Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Diego neighborhoods: Borrego

Desert misfits, off-road destruction, Marshal South’s hermit family, bad hike through Borrego Badlands, famous authors see the desert in literary lenses

 There are dinosaur tracks in the Fish Creek Mountains. - Image by Robert Burroughs
There are dinosaur tracks in the Fish Creek Mountains.

Hell with the Fire Gone Out

There is a small library in town, but not a single stoplight. Parking is free. There is no hospital in Borrego, which, I’m told, militates against larger development. A U.S. post office was established in 1926, only after drinking water was found. Earthquake insurance, which is hard to get, not being a moneymaker for insurance companies, is very expensive, I was told, and carries a high deductible. There is only one black person in town and one Asian.

By Alexander Theroux, Feb. 13, 1997 | Read full article

"I told him they hadn’t had water since this morning. I think I worried him that they were dying.”

Treading Near the Edge

Steve decided to trail back and look for him. Larry and Ralph waited, but a half an hour passed and no one came back. Larry called for Steve but no one answered. Ralph was worried. He was concerned about conserving the remaining water, and this minor manhunt was wasting valuable energy. Ralph and Larry decided to split up and look for them. Soon Larry came upon Eric and later they found Steve a little way below.

By Desiree Webber, July 23, 1981 | Read full article

Sponsored
Sponsored
Carrizo Gorge. The menacing tunnels are still there, with their long-deserted railroad bridges and their mass of enmeshed girders.

Emptiness Remains an Addiction

The Spanish hated the desert. For them it was a vision of Hell. What they had loved in California was the coastlands, so European in climate and form, in every way reminiscent if the shores of the Mediterranean from which they had come. It was the Spanish who named so many of its dry washes after the devil. The Spanish, so close to the Sahara and its vehement denizens, could never have sentimentalized a desert.

By Lawrence Osborne, Aug. 20, 1992 | Read full article

Vandalized Opal near Coachella Canal

Where Demons Thrive

“They usually don't get hassled by the locals because people who live in the desert have a tendency not to look, to turn their heads, to respect privacy. Most law enforcement people in the desert are probably a little more tolerant. We let people do strange things as long as they don’t interfere with other people. They can display their bizarre behavior and get away with it, no neighbors peeking over the back fence.”

By Steve Sorensen, May 3, 1984 | Read full article

Anza-Borrego. "It’s beautiful. That’s why it’s a state park. It’s very scenic compared to flat desert."

Are Off-Roaders Destroying Anza-Borrego?

"A green-sticker dune buggy decides to drive in past the closure sign and fiddle around. There’s a camper back in there, and they have a verbal duel. The camper takes down the guy’s green-sticker number, but he doesn’t want to file a complaint because the off-roader was so abusive. I don’t think bad apples like that can be contained by peer pressure. The group can’t police itself, even if it wanted to — the rogues are too independent.’’

By Lawrence Hogue, Aug. 31, 1989 | Read full article

Motorheads. “They’re fellow human beings. This is the only way they know how to enjoy their recreation time."

Don’t Fence Me In

Their families and friends in dune buggies are waiting in line over at Blow Sand to take a run at the big dune. When it’s their turn they give the throttle a few trial revs, then tromp on it, pounding into the hillside, their faces pelted by a hot rain of sand, their bodies bouncing weightlessly up to the roll bar and back, while the driver's elbows fly around the steering wheel.

By Steve Sorensen, April 13, 1978 | Read full article

The remains of the South home. The 2x4 framing still stands here and there, but the corrugated tin roof and all the windowpanes have disappeared.

The Hermits of Ghost Mountain

Tanya and the children didn’t stay there long but soon moved to a four-room unit at the Frontier Federal Housing Project, not far from the present-day intersection of Midway Drive and Sports Arena Boulevard. As they settled into their promising new life, Marshal’s future couldn’t have looked bleaker. He was 61 years old, penniless, suddenly stripped of his regular income. He settled into the Julian Library, sleeping on a little cot and using the attached bathroom.

By Jeannette De Wyze, Oct. 17, 1991 | Read full article

Peninsular bighorn sheep. Males sport distinctive horns, like massive curled cornucopias.

Swiss Cheese Desert

This is arid wilderness where you may catch a glimpse of a golden eagle on the wing or watch the dust wake of a roadrunner. Other residents include the swift-footed kit fox, long-eared mule deer, desert iguana, mountain lion, and ingeniously designed chuckwalla. When frightened, a chuckwalla retreats into its hole and inflates its lizard lungs with air, increasing its size so much that it can’t be extracted — nature’s own ship-in-a-bottle.

By Jeanne Schinto, March 9, 2000 | Read full article

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Fellini of Clairemont High

When gang showers were standard for gym class
Next Article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island
 There are dinosaur tracks in the Fish Creek Mountains. - Image by Robert Burroughs
There are dinosaur tracks in the Fish Creek Mountains.

Hell with the Fire Gone Out

There is a small library in town, but not a single stoplight. Parking is free. There is no hospital in Borrego, which, I’m told, militates against larger development. A U.S. post office was established in 1926, only after drinking water was found. Earthquake insurance, which is hard to get, not being a moneymaker for insurance companies, is very expensive, I was told, and carries a high deductible. There is only one black person in town and one Asian.

By Alexander Theroux, Feb. 13, 1997 | Read full article

"I told him they hadn’t had water since this morning. I think I worried him that they were dying.”

Treading Near the Edge

Steve decided to trail back and look for him. Larry and Ralph waited, but a half an hour passed and no one came back. Larry called for Steve but no one answered. Ralph was worried. He was concerned about conserving the remaining water, and this minor manhunt was wasting valuable energy. Ralph and Larry decided to split up and look for them. Soon Larry came upon Eric and later they found Steve a little way below.

By Desiree Webber, July 23, 1981 | Read full article

Sponsored
Sponsored
Carrizo Gorge. The menacing tunnels are still there, with their long-deserted railroad bridges and their mass of enmeshed girders.

Emptiness Remains an Addiction

The Spanish hated the desert. For them it was a vision of Hell. What they had loved in California was the coastlands, so European in climate and form, in every way reminiscent if the shores of the Mediterranean from which they had come. It was the Spanish who named so many of its dry washes after the devil. The Spanish, so close to the Sahara and its vehement denizens, could never have sentimentalized a desert.

By Lawrence Osborne, Aug. 20, 1992 | Read full article

Vandalized Opal near Coachella Canal

Where Demons Thrive

“They usually don't get hassled by the locals because people who live in the desert have a tendency not to look, to turn their heads, to respect privacy. Most law enforcement people in the desert are probably a little more tolerant. We let people do strange things as long as they don’t interfere with other people. They can display their bizarre behavior and get away with it, no neighbors peeking over the back fence.”

By Steve Sorensen, May 3, 1984 | Read full article

Anza-Borrego. "It’s beautiful. That’s why it’s a state park. It’s very scenic compared to flat desert."

Are Off-Roaders Destroying Anza-Borrego?

"A green-sticker dune buggy decides to drive in past the closure sign and fiddle around. There’s a camper back in there, and they have a verbal duel. The camper takes down the guy’s green-sticker number, but he doesn’t want to file a complaint because the off-roader was so abusive. I don’t think bad apples like that can be contained by peer pressure. The group can’t police itself, even if it wanted to — the rogues are too independent.’’

By Lawrence Hogue, Aug. 31, 1989 | Read full article

Motorheads. “They’re fellow human beings. This is the only way they know how to enjoy their recreation time."

Don’t Fence Me In

Their families and friends in dune buggies are waiting in line over at Blow Sand to take a run at the big dune. When it’s their turn they give the throttle a few trial revs, then tromp on it, pounding into the hillside, their faces pelted by a hot rain of sand, their bodies bouncing weightlessly up to the roll bar and back, while the driver's elbows fly around the steering wheel.

By Steve Sorensen, April 13, 1978 | Read full article

The remains of the South home. The 2x4 framing still stands here and there, but the corrugated tin roof and all the windowpanes have disappeared.

The Hermits of Ghost Mountain

Tanya and the children didn’t stay there long but soon moved to a four-room unit at the Frontier Federal Housing Project, not far from the present-day intersection of Midway Drive and Sports Arena Boulevard. As they settled into their promising new life, Marshal’s future couldn’t have looked bleaker. He was 61 years old, penniless, suddenly stripped of his regular income. He settled into the Julian Library, sleeping on a little cot and using the attached bathroom.

By Jeannette De Wyze, Oct. 17, 1991 | Read full article

Peninsular bighorn sheep. Males sport distinctive horns, like massive curled cornucopias.

Swiss Cheese Desert

This is arid wilderness where you may catch a glimpse of a golden eagle on the wing or watch the dust wake of a roadrunner. Other residents include the swift-footed kit fox, long-eared mule deer, desert iguana, mountain lion, and ingeniously designed chuckwalla. When frightened, a chuckwalla retreats into its hole and inflates its lizard lungs with air, increasing its size so much that it can’t be extracted — nature’s own ship-in-a-bottle.

By Jeanne Schinto, March 9, 2000 | Read full article

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief
Next Article

Tijuana sewage infects air in South Bay

By September, Imperial Beach’s beach closure broke 1000 consecutive days
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader