Goat Canyon Trestle 3-13-10

[FishPOET]

I left Norco at 10am on Friday March 12. I stopped in Poway to deliver some plaques. I drove out Scripps Poway Parkway to Hwy 67 and south to I-8. Poway is a fantastic area. Once in Ocotillo I headed North on S2. I headed West on EC119 "Dos Cabezas Rd" EC119 ended at EC158 and that took me all the way to camp. I was in camp by 2pm. Bill arrived at 3pm. We did a little exploring in his Highlander and we were back to camp around 5pm. Clark and James from Expo arrived just after 5pm. We had dinner and sat around the campfire until 9:30pm. We saw the fireworks show from NAS El Centro. The wind started picking up around 9pm and it blew most of the night.

Friday night/Saturday morning camp


Clark & James slept under the stars


Saturday morning at 8:30am Mat and Scott from MJR showed up in camp followed shortly by John. We arrived at the Mortero Palms trailhead right at 9am and met up with Vern. After a short tailgate meeting the 8 of us hit the trail.

First stop was Mortero Palms.










We continued our route up Palm Canyon


Taking a break in Palm Canyon


A nice view of the valley we started in far below


Climbing


View of our route


Climbing


More climbing


Still gaining altitude


View of our route


Carter and Butkus (the dogs) taking a water break


Mat & Scott just before we reached our highest elevation.


We finally reach Goat Canyon and start our descent.


As we start our descent into Goat Canyon we had 2 Cobra's buzz by


Descending


A huge Barrel Cactus. Looks more like a Saguaro Cactus.


Descending around the first dry waterfall


Descending in Goat Canyon


Taking a break in Goat Canyon


Descending in Goat Canyon

[FishPOET]

We can't see the trestle bridge yet but we get our first sight of the tracks off in the distance.


We come to our second and much larger dry waterfall that we must navigate around.


We climbed down this chute


And we get our first glimpse of the trestle


A little closer


Anticipation


This is what we just came down


Goat Canyon


The original plan was to build a longer tunnel and a much smaller trestle. This is the opening to the tunnel that failed.


Eye level with the tracks










We arrived at the trestle at 1pm. We had lunch and took pictures. We were back in camp at 4:30pm. The wind was howling so we moved closer to the mountains in Dos Cabezas Camp.

I was exhausted. I ate, cleaned up and I was in bed by 7pm. I think everyone was in bed by 9pm. The wind finally stopped blowing at 10pm.

Dos Cabezas Camp on Sunday morning.


Sunday morning was gorgeous. I said my goodbyes to everyone at 8am and hit the road for home. I was home at 1pm.

This was one of the most rewarding hikes I have ever been on. The scenery was spectacular and the trestle is amazing.

[curtis]

Great report and pictures. How long has that rail been closed?

[jpflat2a]

wow
nice pictures
my muscles are aching just reading about the trip
thanks for sharing
nice to see the desert so green from all the rain, too.

[FishPOET]

How long has that rail been closed?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrizo_Gorge_Railway

It is not closed.....but it has been at least 2 years since any rail traffic has been near the Carrizo Gorge.

Some other links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQLLDvsbnyw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Die...rizona_Railway

[Jason]

Sorry I missed that. Loved the pictures and thanks for sharing. What did the sign say?

[m38a1]

I'm sure you can't walk out onto the trestle ,can you? great pics looks like it was a great day. do I have to wait till next year to catch a trail boss going out there again?

[Materdaddy]

Sorry I missed that. Loved the pictures and thanks for sharing. What did the sign say?

[CENTER]RAILROAD PROPERTY

DANGER!

MOVING TRAINS

POSTED

NO TRESPASSING

VIOLATOR'S ARE SUBJECT TO
ARREST AND PROSECUTION.

CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE SECTIONS
369i, 587b, 602

CARRIZO GORGE RAILROAD POLICE
(619) 781-6107[/CENTER]

[OU812]

It was a tough hike but absolutely worth it. There was no part of the trail that was less than amazing. I will be doing this hike again soon I think. I have a few pictures. I’ll have to post them when I get home from work though.

[Borregowrangler]

What a great hike! Goat Canyon trestle was amazing. Brought back some great memories of when my dad used to take us out and drive out along the tracks in an old Ford Bronco. I'll be doing this again for sure.

The next day Clark & James followed me out along Pinyon Mountain Road. Then from Fish Creek we took Carrizo Wash to San Felipe Wash out to Hwy 78. From there I headed home while they had another couple of days to explore the desert. It was a great weekend! I'll post my pictures once I get them loaded.

[Britain]

Great Hike....I'm a bowl of jello now.

Heres my PICS

[caljeep]

That trestle is right out of a Bugs bunny cartoon.
What if you drove the tracks to get there?

[Borregowrangler]

What if you drove the tracks to get there?

You could probably get away with that now. You'd just need a vehicle with axles wide enough to straddle the tracks.

[FishPOET]

http://www.westcoastrailforums.com/v...4&forum_id=101

Info about the CZRY.

[FishPOET]

The trip is listed in SPOT Adventures

http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=190406