Anza Borrego State Park- Santa Rosa Mountians

Villager Peak

On Tuesday March 11, 2008, John, Spartacus Burnside (John's alter ego) and I set out for an overnight peak bagging trip in Anza Borrego State Parks Santa Rosa Mountains. The plan was to hike in via a cross country/ use trail route described by the Sierra Clubs HPS to bag Villager, Rabbit and Rosa peaks. We arrived into the town of Borrego Springs at about 1pm. After a quick visit to the parks visitor center and lunch at the local taco shop, we arrived at the Thimble trail head parking area off the S-2.
With our bladders full of ice cold horchata and 25-35 pound packs loaded with 5 liters of water each, we set out at 3pm under clear skies, mid 80 degree heat with a nice breeze for what we at first jokingly described as an “epic” trip. The use trail up the steep ridge towards Villager peak was easy to follow aided by a GPS waypoint of the peak and printed National Geographic map obtained from the Sierra Clubs HPS website. Our hike continued into the night where we navigated primarily by moon and starlight, until 9pm when we set up camp about 1/8 of a mile south of Villager peak. We enjoyed a grand view of the Salton Sea over a quick breakfast and left for Villager peak at about 8am. We summitted shortly thereafter and due to concerns over our water supply, decided to bag Rosa and return via a different route.

Rosa

We quickly broke camp and followed the ridge back out until we headed east descending into Rattlesnake canyon and up a very steep hill that eventually led us to Mile High mountain. We signed in the Register and continued in an easterly direction following the HPS route to Rosa. We headed south down a steep ridge to the base of a peak we mistook for Rosa. Realizing our error, we climbed back up the steep ridge and continued towards Rosa. Finally, after some confusion and difficulties navigating the desert terrain, we summitted Rosa.

Survival

Not having any way points to follow along the suggested HPS route down from Rosa, we relied entirely on our poorly printed map and instinct. With virtually no water left and over 3 miles (as the crow flies) and several thousand feet above our vehicle we carefully analyzed our route down the mountain. With the sun beginning to set and early stages of dehydration setting in, we began to shift into “survival” mode, which we later admitted to. Johns Knees were in bad shape making decent over the steep talus covered slopes slow and painful. Fortunately, the sun was partially shaded by clouds and a nice sustained breeze helped keep us cool. We pressed onward knowing navigation through this maze of identical ridges would be impossible after nightfall. After what seemed like 100 ridges, we had a visual of the final ridge leading down to Palo Verde canyon.

Recovery

At this point John’s knees rendered him nearly handicap, while we both thirsted for water. We reached the canyon bottom at about 6:30 pm and I made a B-line for the truck 1.5 miles away. I arrived to the truck after nightfall and John arrived shortly thereafter at approximately 7:30pm. We shared about 10 ounces of water left in the truck and head back to Borrego Springs. Within 15 minutes of leaving the trail head we found our selves gulping a gallon of water in a local liquor store. Totally exhausted, blistered and John somewhat crippled, we sat outside the liquor store re-hydrating our bodies. Due to the circumstances, we decided to cut our trip short and headed home to Orange County to lick our wounds. Needless to say, the trip was “epic”.

Tips

This trip, particularly the route down from Rosa is not recommended unless you are extremely fit, have good USGS 7.5 minute topographic maps and possess outstanding skill in map and compass navigation. Furthermore, downloading way point routes from the HPS website is strongly recommended to aid in confusing navigational challenges offered in the desert. We calculated our trip mileage between 16-18 miles with 7-8ooo’ elevation gain and loss. Lastly, pre hydrate and take more than 5 liters of water!

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