Imperial County Highpoint Trip Report

Blue Angels Peak (4,548 ft)

Date: February 17, 2007
Author: Rich Wilson

We took the standard approach, leaving I 8 at the In-Ko-Pah Park exit. Gary Suttle recommends parking just before the power lines but both sides of the road leading up to this area are now lined with chains and posted. We intended to park just after the power lines in a turn-out but decided to see how far we could drive. We ended up parking about a mile and a half beyond the power lines at a spot just before the road drops down through a badly eroded section to the last fork.

As we drove in, we passed 2 Border Patrol vehicles headed out of the area. One agent made a point of telling us (twice), that he had bodies in the back of his truck, and asked us if we had anything with which to defend ourselves. We thought he was serious but I think he was just having some fun at our expense. Anyway, we saw no one else until we returned to the truck, whereupon a rock hound from Maine wandered by.

From the parking area, we headed down to the fork, where we turned left. The road curved left and up to a saddle. From here, we saw the boulder ready to roll, as described by Suttle. We followed various paths to the right and headed up to a saddle between the summit and the boulder ready to roll. We found the Smuggler BM, then went over to the next outcrop to the south. Previous trip reports claim this point is higher. Just to be sure, we also visited a third outcrop to the south. At that point, we dropped down to Boundary Marker 231 where the fence was cut.

Many paths and lots of discarded water bottles and clothing along the way but this really was an enjoyable 2 miles roundtrip. I highly recommend a winter visit to beat the heat. We had beautiful weather.

Area Camping: We spent 8 days camped at Anza-Borrego State Park to the north. Absolutely gorgeous!