Anza-Borrego Part 5 — Palms, Pups, and the Longest Trestle

March 13, 2019.

For 10 days, we lived our normal lives. As it were, a cold existence in the Pacific Northwest. We’d left with snow on the ground, and we returned to a few small patches remaining. And then it snowed the first night we were home. Needless to say, we missed the southern California weather!

But, extremely happy with our decision to double-up on the adventure, we knew that it wouldn’t be long before we hopped back on a plane that would take us away from the clouds and back to the “ weather’s-so-nice-our-airport-doesn’t-need-a-roof” Palm Springs airport.

As we drove back to Anza-Borrego, it hit us that it was even more green than it’d been when we left. A day of rain, and now mid-70ºF temps meant that the super bloom was in full swing — a fact that we’d take full advantage of in the coming days. Today though, we’d restock and repack the Tacoma, and have a nice dinner in town with Pops and my step mother.

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March 14, 2019.

The next morning, we all decided it’d be the perfect time to hike Palm Canyon. This is a reasonably popular hike right by the visitor center, so we knew that it would be more crowded than other places — but it’s a beautiful hike and one of the only places to see running water in the park (at least that we found) so we decided to give it a shot.

As we headed up the canyon, the wildflowers were amazing.

It was as though we weren’t even in the desert — the ground so green, the flowers vibrant yellows, purples, pinks, and white. Birds flitting and hikers ogling the entire way up the trail. Eventually — perhaps a mile up trail — we spotted the grove of Fan Palms from which the canyon gets its name.

As we got closer, more and more palms came into view — and unlike 5 Palms or even 17 Palms that we’d visited on our first leg of this adventure, this truly was an oasis — the water streaming down the wash next to us.

We explored the trail as far as we could go — it turns out that the upper portion of the hike beyond the palm oasis was closed due to the recent rains — before turning around and heading back down via an alternate path on the opposite side of the canyon. The path was a bit longer, but given the surroundings, that was fine by us — the sights here just as breathtaking as those we’d experienced on the way up.

We even saw a White-lined Sphinx Moth (also called a Hummingbird-moth) doing it’s thing — initially mistaking it for an actual humming bird! In fact, unbeknownst to us, this would be far from the last that we’d see of this moth on the trip — apparently they are somewhat of a pest in the area!

Back at the trailhead, Pops quickly became the most popular guy around by pulling out his birding scope and training it on a couple Bighorn Sheep that were grazing on a nearby mountain. I’ll tell you what — as soon as that happened, it was like the entire parking lot descended on his scope to get a look. Because, well, if you can see wildlife from the parking lot…then you can just get right back in your car!

While that was going on, we also noticed that a small concrete pool contained a bunch of 1–2" long fish — pupfish I was told, which I initially thought was a bunch of baloney. After-all, how would pupfish get into this man-made pool? Sure enough however, that’s exactly what they were — Desert Pupfish that live only here in Anza-Borrego. And, so near the parking lot…and yet still unnoticed by the vast majority of folks!

Eventually Pops had to wrench his scope out of the ever-growing throng of tourists because we’d decided it was time for lunch — the famous shrimp tacos at El Borrego, a local favorite, calling to us before we headed out of town to enjoy a bit more seclusion than the trip had afforded so far. Oh, and it turns out the carnitas tacos are amazing as well.

Lunch wrapped up and our bellies stuffed, we bid farewell to our gracious hosts and headed south, our destination — Mortero Wash near Indian Hills — meant to be a great place to kick off an 8-mile, early morning, hike to the Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge the next day.

Along our way, the road passed through the old Dos Cabezas railway station. There’s not much here anymore — it was decommissioned in 1958, only an old water tower and a few small ruins left at this point — but this station was once part of the El Centro to San Diego train line. Known as the “impossible railroad” during construction, the line through deep rocky canyons and hillsides was completed in 1919; the Dos Cabezas station a watering stop for steam engines and a place for nearby miners to access the rail.

Today, the few structures still standing are covered in graffiti and gunshots, a distinct “alien” vibe present in much of the art.

In the distance and through the rubble, a stark contrast to the dilapidated station.

This contrast is something that we noticed throughout our time (both trips) in Anza-Borrego. This park, while extremely beautiful, is much less remote than most of the places we visit. There were more people here, more civilization encroaching along — and within — the park, and a feeling of being not very far away, no matter where you are. Unexpected, it was something we discussed several times over the course of the trip — wondering why it was. Free State Park vs. paid National Park? Proximity to the overwhelming population of southern California? Something else entirely? In the end of course, we never figured it — opting to spend our time searching for the more beautiful, remote areas instead.

For now, that meant leaving Dos Cabezas and continuing along an unnamed road into the back country, a steep, mogul-y road acting as a welcome gatekeeper for most other vehicles.

Would it have been for yours? And the bridge awaits. Read the rest at Palms, Pups, and the Longest Trestle.

Originally published at https://adventuretaco.com.