The Ghosts of Bow Willow in the Anza Borrego

(click on picture to enlarge, click on x in top right to return)

                                                     

Bow Willow campground is located about 15 miles from Ocotillo on Highway 2. The turnoff toward the west is just past the Carrizo Wash. We have been going there since the early 90's. My grandfather had a place in Ocotillo in the 50's and I went there frequently to hike and shoot .22 rifles at beer cans and other assorted targets. My grandfather and I would eat at the Miller's Cafe and go to the Miller's garage for men talk. Here is what the Miller Garage looks like now:

Since Ocotillo is not in the Anza Borrego State Park, it has become a focus of the alternative energy plan of SDG & E. My grandfather probably would have considered this catastrophic. The native Americans who endured the white guy migration probably would have gone along with this assessment. OK, Miller is one ghost down.

The next ghost is the ghost of the "gol danged" Indians. If we are talking about a percentage blood type to get a good monthly stipend, we are not on the same page. "All the Wild and Lonely Places" is kind of my go to book on the Anza Borrego, its people and  history.

 I am seeing big holes in rock made by these people. This did not happen overnight!

This is seventy feet from our campsite. There were at least 14000 people here when the newcomers came and started their deal at about 1830. At the turn of the century, there were about 1,000 left. Assimilation means you are the losers. Good luck to the casinos to get some of it back.

If the truth be known, many times truth is in the heart of the beholder.The indigenous tribes  knew water sources could become dry and lakes disappear... .In 1992 and 1993, water filled the Bow Willow Creek!

This is maybe a quarter mile from the campsite. Water is everywhere.

Things change. If you are a local in the 1800's, things are changing very fast. Your people are getting sick from weird diseases. The whites are grabbing the good hunting land to feed their cows.Your  bows look weak in comparison to a repeater. God, this is not fun and the outcome looks pretty certain.

So, we are having a fun vacation and the ghosts are upon us. Kathy remembers Alli with us at Bow Willow in the early 90's. I remember my grandfather at Ocotillo, telling me that we are lucky to experience this. We both remember the shared times with our friends in times past. Who doesn't remember something about the past that is associated with a place that we revisit?

So, here I am.I'm thinking about my grandfather, who did all deals on a handshake. I haven't done many deals lately with a handshake.

So, Kathy and I are still thinking about our friends and family at this place we have been for 20 plus years. Somehow it is not the same with just us. Do we require the quietude that surrounds us every moment?

Do we learn from the quiet that has been created through the white man's rediscovery of a place that wasn't a "wild and lonely" place in the past?

Chief Francisco Patencio says:
" All the wild and lonely places, the mountain springs
  are called now. They were not lonely or wild places in
  the past days - no. They were the homes of my people,
  who lived contented and happy. Sometimes an Indian
  goes back into the mountains to a spring of water.
  There
  he visits, alone the home of his ancestors."

Hogue in AWLP  cites:  "When the time comes" they (the Cahuilla) would say, meaning that catastrophe could strike at any moment. We look at the difference between 1992 and now in Bow Willow Creek. Now the creek is dry. 20 years ago, it was a paradise.

So, as you may have guessed, my deal is the nature of change. Your mother dies, it is a terrible thing. My mother dies and it is a catastrophe. The closer to home the more the tragedy. My problem is that the tragedy was for the native american people, not the inclusive us.

The native american lived closer to the land and understood that big change was just around the corner.  A careful observer of the desert sees overuse of ancient water vaults. The book "Cadillac Desert" documents some of our arrogance toward this precious resource. What will the future hold for us that have been here a few hundred years? Sometimes science fiction isn't about space ships and alien beings. The book "The Water Knife" (by Paolo Bacigalupi) instead uses the theory of "Cadillac Desert" and paints a picture of states and power barons fighting over the water rights to the Colorado river. Phoenix and other cities become losers in the water struggle. The inhabitants are thirsty and subject to the rule of gangs and thugs. It isn't a pretty picture.

This is looking up Carrizo Gorge from Egg Mountain. To taste it's secrets, carry plenty of water and hope for a breeze. Bring a stick to scare off the snakes! At the top is the giant wood trestle.

So we are going to do Canyon Sin Nombre on mountain bikes tomorrow. Love the adventure of this ride and the fact that Kathy is going to do it with me.

The route is quite simple and here are instructions and a map to help you do it. Take the dirt road from the campground and go back to s22. Turn right on the pavement and proceed up Sweeney Pass. Close to the scenic overlook of the badlands, drop down Canyon Sin Nombre at the above sign. Enjoy the passage through the canyon and it's story of geologic time. When you are through the canyon, turn left at the first junction and head west toward Sombrero Peak, using Carrizo Creek wash. You will pass a Tamarisk grove (called "the trees") just before making it back to S22. Go north and they retrace you downhill ride towards the campground.

On a mountain bike, downhill in soft sand is really fun. Keep the speed up to stay on top and just point it. Going up hill, not so much. The good part is going up to the top of the hill on a paved road, then hitting the overlook and giving a hoot all the way down to the trail that hooks back up north towards the west.

Toward the top and with Sombrero Peak towards the right (west) side.

After reaching the bottom of the canyon, take a left and head back toward Sombrero Peak (west). It is a mild uphill filled with creosote bushes and their colonies. One such colony in the Mohave is estimated at over 10,000 years old. The desert people used these bushes to help cure 14 different conditions.

We arrived back at the campground, a 15 mile loop. Fortunately, it was 5 o'clock somewhere and we celebrated our good fortune with a nice glass of wine.

If you have Google Earth installed and want to take a virtual tour of the bike ride: Click on the link below to download the kml file of the ride. A map will come up with the menu on the left top side. Select "File" and then "download". The kml file will be in your downloads folder. Click on the kml file and you will activate Google Earth and can get a bird's eye view of our route.
Click here to download kml file