Subi & The 5

Clark Dry Lake – Borrego Springs, California

Borrego Springs California
Clark Dry Lake – the place was empty before the holidays

 

We’re Back! Yep, we just can’t stay away. It is our yearly pilgrimage to Borrego Springs. A bit of Clark Dry Lake gets in your soul and you have to come back. We have been here several times before and have lots of posts on Borrego. Here’s just a few posts we have on Clark Dry Lake but there are many, many more posts on this area just do a search on Borrego.

Here’s one

Here’s another

And now here we are again.

 

One of our rituals when we arrive is to go around and check out some of the other sites and see what’s new.  Usually, what we find is how others have left the campsites. There is always something new. But we are always impressed at how clean the sites are as we never see any trash left behind only some cute little reminders that someone was there. One of our favourite sites that we have stayed in several times is the site we call the “RIP” site. Someone has gone to great lengths to line a driveway, a site, a sun circle (patio) with rocks, along with a tribute to dad, RIP DAD. It took a lot of time and has been well maintained for a few years. There is even a “Welcome” rock, a “Sun Circle” rock, and a “See Ya” rock. One of our favourite sites.

 

This year a site very close to the RIP site we now call the “Regis” site due to a tribute to a Camphost Supreme. What the pole means we don’t know but we do know if you need a supreme camphost you need to call Regis, if, knock on wood, he is still around.

 

We love to just walk around the area and discover new things but we also like to climb up the hill behind Peg Leg. Peg Leg is a liar’s monument in Borrego Springs which has a large parking lot and is available to boondockers.

Borrego Springs California
Peg Leg – not very crowded right now but just wait until after the holidays

 

There is an old (closed) jeep trail that heads up the mountain that you can follow and you eventually wind up at Paul’s Playa, a 10-15 acre dry lake.  As you get to the top of the mountain you have great views of Borrego Springs on one side and the Rockhouse Canyon (Clark Dry Lake) boondock area on the other.

 

And, once you are up there, you get a good view of the infamous “snake” and his pals.

 

And, of course, one of the great things about this area is “Those Daring Young Guys And Their Flying Machines”, need I say more.

 

Needless to say, the weather doesn’t always cooperate. We always, usually, have perfect weather when we are here in the winter, bright sunny days, blue skies, and OK, sometimes a bit of wind. But this week brought some rain. Really, rain.  For those of you in the Pacific Northwest this may sound strange but we got quite excited with the rain. Not only is it helping with the drought but it was also fun to see and hear the rain since this is such a rarity to us in the southwest in the winter. Yes, it doesn’t take much to get us excited.

 

And with the rainstorms brings clouds and beautiful sunsets. Well worth it. The color is there one minute and then gone the next. And then…a rainbow pops out. Actually, it was a triple rainbow, but very difficult to capture on “film”.

 

And just as we were pulling out Nina from WheelingIt was driving past us to take our spot. We waved and waved to her.  Enjoy.

9 comments

  1. Okay, I need more specific directions to the snake. We haven’t seen that yet and I will need to see it when we get there next month. So I will be in touch about how to find it:)

    Hasn’t the sky been beautiful lately! Great sunset photos!!

  2. I’m teething at the bit to get to Borrego. The last 2 winters have found us along the Texas Gulf Coast. I’m thinking next winter we need to focus on the southwest. I’ll be using your blog for some references so keep the posts coming 🙂 And those desert sunsets are the best!

    1. Sure Noemi, no problem. The boondocking area is just east of Borrego Springs, California about 7-9 miles off Highway S22 on the north side of the highway. There are two areas for boondocking, both on the north side of S22. The first one, if you are coming from Borrego Springs heading east on S22 (towards the Salton Sea) is called Peg Leg Monument and is more of a parking lot. Just a mile or so further heading east on S22 is a road called Rockhouse Canyon Road. From this road on further east for a mile or two are a bunch of dirt roads with lots of boondocking areas. In the winter you will see lots of motorhomes in the area. Hope this helps!

  3. I saw the picture for Regis memorial. Regis was a winter snowbird from Sacramento. In about 2000 his wife died but he continued to RV. He retired from the post office after more than 30 years on a walking route so he had strong legs. He would camp in the same area and did a lot of hiking around BS In 2001 he and another snowbird both in their early 70’s trained hiking up and down coyote mountain with the goal of getting into shape to hike to the top of Villager Peak. They made it to Villager Peak. The following year they climbed to the top of Coyote Mountain. The trail register says “the last hurrah” where they signed in. I think 2003 was Regis last year at BS. In 2005 he died of cancer. He was an extremely friendly guy. Knock on his door and he invited you in. If it was in the afternoon after 4 he usually had a happy hour around his rig with a lot of friends.
    My last year at BS was 2012. With the collapse of home prices I sold the rig and bought a townhouse in Tucson. It was something we thought of for a long time and I knew I had to do it. My “RV” now is stationary in Tucson. I have a lot of fond memories of BS and the Dry Lake.

    1. Hi Keith! Thanks so much for providing some details about Regis. We had not seen that memorial there in previous years so it is great to have some info filled in for us. He sounded like a great guy. Wish we could have met him! We, too, have fond memories of BS and Clark Dry Lake. Maybe one day you will be back there!! Cheers!

  4. Totally off the topic but I think this is the place to ask. Dear wife and I are approaching retirement and want to buy an RV and need a towable (4 wheels down) 4 wheel drive vehicle that I’d be willing to buy now. So much bad info on the web I figured who better to ask than people who have done it. Jeep sounds like the ticket but not sure which one. Any advice?

    Thanks

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