Rockhouse Valley

It has been my desire to visit Rockhouse Valley beyond the lower rock houses which up until now has been as far as I have ventured. Gary J., my hiking friend from work, has told me over the years about the other rock houses and interesting things him and others have visited and in some cases discovered. After the relative success of my last back pack I acquired some more gear including a larger backpack and a light weight stove.  Gary and his hiking friend Joel visit the upper rock houses once or twice a year. Also accompanying us on this trip were Andy D. from work, Jack, a long time friend of Joel's and Jackie, an extreme desert hiker and appreciator. 

Rockhouse Canyon is the first and later the last 3+ miles of the hike. The trail head is 13 miles from the black top. 10 miles of washboard and sand, past Clark Dry Lake and 3 miles of rocky, slow 4x4 low gear crawling to the end of the road.  Rockhouse Canyon opens up into Rockhouse Valley. Several of the pictures look back at this opening to show the scale of the valley which is bounded by the Santa Rosa mountains on the northeast and Buck Ridge to the southwest.

The first leg was to the old Santa Rosa Indian village. We arrived at dusk. Six+ miles and 1200 foot gain with a 45#  pack took its toll on me. We stayed up for an hour or so and turned in. The second leg was along a well marked trail. Another 1000 foot gain and several miles on a warm day. Arriving at the upper rock house area with its shady cottonwood tree was a welcome sight. We did a short trip down in Nicholias Canyon to see an old mining operation and some pictographs. After dinner, stargazing, brandy sipping, snack sharing and a campfire it was a full day. Sunday we spit in two groups. Joel, Jack and myself were off to the lone cottonwood tree and Jackie, Gary and Andy were going to climb Toro Peak (8700'). So after 5 hours, a 1100 foot gain, several ridges, multiple trail searches, many rest stops and brush trimming we made to the tree. An immediate nap was called for and I heard no complaints from either Joel or Jack. Joel saved the day later by finding a water seep just a few hundred feet down the wash. We spent the rest of the day poking around the Indian and white man artifacts. Joel also scouted a down canyon route for the morning.

Monday was the long hike back to the cars. We ultimately dropped into Alder canyon which was a freeway of all types of animal tracks. Sheep, cat, etc. We coincidently reunited with G, J & A at the convergence of Alder and Nicholias Canyon. For us it was about 7.5 hours to the cars with rest stops. I drank 5 liters of water on the hike and another liter on the hour drive back to the blacktop. The canyon temperature was in the high 90's when we hit it in the early afternoon.  As usual we stopped in Borrego Springs for buffalo burgers and cold drinks!