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Buck Ridge trends southeast to northwest at elevations between 4000 to 5000 feet and parallels the crest of the Santa Rosa Mountains. Its southern high point is Peak 4458. From this site, you will be rewarded with exceptional panoramic views east and north over Rockhouse Canyon and Rockhouse Valley and west toward Jackass Flat, Coyote Canyon, and the mountainous western perimeter of Anza Borrego Desert State Park and the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation.
With the change in caching policy for Anza Borrego Desert State Park, many of Team Gecko’s favorite caches were archived and removed by the owner. GCRQKG, our Gecko Gateway to Rockhouse Valley, was originally positioned near the State Park boundary at the San Diego/Riverside County line. This new hide is a reincarnation of that cache using the same Christmas theme metal container relocated to BLM land near the Peak 4458 summit register. From this promontory, you can trace the entire ridgeline route that ascends from S22 to Villager Peak, Rabbit Peak, Dawn’s Peak, and Toro Peak.
Rockhouse Canyon and Rockhouse Valley represent one of the most secluded areas of San Diego County. I did not see another person nor encounter any fresh boot prints during a three-day, two-night, 25-mile dry camp backpack over the 2008 Easter break period. I started my climb from N33 27.465, W 116 22.780 in the main wash about 1/2 mile beyond the lower ruins of Rockhouse Valley. Round trip distance from the Rockhouse Canyon trailhead was approximately 13 miles with an elevation gain of 2700 feet, with 1500 feet of that gain encountered in the last 1 1/2 miles.
The valley was occupied by the Rockhouse Valley Indians until shortly after 1900 when the last families of these Mountain Cahuilla people finally gave up their defense of the valley and relocated to the Santa Rosa Indian Reservation.
Two notable features of Rockhouse Valley are the rock house ruins at the south end and the Old Santa Rosa Indian Village at the north end. According to Diana Lindsay’s “Anza Borrego A to Z” (highly recommended as an Anza Borrego reference resource) the three rock houses at the south end were probably the Cahuilla village of Kewel. In Lester Reed’s classic “Old Time Cattlemen and Other Pioneers of the Anza-Borrego Area”, Reed indicates the last chief of the Rockhouse Valley Indians was Manuel Tortes, who occupied one of the these three houses. The Andreas family lived in one of the others. These were the last members of the Sauicpakiktum lineage to live in the valley. According to Cahuilla informants, in the colder months the families moved their village south to Hidden Spring at a site known as Ataki. The last known occupant of Rockhouse Valley was Calistro Torte, who was born at Hidden Spring. There is also the legend of a lost emerald mine somewhere in the Rockhouse Valley area, as recounted by Marshall South in the last published article he wrote for Desert Magazine (Desert Trails, December 1948).
Access is via the Clark’s Well Road/Rockhouse Truck Trail, starting from its junction with S22 a short distance east of the Pegleg Smith Monument at N 33 17.653, W 116 17.414. The road gets pretty rough about 9 miles north of S22 beyond the junction with Butler Canyon. High clearance vehicles can make it another 3 miles to where the road terminates at N 33 25.030, W 116 23.167. This is the start of the hiking path to Hidden Spring and the entrance to the main gorge of Rockhouse Canyon. This is dramatic desert country with truly topsy turvy geology including colorful schists, granitic dikes, and huge boulders. The gorge is particularly beautiful late in the afternoon when the descending sun lights up the canyon walls.
The usual desert hazards apply, including a 20-foot dry fall to ascend in lower Rockhouse Canyon and an abundance of thorny agave, cholla, and yucca and steep, rocky terrain on the lower slopes of the peak. Please make sure you bring ample water as there is none available in lower Rockhouse Valley – Cottonwood Spring noted on USGS Topographic maps is no longer present and Hidden Spring is not a reliable source. Depending on the time of year you visit, you may experience snow and subfreezing temperatures or exceptionally hot, dry conditions, possibly in consecutive days as was the case for my most recent hike.
Enjoy!
References:
Anza-Borrego A to Z: People, Places, and Things, Diana Lindsay, Sunbelt Publications, 2001
Old Time Cattlemen and Other Pioneeers of the Anza-Borrego Area, Lester Reed, Anza-Borrego Natural History Association, 1963/1986
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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