Anza Borrego 2012

"Curious if the tarptents were reoriented into the wind?"

We had zero wind all day. The forecast was something like 8-10 mph at night. Late in the afternoon we got a slight breeze when we got to our campsite around 4 PM, which is typical in the desert and decreases once the sun sets.

Jace and Jim set up their tents with the tails to the breeze. A little later the breeze shifted and was broadside to the tents. At this point Andy set up his tarp with the back to the new breeze direction and a creosote bush at the back too. Chad and I set up without shelters, but placed our bedding next to creosote bushes to block the breeze. A little later the breeze shifted again and was directly head-on to the two tents. As it got a little stronger, Chad set up a tarp with the back staked to the ground to the new breeze direction. In about 2 hours the breeze had shifted 180 degrees.

I was still not worried about much wind and left my shelter in my pack.

I purposely used the term breeze, because it was not that windy and strong winds were not in the forecast.

After we went to bed it really picked up. Around 4 AM the gusts were very strong. Andy estimated 45 MPH, and it could have been more. But the sky was pretty clear, so I was not worried about rain.

Regarding the tarptent setup, big lesson learned there. I think it would have held through the night had I not been too lazy/cold to get up and reorient it. The wind really was blasting the broad side of the tent after changing directions, and there was just no way it was going to stand with that much force on the lines. The stakes held well, the line tighteners just couldn't hold tension.

Nick, I'd also like to be included on the interest list for the Memorial trip, that would be a great target to put on the calendar to try and get in the best shape of my life, and shave a couple pounds off the pack between now and then.

I'm interested if there's a spot open on the C2C Memorial Day trip, definitely some great early season elevation training.

What a wonderful trip report and making me all envious. For some reason I never get invited to any of the group trips that the Japanese UL hikers do, not even told about them. After seeing this trip and the other recent BPL group trip GGG, I'm thinking of putting my own BPL trip together here in Japan.

One day, one day I'll get to do a hike in the desert! I'm fascinated by deserts and would love to join some of you guys one day in such walking country. It' a whole new environment for me! I've spent most of my life hiking mountains.

Thanks for the inspiration! Recently these kinds of trips seem to have gotten more frequent here on BPL. I wonder if it's because the whole BPL community is finally maturing?

Cart is still in the canyon-

The rubber is holding up surprisingly well. Did a similar trip early this month. Butler Canyon to all three Playas, down to Jackass Flat, out Rockhouse Canyon.

Few more Picshttps://imgur.com/a/WddUsgv