[Bloated Chipmunk]

I headed out to the desert on Saturday to do some explorations up side forks of Cool Canyon, camp off of that rd., then meet friends in Borrego Springs the next morning to check out the wildflowers in Henderson Canyon. As expected, not too many peeps @ Cool Canyon & TONS of peeps in Borrego Springs. DAY 1: Cool Canyon I've been up this canyon twice before -- once w/MM who was particularly exhausted/unenthused that day after we summited Rego BM, & once solo when I hiked up to a saddle to a nice viewpoint. This time, I wanted to explore some of the forks heading SW & possibly tag a little peak if the mood struck.

Cool Cyn TH

Dudleya

Heading up the canyon

Dudleya w/sprouts

A little further of the canyon

Dry fall

Paintbrush @ the canyon fork

About a mile in @ the main fork, I turned left, climbed a bit, & then was reminded of a dry fall one has to bypass on the left. On my 1st trip here I went a bit beyond this fall to the next fork.

Dudleya w/sprout

Dry fall in side canyon, bypassed by going up & around to the left

When the wash split again, I opted for the right fork. On the map it looked like this one was overall less steep than the left fork, & while this might've been true, this one turned out to have multiple dry falls to climb up.

Above the 1st major dry fall, canyon splits again. I 1st took the right fork.

1st of several dry falls

"Gateway rocks" I'd seen from sattelite image

Largest of the dry falls I came across. Worked my way up the right side.

Blooms above the big dry fall

Terrain flattens out...temporarily

Once I could see that the wash was getting steeper & brushier, I opted to turn back & check out the other fork. This whole time I was hyper aware of rattlesnakes, though I hadn't seen any...yet.

Going a little further, I found it got more brushy & steep so I turned around somewhere around here.

Looking back down the wash

Funky rocks

About to drop down one of the falls

Tiny blooms

I returned to the last fork, & took the left branch this time. Overall this was a little mellower w/fewer & shorter dry falls.

Time to take a left @ the fork. Someone had placed a couple cairns leading up this way.

Easy through here...

Grinding area

Shelf

Getting narrower & steeper beyond this

Again when it got steeper I found myself satisfied w/the distance I'd gone, & w/the heat & being solo I didn't have much ambition for summiting the nearby pk., even tho it was only about 1/4 mi. distant as the crow flies.

Looking back down near my turnaround spot

Rib of rock

Looking back up the wash & @ "shelf rock"

Descending the wash

Triple nipple

More paintbrush

I reached the main fork of the canyon once again, & headed down. Here is where I came across my 1st hikers of the day, one of whom was a shirtless guy w/a beer/soda gut asking how far I went & what it was like ahead.

My shadow above dry fall

Flowers & rock

Bluebell/Canterbury

Stats for the day

Route up the main canyon & 2 side canyons

Afterward, I wandered around the parking area & eventually set up my tent. I looked for grinding holes & found more than I bargained for when I stirred up a rattlesnake...

Looking across Earthquake/Shelter Valley

Grinding areas

Grinding areas

Red Diamond Rattler I accidentally stirred up :-o

Red Diamond Rattler

Grinding rock right next the start of the wash

Cars from day hikers left one by one, the last being 2 guys w/a black pickup who had started late & ended late. A full moon was rising, which made my solo camp a little less lonely.

My tent

Easy access to car

Fading light on my campsite

Rising moon over my campsite

Moon over nearby hills

Full moon

Full moon

Full moon

Full moon

Though the end of this road is a mile in from the hwy. & no one else was camped nearby, noises could be heard down the valley from the other side of the S-2, namely that of dirt bikes finishing for the day. Later on, it was as if some sort of flash mob descended on the nearby Stagecoach Trails RV Resort to the north, as horns were blaring & a lg. group of people were cheering in waves of exuberance as vehicles drove around in circles for about 30 minutes. Then, they exited the resort & drove off. WTF?? The people @ that resort must've been pissed. I questioned whether there was some sort of worldly event that was being celebrated of which I was inadvertently left out of the loop. But anyway, I was glad those peeps tired of their wilderness disruption & GTFO. Later on, I would hear coyotes howling. Not so much different than being @ home, really. DAY 2: Bloomin' Bonanza Spring forward! I got up around 7AM, which really felt like 6AM. I got a morning photo of the campsite & then packed up & headed to Borrego Springs for b'fast, where my friends would meet me as I was finishing up.

Morning light on campsite

We piled into one car & drove the short distance to Henderson Canyon & walked up the dirt rd. & trail for about 1.5 miles, leisurely taking pics of all the flowers.

2

Beavertail

15

16

20

Fishhook

Lizard

Fishhook

Fishhook

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We decided to check out Fault Wash next, after some guy @ Henderson Canyon said that was a good place to see lilies. We drove east on S-22 & parked @ the beginning of the rd. for Arroyo Salado, then cut over to Ella Wash to walk down where we would eventually hit Palo Verde Wash & then finally Fault Wash. By this time it was the heat of the day, my water supply was questionable, another person was nursing a knee injury, & none of us were super enthused about continuing on once we realized we still had a ways to go. We turned back & walked another 1.5 mi. back to the car, the temp now in the low/mid 90s.

Lupine

I wanted to check out Coyote Canyon, so headed there via the east end of Henderson Cyn Rd. Noticing the sea of yellow & mobs of people along the way, we just had to stop.

Sea of yellow

41

42

Lots of peep in the field of yellow

Flower madness pano

Flower madness pano

Umbrella squatter

47

48

49

50

51

52

We got back in the car, & continued over to DiGeorgio Rd. & up Coyote Canyon, where there were more cars than I've ever seen along that rd. We drove up a little ways past the Alcoholic Pass trailhead, then pulled over. Not a whole lot blooming in this upper part of the wash, but I did see a nice beavertail.

Beavertail off of the Coyote Cyn Rd.

By this time we were all ready for COLD liquid refreshment. We headed back to BS & into Carmelita's which was mobbed, of course. They had run out of salsa which meant they brought no chips, & evidently were cashed out of some of the veggies too. The bathroom was out of soap, paper towels, & on its last roll of TP which somehow had come off the dispenser. Thankfully the toilet was not clogged up, as that would've been the icing on the cake...or rather, the sh!t on the rim, lol.

Post-flower overload margs

[awilsondc]

Looks like a great trip! Boy I sure wish I had a nice sunny day right about now. I'm jealous man, enjoy that bright yellow orb in the sky.

[Bootpathguy]

[JimK]

Nice report. I'm glad to see that spring has started somewhere on the west coast.

[gb]

Looks like a grand spring for wildflowers in the SW.

[puzzlr]

Nice snake photos!

[Bloated Chipmunk]

Thanks! Yeah, I got lucky w/that snake shot. I zoomed the camera from about 12 ft. away, & every time I made a slight move the snake would rattle more. I saw another red diamond rattler last wknd. - stay tuned for upcoming report to see the pic.