SoCal: March 12th family run to Anza!

[NKspartan]

Friendly small open invite for this Sunday (March 12th)..

I'll be going out to Anza again this weekend (3rd week in a row) to do a family trip of things that I've done several times but my parents and brother have never seen. As in, I'll be bringing my parents, one of my brothers, girlfriend, and two dogs with me in my Tundra. The plan is to start really early (get to the desert by 7a) and do a little bit of everything..
- A few short hikes (nothing longer than a mile round-trip) to enjoy the "superbloom" and find some waterfalls.
- A few easy to moderate trails (Lower Coyote Canyon, maybe Calcite Mine, a bunch of Ocotillo Wells washes, Fish Creek, Diablo drop-off, Canyon Sin Nombre)
- See the several tourist spots (Borrego Springs metal sculptures, Font's point, Pumpkin Patch, Truckhaven 4x4 park, Arroyo Tapiado mud caves, wind caves)

That being said, I'm willing to take 2-3 rigs max with me (must have VHF/UHF radio) if they want to bring family along also to enjoy a wide range of Anza's offerings. I've cross-posted this invite on TacomaWorld.com, Tundras.com, and Toyota-4Runner.org so the spots may fill up quick but please only get to me if you're 100% in with your family.

I led a small group this past weekend to some of the above and it was a fun day. The flowers of Anza are starting to bloom and it's supposed to be the best season with all the rains the desert got these past few weeks. Here's a pic of this recent Saturday run's lineup..

 

[MACT4R]

Friendly small open invite for this Sunday (March 12th)..

I'll be going out to Anza again this weekend (3rd week in a row) to do a family trip of things that I've done several times but my parents and brother have never seen. As in, I'll be bringing my parents, one of my brothers, girlfriend, and two dogs with me in my Tundra. The plan is to start really early (get to the desert by 7a) and do a little bit of everything..
- A few short hikes (nothing longer than a mile round-trip) to enjoy the "superbloom" and find some waterfalls.
- A few easy to moderate trails (Lower Coyote Canyon, maybe Calcite Mine, a bunch of Ocotillo Wells washes, Fish Creek, Diablo drop-off, Canyon Sin Nombre)
- See the several tourist spots (Borrego Springs metal sculptures, Font's point, Pumpkin Patch, Truckhaven 4x4 park, Arroyo Tapiado mud caves, wind caves)

That being said, I'm willing to take 2-3 rigs max with me (must have VHF/UHF radio) if they want to bring family along also to enjoy a wide range of Anza's offerings. I've cross-posted this invite on TacomaWorld.com, Tundras.com, and Toyota-4Runner.org so the spots may fill up quick but please only get to me if you're 100% in with your family.

I led a small group this past weekend to some of the above and it was a fun day. The flowers of Anza are starting to bloom and it's supposed to be the best season with all the rains the desert got these past few weeks. Here's a pic of this recent Saturday run's lineup..

I'll tag along! Give the family a chance to see the sites.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[BrianSD_42]

The last group trip had like 200 guys. The Joshua Tree trip has like 400 guys going. I'm kidding but not by very much.

If you want a small thing then don't even post it here.

Also that weekend is already going to be jammed up with tourists in the valley. I'll be there. Expecting it to be super crowded.

 

[JBurt]

I'd love to go but family issues this weekend. Hope you guys have fun. The flowers\wild grass are amazing out there right now. Very green desert.

Sub'd for pics.

 

[techoguy]

The flowers of Anza are starting to bloom and it's supposed to be the best season with all the rains the desert

Just curious how it was this weekend? I'm looking to take my family out there tomorrow just for the day for some basic offroading and take my wife to see all the flowers. Just curious how the bloom was this weekend?

 

[BrianSD_42]

My experience was the offroading and the flower bloom are pretty disconnected.

We drove Chariot Mine from Julian down into S2. Great views, green hills, very little flowers.

We saw massive flower blooms of yellow Daisy's near Henderson Rd and Coyote Canyon.

 

[techoguy]

My experience was the offroading and the flower bloom are pretty disconnected.

Does that mean for a day trip, it's kind of one or the other? Any suggestions where to go such that I should see some of the super bloom and be able to hit a quick trail?

 

[grave]

I heard traffic out to AB was horrendous this weekend.

 

[techoguy]

I heard traffic out to AB was horrendous this weekend.

That's why i'm going tuesday

 

[BrianSD_42]

Does that mean for a day trip, it's kind of one or the other? Any suggestions where to go such that I should see some of the super bloom and be able to hit a quick trail?

Well I think you can do both. I'd allot two hours for driving around the valley near the visitors center (where all the flowers are) and then spend the rest of your time seeing the off-road parts of the park. Just don't expect to see very many flowers in the OHV parts of the park.

 

[Drunner97]

The last group trip had like 200 guys. The Joshua Tree trip has like 400 guys going. I'm kidding but not by very much.

If you want a small thing then don't even post it here.

Also that weekend is already going to be jammed up with tourists in the valley. I'll be there. Expecting it to be super crowded.

JT trip is going to be between 70 and 200 people depending on how many people are bringing better halves and children. Assuming everyone that said they were coming, are coming. I've only seen about 30 people actively talking about it so we'll see.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Offcamber]

I was out there on Sunday with [MENTION=103635]NKspartan[/MENTION]. There were some flowers along Canyon Sin Nombre near S2, but not much more until the valley floor around Borrego Springs. The traffic was horrible, but even a little worse than I expected. We stopped a short ways up lower Coyote Cyn and the traffic was stop-and-go along the dirt road. It was interesting to see the flowers, but I was also impressed with just how green some the areas are right now. It won't last long with the heat, though. Coming back to SD was a *****. The northbound traffic along S2/San Felipe Rd at the junction with the 79 was backed up 3 miles. No, that isn't a typo.

All that being said, it was a lot fun in the park doing somethings we haven't done before (checking out mud caves, hiking to the wind caves) and seeing some new trails.

 

[Offcamber]

And a couple of quick photos...

It was hilarious to see my little 4th gen next to a couple of built Tundras.