Whale Peak

Probably the most adventurous hike I have ever completed in my life, was at Whale Peak of the Anza-Borrego desert.

Red line indicates hike towards the TOP

Blue line indicates the hike BACK

At the trailhead (although technically there's no trail!)

We started off at around 6.30AM when Chuck picked me up and headed to Anza-Borrego state park (the largest state park in California) which is in the eastern side of San Diego. It was about a 2 hour drive to reach the trailhead and required some off-roading too~! Situated in the desert, I knew this was going to be interesting as I've never been to the desert for real in my life~!

We even managed to see some ancient pictographs at the foot of the mountain.

Are we there yet???

Whale Peak was the most technical hike of all hikes in the schedule. There were ALOT of boulder climbing, bush crawling, and cliff hanging... okay, there were no cliffs... but let me tell you this, in any hike that you take, the last thing you want to experience is getting lost in the desert! You see, the hike that we took didn't have a trail for us to follow. But we had "professionals" on our team with GPS navigators and other hikers leaving ducks (a trail mark in the form of stacked stones) so that we can find our way. Although we are sure to find our destination with the GPS, it doesn't necessarily tell you the best route to get there (and no GPS is clever enough to tell you, "make a left turn after the bush in 300 feet!"), so we have to figure out ourselves the way to get there (and the straight line is definitely not the easiest route!).

Taking break in the shade among the boulders

We made it to the TOP... after 3 gruelling hours!!!

Irina looking fabulous against the view of the Salton Sea

Me, Grace and Tracy at the very peak!

Eddie (Lisa's son) doing his balancing act while I do my squats~!

Even though we were in the desert, there were alot of unique vegetation that is beyond normal. Needless to say, my perspective of the desert made a 180 degree turn as it is not necessarily a place of morbid emptiness!

It is MUCH steeper than it looks!

The grand finale was the best in this super technical hike, where we traveled a little further to the dry-falls. The dry falls is a dried-up waterfall that runs through the valley during the rainy season, then opens up to a vast opening in the crack of the ridge before it plunges more that 600 feet below. Since it wasn't the rainy season, hikers can maneuver through the crack of the mountain until you reach the opening. The view from the opening, SPECTACULAR~!!!

Enjoying the amazing view at the crack of ridge, Dry Falls.

I have to honestly say, when I saw the valley through the opening, my breath was literally taken away by the splendor of the view. Needless to say, I got teary eyed!

Our path required us to climb in the crevace of two mountains. Hence the arduous yet exciting boulder climbs.

Notice the blue extension near the base? That was the path towards the amazing Dry Falls!

Notice how embarrasingly wriggly our path (in red) towards the peak?!

I've never felt such humbleness to the greatness of mother nature. The Whale Peak hike at Anza-Borrego was truly a humbling experience. The desert, the views, the fact that we took a longer and harder route to get to the top were all part of the adventure package. It is definitely one of those things that I can add to the highlights of my life~