On our way to Anza Borrego, Eris and I got stuck at the 79/S2 junction in a snowstorm. I had to use 4WD at 10mph just to get there, we spent the night in my truck and waited for the storm and roads to clear the next morning. I always wanted to see Anza Borrego with snow so this was really a blessing. We camped out for the weekend, did some easy hikes, and soaked at Agua Caliente before she went back to San Diego.

    With more weather coming in I flipped my plans and aimed for Kofa in Arizona – doing a rugged 3-day 125mi bikepacking loop, then meeting with friend Keith Winston to hike Signal Peak, the centerpiece of the range. Afterwards it was back to Anza Borrego to cycle a challenging 2-day 60 mile loop – Pinyon Wash to Split Mountain, returning along Kane Springs and Mine Wash. I hiked several summits in these few weeks, heading home thoroughly worn out, just the way it should be.

California: Borrego East Butte (repeat),  Agua Caliente Hot Spring, Arena Benchmark, Salton Sea camping (great on the east side), Cottonwood Mtn (Joshua Tree)

Arizona: Ibex Peak (nice scramble), Kofa bikepacking (included 3 peaks – P2760, Beehive, Lonesome Peak), Signal Peak (repeat, w/Keith)

Back to California: Micro Benchmark (w/Keith), ABSP bikepacking, misc peak hikes: P3001, P2684, P5868, Wooded Hill (a pleasant repeat)

I spent most of January and February working in Minnesota and made the best of my weekends, mostly concentrating on isolation peaks (isolation is the distance from a summit to the next highest piece of land). More isolated peaks (50mi+) aren’t as numerous as one might think, and there are only 39 in the contiguous states that have 100mi of isolation or more. Most of these mean a lot of driving with very little actual hiking, which I was fine with since temps were often below zero, and sometimes in the -30s with windchill. Some of these “peaks” aren’t really peaks at all, just bumps in the middle of nowhere, a testament to how flat the surroundings are.

Along with the isolation peaks I had some other fun – ice fishing in Minnesota, visiting childhood friends in Viroqua, exploring St Louis, visiting family in small town Illinois, and some other hikes as well. I put over 4000 miles on my rental cars and saw quite a bit of the midwest. I had a great time working and exploring theses last months. Here’s some of what I got to:

Height of Land Lookout (MN)  – 133mi isolation

Sugarbush Hill (WI) – 66mi isolation

Blue Mounds (WI) – 130mi isolation

Pilot Knob (IA) – 64mi isolation

Carroll County High Point (IA) – 78mi isolation

Roberts County High Point (SD) – 93mi isolation

Peaks along the Mississippi River – Barn Bluff, Charity Bluff, Kings Bluff, and exploring Redwing (MN)

Perrot Ridge, Brady’s Bluff, Trempealau Mountain in Perrot State Park (WI)

McClean County High Point (IL) -86 mi isolation

Buffalo Knob (MO) – 69mi isolation

Gateway Arch National Park and St Louis

Williams Hill (IL) – 91mi isolation

Sespe Hot Spring is my favorite backpack in SoCal and one of my favorite hot springs ever. This was my 4th time there by two different routes and it’s always a rejuvenating trip. I spent just one night there, soaking in the hot stream for many hours over the course of two days. I’d seen bighorn sheep here before, this time I shared the small valley with the largest band I’d ever seen. About 30 sheep including two rams and many young. I’m already looking forward to my next visit. The day before Sespe I cycled up Warm Springs Mountain, a prominent peak north of Castaic Lake with an abandoned inmate rehab center at its base.