Topic: Sunday March 13 - Fish Creek & Sandstone Canyon

[FrankB]

I'm planning to meet SoCalx at Fish Creek on Sunday morning for drive up to Sandstone Canyon, with a stop to hike up to the Wind Caves along the way.  Anyone else who wants to join in is welcome to tag along.

This should be an easy, stock friendly route. 4WD recommended for soft sand, but others have done this entire route in 2WD* in the past. This should be an all-day trip, we'll hike to the Wind Caves and then continue up wash to find a shady spot for lunch, likely in Sandstone Canyon. I'll stop in Santa Ysabel on the way over and pick up a fresh apple pie to go with lunch.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Meet Place / Time:  10:15AM at the mouth of Fish Creek Wash at the south end of Split Mountain Road. Take Hwy 78 East to Ocotillo Wells, then turn south on Split Mountain Road and follow that until the pavement ends after about 8 miles. The mouth of Fish Creek Wash will be on your right. Turn in and look for us a few hundred yards up wash, we'll group up and air down there.  [We are meeting here as opposed to the State Park Visitor Center where we met in November in order to save about an hour of time in the morning.] Split Mountain Road is shown on every paper map, including the Auto Club's San Diego Region Map. That one even shows the entire off-road route including Sandstone Canyon.

! ! ! Do not forget about Daylight Savings Time, which starts Saturday night, or you'll get to the meet spot about the time we hit the Wind Caves ! ! !

Please let us know if you're coming, so that we don't have to wait around at the meet spot unnecessarily.

If anyone coming from the San Diego area wants to caravan out there let me know in advance, and we can meet near my house (east of I-15 off Scripps Poway Parkway at Pomerado Road) ready to roll at 8:00AM. I'm allowing enough time for a stop at the Julian Pie Company bakery in Santa Ysabel to pick up some fresh apple pie to go with lunch. Depending on where you

[SoCalx]

Can't wait.  Should be a great time.  I will also be camping in the area if anyone is interested in meeting up.
-Mike/SoCalX

[Impact619]

Hey guys... I totally want to go, and have been wanting to check out Sandstone Canyon.

However, is there any sort of 'mid point' I can meet you at?  I normally get out of work around 4AM, and especially with Daylight Savings Time if I want to try to get any sleep at all it'd be unlikely I'd get out there by 10AM.  : /

-Thomas-

[FrankB]

Hey guys... I totally want to go, and have been wanting to check out Sandstone Canyon.

However, is there any sort of 'mid point' I can meet you at?  I normally get out of work around 4AM, and especially with Daylight Savings Time if I want to try to get any sleep at all it'd be unlikely I'd get out there by 10AM.  : /

-Thomas-

Thomas, one of the nice things about this particular route is that we should be pretty easy to find.  We will travel up Fish Creek Wash, with a stop at the Wind Caves (about 4 miles in) for a hike. If we're out hiking you should see our 2 Xterras parked by the start of the trail. From there we'll continue up wash to the start of Sandstone Canyon, which is on the left at about 12.5 miles in. We'll then continue up Sandstone Canyon until it ends at 1.4 miles in. We may walk a bit further up the canyon before turning around. Coming back we go the same way, except that we'll turn left into Loop Wash at a spot that is about 8 miles from the trailhead, and follow that until it rejoins Fish Creek.  Take a look at a map and it will all be clear.

Even though Fish Creek Wash is fairly wide in spots we should be pretty easy to spot, and we will have FRS radios on.

[Impact619]

Sounds good, Frank.

I think my roommate might have an FRS radio I can borrow...  otherwise, I'll hope to get through on cel while you're still in range.

My cel # is EIGHT FIVE EIGHT - 354- THREE SIX EIGHT SIX

At what time do you think you'll be wrapping up and headed back?  That way I'll have an idea if I'm going to even be close enough to try catching you guys.

Hope to see you Sunday!  ; )

-Thomas-

[zachbiz]

Sounds good, Frank.

I think my roommate might have an FRS radio I can borrow...  otherwise, I'll hope to get through on cel while you're still in range.

My cel # is EIGHT FIVE EIGHT - 354- THREE SIX EIGHT SIX

At what time do you think you'll be wrapping up and headed back?  That way I'll have an idea if I'm going to even be close enough to try catching you guys.

Hope to see you Sunday!  ; )

-Thomas-

you need a CB

[RockinX]

I also work evenings so this Sunday run sounds great to me.  It's going to start heating up before we know it so now seems like an ideal time.  It looks like it may take me about 2.5 hours to get there and I don't do mornings, so please don't wait for me.  If anything, I should be able to find you guys on the trail.  

[FrankB]

I would imagine that we'll probably pull out of Sandstone Canyon and start back around 2:30-3:00PM, that seems like about what usually happens on this route. I do plan to take that detour through Loop Wash on the way back, so keep that in mind if you're getting out there really late in the day.

I generally turn my cell off as I leave the trailhead, as there is not much signal and it burns out the battery hunting around for signal. I'll try to remember to turn on the CB, in addition to the FRS. If we're out of the truck I might not remember to have the FRS - but in any event it will be hard to miss us really, and I don't expect we'll be moving all that fast either.

It's going to be warm, so I think lunch will be at a shady spot I know just before the entrance to Sandstone Canyon. Or maybe at the usual club spot about 1 mile into the canyon. Depends on how fast we drive etc.

Marshann - it would be great to see you again, it's been a long time.

[RockinX]

mmmm... apple pie!  Based on the Massey book I believe the coordinates for the meet place are N33 02.38, W116 05.76.  Maybe I should quit being so dependent on my GPS and follow the directions given since I plan to be on time.     It looks like there are a ton of geocaches in the area.  I will do some more research and if we happen to be near one maybe we can check it out?   

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?lat=33.026622&lng=-116.08499&dist=25

[justin4x4]

Hi Frank,

Me, Cameron and Kamei (Cameron's girlfriend) will be attending this one. If were meeting you at Santa Ysabel, what time should be there by? Really looking forward to this!


Thanks.