This past week we went to Borrego Springs for a couple of days of camping. Here is our little camp, not fully set up yet. We just got there.I was working during the day, but there was plenty of  time to enjoy nature and feel the desert at night. On the second evening, I decided to go for a little hike up the ridge on the mountain you see in the picture above. It was actually further away than it looked. I clocked 0.6 miles when I got to this spot where the desert ended in a wash, and the ridge started. This is where I started climbing. 

Very quickly the terrain got rough. I had to watch my steps, as there were plenty of prickly cactus and thorny shrubs. The rocks themselves are also sharp. Not a place where you want to lose your footing and fall. The terrain is also steeper than it looks in the photo below, since I pointed to camera upwards. My hiking poles were essential accessories.

Finally I got to a spot where I decided it was time to turn around. I didn’t want to be caught on this mountain in the dark, and the sun was getting ready to set. I took a picture of our campground from the highpoint of my hike. You can see it in the center of the picture just in front of the yellow stripe of desert in the distance. That’s the terrain I hiked across to get to this spot.

I also took a parting shot straight down to the wash from where I started the climb. This picture is also strange in perspective, because I am pointing the camera straight down. It’s actually very steep down from here over this outcropping in front of me and you can see the wash in the distance on the very bottom.

As I took the picture above and looked for a good path to make my  way down, I heard something shuffle behind me. Startled, I turned around and saw this:

A big ram was standing right behind me, not 30 feet away on the ridge, checking me out. I took a deep breath, zoomed in and took another quick picture. I was worried that he’d scramble away and be gone.

After taking about 8 or 10 more pictures of him just to make sure one would come out great, I started heading back down. After a few steps trying to find a good way down, I noticed that I was actually surrounded by an entire herd of bighorn sheep, not just the ram. It’s almost like they had snuck up on me. I never noticed them on the way up.

I looked in all directions, and there were more and more. I counted at least 20 animals. I kept quiet and didn’t make any fast moves. They were eyeing me carefully, but never got startled and never bolted.

Here are some more, just chilling and checking me out.

I realized that they weren’t afraid, so I took a video so you can get a better sense of what it felt like to be there with them.

It was magical.

Then it was really time to head down. After a few minutes down the slope, I turned around and now that I knew what I was looking for, I was able to see them. Here is a photo with blue arrows that might help you spot them. As always, you can click on these pictures to zoom in.

I thought you might be interested where on that mountain that spot was. So I took the picture of our camp with the mountain in the background and you can see the ridge. The blue arrow marks the high point of my hike (I know it does not look very high from this viewpoint) and the very spot where I ran into the herd.

All in all, it was a great couple of days in the desert and a magical hike right into a herd of bighorn sheep.