the tricky cross-country section trying to navigate my way over to Rockhouse canyon. My memory wasn’t matching up very well with the terrain. I was second guessing myself, retracing my steps, and trying again. This was consuming time. There were many footprints but they were all over the place and no established trail to follow. There were no other hikers to follow or to ask. My wife, Christine, was very patient.

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.