Topic: Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

[FrankB]

Jeff (BlackX), Fred (Xterracerx) and I took a drive out to Borrego Springs this morning to check out the latest sculptures. These things are scattered around the valley, coming in from the south the first grouping has quite a bit to offer.

The desert here looks peaceful enough in the morning, especially from a distance.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Get a little closer and things start to get a bit thornier.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

We found a couple of wild horses playing. They obviously don't know what else dwells in this part of the desert.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Judging by the look in this guy's eyes, I think he knows his day is about to turn bad.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Farther up Borrego Springs Road, this time north of the Circle, are several more installations. The first to appear out there were these three Gomphotherium, Father, Mother and Junior.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

A bit further north are the mother and baby camel, followed by mother and baby giant sloth.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

[FrankB]

Bella the Great Dane pup had decided she'd had enough art for one day, it was time to explore a little off road. First we made sure she was up to speed on heat issues, then it was off down Arroyo Salado Wash to 17 Palms Oasis.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

After a quiet lunch at the end of Ella Wash we headed along Palo Verde Wash and up to Vista del Malpais. Fred liked the place.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

The palo verde bushes were quite green after all the recent rains. I think 2009 might to be as good or better than 2008 for wildflowers. This is near Font's Point, our next stop.  Bella seemed to enjoy the view.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

A couple of dusty black Xterras ready to leave Font's.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Finished airing up at the end of Font's Wash, ready to head home.

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

One of the rangers once told me that Font's Wash is "the most popular place in the park to get stuck in the sand".

Sabre-Tooth Tigers & Sloths & Gomphotherium, Oh My !

We decided to take a more scenic and less direct route home, via S-22 up Montezuma Grade as the sun was going down, then over Mesa Grande Road and unpaved one-lane Black Mountain Road to the outskirts of Ramona. Black Mountain Road was in pretty bad shape with all the recent erosion, but it was too dark to get any pics.  We did notice, however, that the Ranchita Yeti (Sasquatch / Big Foot) was wearing a Santa hat.

[fleury123]

I really gate how I cant see thes epic while I am work. How else and I suppose to mess off at work .   

[Blackx]

Great shots Frank!  We had a great time and I look forward to getting out there again with you and the rest of the SCCX crew.

[SuperSlideStyle]

I wish I had the time to go rompin' like you guys.  Who knows, maybe next year...

[fleury123]

Nice Harlequin, I had one before the Navy. He knocked down a fence and got the post stuck in his foreleg. We couldnt stop the bleeding. Nice dog....


Wow those scuptures took some time. Amazing detail. I had to double take on the dinosour one as it appeared at first glance to be a tiger attacking.

[FrankB]

Nice Harlequin, I had one before the Navy. He knocked down a fence and got the post stuck in his foreleg. We couldnt stop the bleeding. Nice dog....


Wow those scuptures took some time. Amazing detail. I had to double take on the dinosour one as it appeared at first glance to be a tiger attacking.

Chris,

The dog belongs to Jeff, she is a bit shy but a really nice dog.  Sorry to hear about yours. I would love to have a big dog, but we're out a lot and the yard is small, it really wouldn't be fair for the dog. So, we have a couple of cats. They're low maintenance, but I can't take them off roading.

I'm not sure which shot you mean, but that really is a tiger (sabre-tooth) attacking a horse. There are several sculptures in that group. There is a tiger by itself, then one in mid-pounce behind the horse, then another that is riding on the back of the horse about to bite.

[rvilla19c]

Frank,

That is actually amazing.  I want to see those in person.  I'm a bit geographically challenged though, so could you please post up directions or a link where I could find directions?  Also,  how did you find that?

Thanks,
Rachel

[FrankB]

Frank,

That is actually amazing.  I want to see those in person.  I'm a bit geographically challenged though, so could you please post up directions or a link where I could find directions?  Also,  how did you find that?

Thanks,
Rachel

Rachel,

You've actually driven right past the horses and sabre-tooth tigers, on the way to Fish Creek in November. They are on Borrego Springs Road a few miles south of the Circle.  I had actually planned to stop to look at these on that run, but the group turned out to be much larger than I expected so I decided it would take to long.  Many of the other installations are on or just off of Borrego Springs Road north of the circle.

Here is a link to the website for the project. There is an interactive map on there, when you roll your mouse over the blocks it shows a picture of that particular sculpture or grouping. We only saw a portion of them this time.

http://www.galletameadows.com/

I read about these in the paper back in early Spring of 2008, not long after the first group showed up. Mitch and I were out there one day and stopped to check them out. This was the group of three Gomphotherium.  You can see that they are older than some of the others by the way they are evenly rusted and developing a nice patina.  The sabre-tooth, for example, is much newer and still shows a lot of bare steel.

If anyone wants to go out there and wants company I would be certainly be up for another trip to see these. They are all pretty much accessible from Borrego Springs Road. There are some short trails that allow you to drive up to or near some of them, but in most cases you can just park on the side of the road and walk in. We did a combination of both.

 

[XterracerX]

Awesome... awesome time! Would definitely go back and explore some more! The creatures were quite a treat! And the Badlands... man... I can spend a good amount of time just hanging out there. Thanks Frank for putting this together. It was really cool hanging out with you Jeff. Is it Bella's first time off-roading?

Good times!

[Blackx]

Awesome... awesome time! Would definitely go back and explore some more! The creatures were quite a treat! And the Badlands... man... I can spend a good amount of time just hanging out there. Thanks Frank for putting this together. It was really cool hanging out with you Jeff. Is it Bella's first time off-roading?

Good times!

Yea, the badlands were awesome.  I'd like to spend some time hiking around in that area.  Bella has been on several trips with me before to Borrego and Big Bear.  She loves camping but hates getting thrown around in the back on the rough trails.  She tries to climb in my lap.  As you can image it's pretty hard to drive with a Great Dane in my lap.  I think on the desert trips I'm going to start leaving her at home.

[Bobby B.]

Definitely want to go check those out at some point. 

Frank made a great point the other day in that they'll really look different after time passes and they get an even rustier patina to them.

[rvilla19c]

Frank,

Sadly, I generally have trouble finding the same place twice.  There is a certain fun in getting lost and finding new things though.  I just got a GPS in December, so my navigational skills are improving.

I would love to get out there again, but I'm about to start working weekends again for February, March and possibly April.   This weekend will be my last free weekend.  I plan do a short easy run this Sunday to break in my new transfer case gears and managed to convince my friend Robin to go with me.  If you are interested we would love to have you as well.  Robin's wife, Kim, is about to give birth to their future son, Xavier, any time now, so he would like to do something sort of close to his place in San Marcos.  Would the Borrego Springs trail be close to there (within 1 1/2 - 2 hours)?  I know Bobby and Mitch were thinking of Berdoo canyon, but I'm not sure how close that is to San Marcos. 

Sorry for jacking your thread.  I would have called, but I lost your number and everyone else's when I left the cell phone on the roof and drove off last week.

[FrankB]

Rachel,

I just sent you a PM.

[XterracerX]

This trail couldn't be any easier and would just be perfect for the light off-road break-in for your transfer case.

Now how about a "repeat" of the same mini-xcursion again this weekend Frank?