17 Palms to Font's Point - December 19, 2009

[FrankB]

The weather was pretty much perfect out in Anza Borrego today, and there was almost no one else out there. It was nice kind of having the whole place to ourselves most of the time.  We had 5 trucks, including JohnL and his wife Cindy, Brian#2, Grizzly (Scott) and his wife Camille, Mr. & Mrs. Oz, and myself.

We started out with 17 Palms and 5 Palms Oases.









Brian#2 brought his doggies.



From the Palms we traveled down Tule Wash to the Pumpkin Patch to check out the concretions.



This one looks like it's about to hatch.



After the Pumpkin Patch we backtracked to Arroyo Salado, then traveled south in Ella Wash and found a nice lunch spot where Ella Wash intersects Short Wash.

Lined up on the way back to Arroyo Salado.

[FrankB]

Back on the trail. These are pretty much all easy sandy washes through here.



Carrie taking a shot of Badlands from Vista del Malpais.





Most of the group, at Vista del Malpais.



Some interesting erosion patterns in Short Wash.





Some more or less seasonally appropriate vegetation in Short Wash. This looks almost like a Christmas decoration.



Camille spotted these ants crawling all over this little tiny plant.



Christmas Penguin was along for the ride.



Cool dogs, never stopped moving.

[FrankB]

Someone must have known we were coming.



Font's Point was our last stop. We hung out and watched the sun set. It was relatively warm, and very quiet. Almost no one was there.









Once the sun had set we drove the 4 miles back to S-22 where we aired up and hit the road for home.



But not before one last shot, of the crescent moon setting over the desert.



More pics here:
http://frankbaiamonte.smugmug.com/So-Cal-Club-Xterra-SCCX/17-Palms-Oasis-Fonts-Point-Dec/

[Oz]

Great picts as always Frank!  Great seeing everyone out there

Here's mine from the run:

Literally 10 seconds after getting on the freeway my TPMS lights up - WTF! Pulled off at the next offramp and found a nearby parking lot to investigate.

The culprit:


Pulled out the tire repair kit and plugged it lickity-split. Checked it at the next gas stop and it lost (2) lbs. of pressure after 100 miles. Checked it again before and occasionally during the run. Even after airing down and on the trails all day it held up. No pressure loss after airing up for the drive home. Will get a proper patch on Monday.





First stop: 17 Palms Oasis. My lovely wife Carrie
















What's interesting here? Carrie's driving! SHE's into it!  Another wheeler born - wouldn't let me drive the rest of the day. Surely it will be easier to get mods now.


With Carrie driving I tried some new shots (arm out the window)










"Concretions" (as Franks calls them) at "The Pumpkin Patch"


A "Concretion" trying to escape


A silly little hill for the quads out there














Still the happy newlyweds




We had to bug out early. SO - now only is she into to it; she wanted to air us up too!




Aired up for the ride home


More scenic shots here --> http://thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23772

[XterracerX]

Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing everyone!

[Brian (#2)]

Here are a few of the ones I took.  The pumpkin patch and Font's point at sunset were awesome.

[Brian (#2)]

I bumped into Grizzly (Scott) today at Mossy, El Cajon. 

Sorry I didn't recognize you at first...I was looking for the service rep to pick up my X.  That was my wife Melissa by the way

[superslidestyle]

wish I could've been there.

[Grizzly]

This was our first run and we really enjoyed it. Thanks to Frank for being a great trip leader and it was nice to meet Oz and Carrie, John and Cindy, as well as Brian (#2) and four legged friends.