Anza Borrego Desert Camping

“You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” Rumi

At 25 I had never camped a day in my life, so I decided for my first time to drive out into the middle of the desert. In the middle of one of the hottest summers. With a couple of friends (Not very smart, friends. Seriously you guys, it was a 100 degrees!) we packed my car and took off to Anza Borrego. It was my goal to hike out to see Goat Canyon Trestle, an abandoned railway.

These wind mills have a very important task of keeping the desert cool. #truefacts

Right after I got off work at 8 am, it was off to explore new horizons! By the time we arrived around noon, it was awfully hot and I was likely delirious from lack of sleep. Working graveyard makes you do crazy things, like hike out to the desert mid-summer.

My sharp instincts failed to realize a hat would be necessary. BUT my pack-rat tendencies meant there was a sombrero from Cinco de Mayo in my car! SCORE!!!! I recommend sombreros for hiking in the heat, seriously. The thing was amazingly breezy & the shade from it covered everything.

Proud members of the magnificent hat club.

The hike was much harder and longer than expected. Unfortunately, we never made it to the trestle that day. Daylight was waning, it was quite a journey back and we hadn’t set up any sort of camp. Despite not accomplishing my goal, it was still a lovely trek with lots of challenges. Our campsite was pretty amazing as well!