Anza Borrego - Clark Dry Lake and 17 Palms to Fonts Point

Mark (Kramer) and I took a drive out to Anza Borrego today. I also had friend Robert riding along with me. We were looking for something low key for an easy day trip, probably the last one before it gets too hot out there.

I've been meaning to check out Clark Dry Lake for a while, but there are usually a bunch of land yachts parked around it. Now that it's getting warmer they've all left, and we had the whole place to ourselves. Rockhouse Canyon Road is 2WD easy for about just over 10 miles, it runs along the edge and across part of the dry lake bed, and then continues up the canyon. Just after the split with Butler Canyon it gets really rocky before it ends at a hiking trail.

In addition to the bombing target, there was also an emergency landing strip on the lake bed during WWII. It looks a bit soft today. You can't drive right up to the strip, you do have to get out and walk a bit.

From there we wandered down to 17 Palms Oasis in search of a shady spot for lunch. Here's the view from my chair.

We went out to Vista del Malpais to check out the view. The wind was howling. From there we continued along Short Wash out to Fonts Wash, making a brief stop to show Mark the mini-hoodo rock/sand formations in Short Wash.

Time to leave Fonts Point. You can see Clark Dry Lake off in the distance.