The Desert Trail

I like snowshoeing and backcountry skiing well enough – in fact we just spent a weekend in Marble CO skiing McClure Pass – but what I really like is walking. And by late winter, it’s been too long since I’ve been able to throw pack on my back and travel through the backcountry.

The obvious solution is to head down to the desert.

But which one? I did a loop through Organ Pipe Cactus NM last winter, dodging migrants and mysterious lights under a lunar eclipse. That was good, but I feel like I covered much of that area.

My neighbor, who happens to be the editor of Backpacker magazine, suggested I hike the Tohono O’odham reservation just east of Organ Pipe – he would be interested in a story.

But a bit of research revealed that his interest was spurred by the allure of the forbidden: the O’odham don’t want strangers in in their backcountry, and they especially would not want a story about it published in a national magazine.

I suppose I could have asked nicely and promised not to write anything but figured if they want to be left alone maybe I should just respect that and not badger them.

I let the matter rest but a lull in consulting work presented itself. It was time to hike.

I recalled some posts by Dirtmonger about something called the Desert Trail and visited his fine blog.

The DT runs from Mexico to Oregon through the Mojave and Great Basin deserts. A walk through the Mojave, with its bare granite spires skirted by broad alluvial plains- yes, that should work.

The Desert Trail is of course not a trail but a route, a combination of bushwhacks and jeep roads through desolate country. It was scouted out in the 90s by the Desert Trail Association, but never really caught on. The PCT, just a few miles to the west, sees thousands of hikers per year; the DT might see a dozen or it might see none at all. No one really knows.

I got in touch with Steve Tabor of the Desert Trail Association, who worked out much of the route and put together a set of guidebooks.

There hasn’t been much call for these books in recent (or maybe any) years. Steve had them in storage but graciously dug them out and sent them pronto as I was all afire to start hiking ASAP.

The guidebooks are wonderful. They not only detail the route, but are full of information on the geology, botany and zoology of the various deserts through which the trail passes. Most of all, they should help me avoid getting cliffed out or stuck under a 20 foot pouroff in a narrow canyon.

I’ve been working on a few new recipes this winter and now I’ll get to try them out.

Here they are: posole; Navy beans with ham, peas and carrots; cheesy macaroni with tomato sauce; cheesy macaroni with pork adobado, Thai noodles with sesame peanut sauce. That will get me through the Anza Borrego section, about 75 miles.

And here is the approximate route:

Reports are that the wildflowers have responded to some decent winter rains this year. Should be a good hike.