February has been a very busy month for us! We started it off with a great trip to Aqua Caliente with Triple B Adventures, a great San Diego based non-profit focused on getting veterans and active duty military members out camping, hunting, fishing and hiking. This was one of their best trips yet, with twenty vets and active duty service members, representing the Marines, Army, Navy and Coast Guard. All converging on Aqua Caliente, a great regional park located in East San Diego County, bordering Anza Borrego State park. This park is a must visit, with easy access, nestled against the mountains and overlooking the desert with great views.
Aqua Caliente is a unique desert camping experience in southern California for a few reasons. Its ease of access makes it a great stepping off point for the novice camper or the seasoned adventurer. Being open for a limited time (between Labor Day and Memorial Day) puts visiting here at the top of the list for winter desert camping. The camp ground accommodates everything from climate controlled cabins, RV spots with hook ups, and tent camping with accessible and clean facilities. Among the highlights that really set it apart are the well maintained trails with amazing access to many unique desert environments, from high ridgelines to desert marshes. The crown jewel being hot spring fed pools and an indoor hot pool with jacuzzi jets. Believe me, taking a soak and having the ability to take a shower out there is amazing. All of this is available for a very reasonable price and it’s only an hour to an hour and a half from San Diego.
This campground was a great place to have a group campout, especially with a group like Triple B Adventures. It made it possible for a very diverse group of vets to converge around the campfire and connect. Friday, we were surprised to see that we were beat to the campground by Mr. Baggins who had already made a rock sculpture of our people, ha-ha. We had a great secluded campsite and one of our neighbors was nice enough to move so we could wagon wheel up. We were able to set up and get to camping and cooking meat on the fire. It was great. Socializing into the evening, the rangers were kind enough to inform us of quiet hours and helped us extinguish our fire. Saturday was awesome because everyone could break off and do their own thing. Some hung around and relaxed, others went on local hikes or explored deeper into Anza Borrego. Later in the afternoon, everyone met back up, cooked dinner, and socialized. A few of us made sure to take advantage of the pools.
This was one of the best camping trips I have had in a while, between the great location and awesome company. Sunday was like the last day of summer camp with nobody wanting to leave. As I write this post I’m hoping you read it before Memorial Day and get a chance to go there, check it out, catch the spring bloom or see the native big horned sheep. So, until next time, I hope you learned about another great place in our backyard, and if we don’t see you there hopefully we will run into you getting the Fox Out There!