19/01/2026
Still can’t get over this desert story.
Bri wasn’t feeling great, so when we headed out to Anza-Borrego we told her where we’d be if she ended up coming — never actually expecting it. It’s about a two-hour drive just to get there, and then several miles of hiking into the desert. No cars allowed anymore. Just endless paths, branching canyons, and darkness.
We also accidentally told them the wrong canyon.
Mark and I were miles deep, completely tucked away. Fire going. Techno playing. Fully off-grid. At one point Mark climbed up a hillside for maybe 10 minutes to scan for animals and turned on his headlamp.
That tiny light was visible from miles away.
Bri and Matt saw it and trusted their instincts — hiking in after dark, bushwhacking through the canyon with packs, losing sight of the light, not even knowing for sure where we were.
At one point Bri said to Matt,
“Is that my heartbeat?”
Then paused and laughed — “No… that’s techno.”
“We found them.”
If Mark hadn’t gone up that hill for those 10 minutes, they never would’ve found us.
Still blows my mind what a single headlamp — and a little music — can do in the desert.
w.md