Journeys›Photograph

Camping Weekend in Anza-Borrego Backcountry

·San Diego County, California·#spring#desert#camping#southern-california#backcountry
A small wooden cabin with a deck stands among tall green trees and dry ground, with mountains under a blue sky.

Camping weekend out in the Anza-Borrego backcountry. We towed the pop-up out from San Marcos and set it up near one of the little cabins at the campground, tamarisk trees leaning over everything and the mountains close on all sides.

Most of the walking happened along a sandy wash that runs under a line of wooden power poles — out one way in the evening, back the same way in the dark. The moon came up over the ridge full enough that we barely needed lights.

During the day we found a whole stand of teddy bear cholla, some of it green and furred with spines, a lot of it dead and black underneath, which apparently is just how they go. Kept a wide berth. The kids' shoes ended up piled by the camper door with everything else — cooler, chairs, the folding table nobody set up.

Still picking sand out of things.

A white Coleman Santa Fe pop-up camper is set up outdoors with a cooler and chair, under a sunny sky and trees.A desert landscape at sunset, with distant mountains, a dirt path, and a power line structure silhouetted against the bright sky.A bright moon shines in a dark sky above a silhouetted hill and two power poles.A large teddy bear cholla cactus dominates the foreground, with other cacti and a desert mountain landscape behind it.A close-up of a spiny cholla cactus in a desert landscape with many other cacti in the background.A desert landscape with mountains, dry plants, a dirt path, and a power pole with bright sun glare.A desert landscape with mountains under a cloudy sky, a dirt path, and a utility pole at sunset.Dark landscape at twilight with a bright moon above hills, a utility pole, and a dirt road.

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