Santa Rosa Indian Ruins

“We backpacked into Rockhouse Canyon, made our way to somewhere between 3800' and 4000' on the north end of the canyon. With the weather forecast promising rain. Our desire to find and investigate these ruins was not dampened in the least. We drove out friday and spent the night near the trailhead. The next morning we drove in father and then put on our packs loaded with food, gear and water. And headed out on our weekend adventure!

The rest of the trip report is with the pictures.

http://community.webshots.com/user/wld257”

“Thanks for sharing!

Santa Rosa Indian Ruins ”

“wow! what a neat thing to do..!
inviting and enticing pics.......thanks for sharing!”

“Very cool indeed. What were the temps?”

“Nice! Who took the pictures?”

“Cool hike.”

“That was a great trip report! I really enjoyed reading through it and seeing the pictures of ruins, artifacts, hikers and camp life.”

“The pictures were taken by myself, JDSmiling and Snow Nymph.
The temps were in the 60's during the day. To the high 30 and low 40's during the night.
Snow Nymph's report should be coming out soon and she took some great pictures.”

“Great trip report. Can you tell us something about the Indians that lived there and when?”

“Actually Snow Nymph is about ready to post her report and she has listed all the facts..

SN post it girl, post it... LOL”

“Backpacked in Anza Borrego Desert this weekend with WLD and JDsmiling, in search of the Santa Rosa Indian Ruins.

WLD drove his new Dodge Ram as far as he could without 4WD (~10 miles). I arrived after midnight, and drove 1.3 mi past them before I stopped for the night. He told me green & beige, and in the dark it looked black. It was dark green and silver....

Saturday morning I backtracked, looking for them. I brought some muffins from Coco's bakery (couldn't find a small cake) for WLDs belated birthday. We loaded my 4Runner, and drove back 1.3 miles. The tire tracks continued up the wash to the left, and there weren't any other vehicles parked out there, so we followed the tracks. WLD got out several times to guide me where it looked like it would be a tight squeeze. It was rough for a few feet, but once over the rough spots, the path was clear. This went on for 1 mile before we got (almost) to the waterfall (2000’). End of the road for me, although there were tire tracks (and a few oil spills) going up a little ways.

We decided to carry extra water in case we couldn’t find the spring. (add 5 lbs 10 oz to my pack = 31 lbs). We followed the winding Rockhouse Canyon wash to Rockhouse Valley. It opened up here, and another ½ mile took us to the Rockhouse Ruins (3000’). We followed the cairns up the rocky bench between two washes to the ruins on the hill, and had lunch in one of the three rockhouses. From here we had views of Rockhouse Valley, Nicholias Canyon, El Toro Peak, Buck Ridge, and the Santa Rosa Mountains.

Supposedly, one of the rock houses belonged to the Manuel Tortes family. Tortes was one of the last chiefs of the Rockhouse Valley Cahuilla. Another house belonged to the Andreas family, and the third rockhouse may have been built by miner Nicholas Swartz, who was reputed to have taken $18,000 worth of gold nuggets out of his mine. Nicholias Canyon is named for either Nicholas Swartz or Mountain Cahuilla Indian Nicholas Guanche and is misspelled on maps. The ruins of Guanche’s rockhouse are on a ridge east of the canyon near one of the springs (next trip)

After lunch we followed the GPS, walking around juniper, yucca, a few cottonwoods and alders and rabbitbrush and over boulders and thru washes. I just love hiking in sand! (yeah, right!) I developed blisters on my foot where the sock liner bunched up. The yucca thorns made JDSmiling a pincushion on this part of the hike.

The last ¼ mi, I followed the GPS, while WLD and JDSmiling followed the ducks that were appearing everywhere. I was pretty excited as the numbers on the GPS got smaller and smaller, then read ‘xxx feet’. What a disappointment when I stood on the edge of a hole. Another .14 miles and I caught up to the others, who had just set their packs down at the first rockhouse (3800’+). The coordinates WLD sent were a rough guess on topozone.com, so he was close. We explored a little (WLD found the 2nd rockhouse), set up camp, had dinner, and when it got cold and windy outside, we went inside our tents, and talked thru the tent walls . . . til WLD dozed off. ZZZzzzzzz!

The next morning was windy, so we cooked breakfast inside (their vestibule and my tent). The sun came out and it got really hot. Then the clouds came in and it got cold. We packed up and went exploring. Another group (family w/lotsa kids) were nearby and found the other ruins. So we got to see all 5 rockhouses. One had a stove/fireplace, another one had pieces of olla (pottery), a bighorn sheep horn, and fireplace, and the other was small, maybe for storage. I wandered uphill (tired of hiking flat) and found the spring/seep from the map. Around 11:30 we headed back as the clouds got darker. We felt a few drops of rain, and put the pack covers and raingear on. We headed back via the wash and after about 3 miles we stopped for lunch.

We arrived at my truck where we started (remember, I drove almost to the waterfall), and found a note scribbled on the back window. “Cars not allowed here. Keep out!”. We didn’t see signs, and we followed the tire tracks in, so we didn’t see any harm in parking there. Then after driving 500 ft, I stopped. “That wasn’t there!” Someone built a wall to block us in! So the three of us moved the boulders. WLD moved the big ones for us. Someone probably spent some time building that wall, and it took us less than 5 minutes to knock it down. Later, WLD gave me the note that was on my windshield. If I was upset, he wasn’t going to let me see it. It was unsigned, on scrap paper, claiming it was a restricted area, with a few typos. On the way out, we didn’t see any signs.

This was a fun weekend, and it was kewl finding the ruins. Next time, we need time to find the pictographs, the emerald mines, Guanche’s rockhouse, Cottonwood Springs, and explore Nicholias Canyon.

I met WLD and JDSmiling 1 year ago on this weekend. How about that! Also, used my new Kelty Flight on this trip. Shoulder straps don’t dig in like the Mtnsmith. Luv it!

Still working on photos. You can get a sneak preview if you know how to get to it!”

“I'm still working on them, so come back later. Thanks WW!”

“Did you go digital? Or... are you really fast at developing? :)”

“Not yet. Costco 1 hr developing(photos plus CD). Would have had them up last night, but I went out for drinks, then got sleepy before I finished it. What a lightweight!”

“But I'm really stoked...
I ordered my Precip jacket and pants tonight!!!”

“That's what I use! This was my first time using the jacket. Been using the pants for a year or so.

I used the Precip set this weekend with the Patagonia 4R Windbloc jacket and a layer of expedition wt capilene long underwear and fleece pants. Kept me warm enough even with the wind. Had the acorn fleece socks on, but the feet got hot and the socks got a little damp. Used Marmot windblock gloves anda fleece hat. This layering kept me comfortable.”

“I used my REI dividend and got them set for $95.83 plus tax and shipping!!!”

“Thanks for posting the report and photos. Great trip!! WLD, loved that storm shot coming in behind everyone.

SN,.. maybe earplugs should be considered a first aid essential. 8P

BTW, there's a "29 minute photo" place nearby and they do great work. So, if anyone asks, it CAN be done!”

“Snow Nymph, maybe someone built the wall on the tracks to keep 4 X 4's from continuing going in...and then later realized your truck was farther ahead...just a thought. But than, if the wall was only 500 ft from your truck, they would've seen it.

BTW, a very good trip report...will check out the pics tomorrow...freaking comp is so slow, and it's too late now.”

“We checked the odometer. We were 1 mile in from where the others parked. The wall was around the corner from where we parked. Combined with the notes on the window and paper, I think someone was not happy. A ranger would have cited me, and wouldn't have put the wall up. I want to go back to check out some of the things we missed, but also to see if there was a sign anywhere saying it was a restricted area. Just curious....”

“Thanks for the research and great pictures Snow Nymph.... It was a great time... Now I am curious about the Nicolas Canyon Ruins and area. Tooo. I will be send you a picture of the pictograph I spoke of on the trip...”

“I got a good laugh, Saturday night, when we were in our tents to get out of the wind. I was in my Stephenson Warmlite, all alone. I could hear WLD & JDSmiling.... "move over"...."I am"...."this is the Walrus, not the Marmot"...."lets sell the two tents and get a Warmlite".....”

“Good stuff. Thanks!! So, just to clarify, these ruins were from pioneer families in the area, and not Native Americans?”

“I am glad you enjoy it Lizs...
Actually these rock houses were the homes of Native American Indians. From the Cahuilla Tribes. Manuel Torte was the Chief of the Rockhouse Valley Indians. The last of the Native American Cahuilla to live there was Calistro Torte a decendant of the Chiefs. According to Historian Lester Reed. There is a good book called the Forgotten Artist by Manfred Knaak. That speaks of the Anza Borrego Native Americans. And is a great resourse for Pictographs. There was a miner who also lived there at sometime. You can find that in Snow Nymphs trip report.”

“WLD, I found the pack cover for JDSmiling.

Did you order the Warmlite yet????? LOL!!! You guys are funny....”

“Great trip reports and pictures,... Thanks for sharing them with us!”

“Great pic and report... Enjoyed it a lot. Hey SnowNymph... R you gonna go on the Ishi Trip?”