The first Saturday of every April is the annual Pegleg Smith Liars' Contest at Borrego Springs, so that's all the reason we needed to head out to the desert for some Jeep'n. I met up with Don from EarlyCJ5.com and we camped a just a couple hundred feet from the Pegleg monument off of S-22. This gave us great access to some fun areas that I hadn't been to before. The liars' contest was just after sundown. Kinda dorky, but it's good old fashioned small town fun. The story tellers were entertaining, some even dressed for the part in period costumes.
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| The view from Fonts Point | Coyote Canyon - First Crossing | Coyote Canyon |
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Saturday morning we made a quick stop at Fonts Point to check out the awesome view of the Borrego Badlands. Then we headed east on Short Wash with the intention of going through Palo Verde Wash, but as we neared the intersection we opted to go north on Ella Wash and head towards Truckhaven in search of some more challenging terrain. Once across S-22 we took Coachwhip Canyon north hoping to find a through route, but alas there was none. The scenic canyon was a dead end. We stopped here to water Don's new puppy 'Anza' and check our map to come up with plan B. Once back on S-22 Don realized his steering was loose. A closer inspection showed that all three bolts attaching the steering shaft to the Ross Box were loose. He made a temporary repair and we headed back to camp for lunch and a more permanent steering fix.
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| Coyote Canyon - Third Crossing | Coyote Canyon - Third Crossing | Coyote Canyon - Third Crossing |
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For our Saturday afternoon run we went to Coyote Canyon. It's a favorite trail for many, especially during the spring when the desert flowers are blooming. We were a few weeks late for the best of the bloom, but we had a great time at the water crossings. We continued on past the third and deepest crossing, but turned around at Lower Willows so I could get back to camp at a decent hour where Sheri & Caidan were waiting for me.
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| Coyote Canyon | Don at one of the larger hills | Don conquers the soft sand |
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Sunday morning we headed out again. This time southeasterly up Beckman Wash. After about 2 miles of gentle wash we took a fork westerly and found some good sized hills, some creek beds and a few sand dunes. This area offers plenty of good wheeling opportunities, but we were again short on time so we headed back to camp. I'm sure we'll go back to this area sometime to pick up where we left off.
