Distance: 1.5 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 1927'
Elevation Gain: 543'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.4
Round trip time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on South Indian Canyon Road
Difficulty: Easy
I pulled off South Indian Canyon Road on the way back from Sombrero, just before it merges with North Indian Canyon. A word of advice to anyone following: drive a little further up the road before stopping. You'll save yourself some extra legwork getting to the benchmark. There was no trail here, and no use trail either. Palm Benchmark was a full cross-country boulder hop from start to finish. I worked my way up a large wash, gained the ridge, then followed the ridge toward the summit, trading a little elevation as I went. The high point stayed hidden until you're practically on top of it, which kept things interesting.
The summit itself was an 8-foot boulder with a benchmark bolted to the top and a register tucked inside a rusted can. Wes Shelberg placed it in 1997, and the signature count was surprisingly healthy for a peak this far off the beaten path. The view back to Sombrero was outstanding. Since the terrain was the same in every direction, I picked the most direct line down a nearby gully. Nothing harder than Class 2, but count on boulder hopping the whole way.
Back at the truck, I drove over to Egg Mountain. The dirt road went to the summit. There were no markers, and there's little worth writing up, so I'll leave it at that. While I was in the area, I swung north toward the Mountain Palm Springs palm groves near Egg. Anza-Borrego has been rolling out pay stations at popular spots across the park, and this one had a $10 parking fee for day hikers and $25 for camping. I understand the camping charge. The day-use fee for a roadside pullout gave me pause, so I pointed the truck toward home.
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