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We had a gorgeous drive to Fairbanks, six hours of sun on a dry two lane highway, we passed no more than three dozen vehicles in either direction the whole trip! What a contrast to Hwy. 76 in California two weeks ago, where traffic was backed up for miles on the two lane road as we were returning from Borrego Springs to catch our flight home to Alaska.

On the Parks Hwy. from the bridge over the Nenana River we saw the famous tripod that will tip when the ice goes out, signaling the exact time for the lottery winner of the Nenana River Ice Classic. It is amazing how long daylight is in Fairbanks now. With snow still on the ground and daytime temperatures in the mid 20’s it isn’t dark until 8:30PM, 13.5 hours of daylight already! What a pleasant time of the year to visit.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

I find myself returning to the Anza Borrego Desert Palm Canyon often, it is one of my favorite places in the park. On a hot day the clear, cool springs at the end of the canyon make the hike all the more worthwhile.

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Gail Niebrugge, landscape artist

Another great hike is a 3 mile treck through a winding slot canyon starting near Buttes Pass Road on Highway 78 east of Borrego Springs Road. Two state park volunteer naturalists guided our group as we squeezed and ducked our way through this Disneyesque landscape. We loved this canyon, but don’t want to be anywhere near it during the flash flood season. The weather was wonderful, once again!

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Gail Niebrugge, landscape artist

Returning back to the Anza Borrego Desert we took a group hike with a state park naturalist up one of the unnamed washes of the North Fork Arroyo Salado beginning about mile 35 on Hwy. S-22, to the Truckhaven Rocks. The sandstone lined wash is interesting, we were delighted to find a new plant or rock formation around every turn. The relaxing 2 mile hike took several hours with the addition of facts, plant identification, geology, and historic information from our guide. The weather was in the balmy mid-seventies, just perfect for transplanted Alaskans!

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Gail Niebrugge, landscape painter

Miles of poppies and other wildflowers line the highway at the southern entrance to Joshua Tree, a sight to behold! These photos look like paintings done with pointillism. The variety and colors of this desert bloom are gorgeous!

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Gail Niebrugge, wildflower artist

We visited the site of many old western movies north of Palm Springs, Pioneer Town, California. It is nicely preserved and many buildings are privately owned. It is a neat place to tour. I can remember some of these buildings from the old Roy Rogers, and John Wayne cowboy films. Pioneer Town is famous today for the funky restaurant Pappy and Harriets Palace.

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The temperature was 80 in Borrego Springs yesterday so we drove to Blair Valley to hike, at this higher elevation the temperature was a comfortable 72. We followed the well marked Blair Valley Road and easily found the trailhead for the Morteros, an ancient American Indian campsite where we saw the bowl shaped holes formed in rocks made by grinding corn into flour using a smooth stone. A fascinating site.

A little further down the road we found the trailhead for the Petroglyphs. This is an easy 2 mile trail and well worth the hike. Along with seeing petroglyphs painted on boulders, the spectacular view from the slot canyon at the end of the trail is something to remember.

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Gail Niebrugge, Artist from Alaska

Yesterday afternoon we explored the Badlands of the Anza Borrego State Park and found the Pumpkin Patch, a place scattered with pumpkin shaped rocks. Unusual and interesting. It was sunset, and the low light gave the rocks a yellow/orange glow. The Badlands are a maze of 4 wheel drive trails that follow sandy washes up and down narrow canyons, some S-turns were so tight that a pick-up truck needed several tries to make the curve. And it was so warm we were in shorts and tank tops! Love this desert in the winter.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Evening light illuminated the wildflower Sand Verbena changing the color of the landscape to fuchsia as it clings to desert dunes. This spot along the Henderson Canyon Road is a nice place to enjoy sunset.

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Gail Niebrugge, wildflower artist

So far I’ve only found a couple of these beautiful lilies, both were solitary plants growing near the Di Giorgio Road/ Coyote Creek trail in the Anza Borrego desert of southern California. We drove the Coyote Creek trail as far as our vehicle would allow without high centering on rocks, then hiked a distance up the Coyote Creek Canyon. The road is most definitely a four-wheel drive route, and not for one equipped with standard tires. The only vehicle we saw traverse the rocky grade was a Bronco outfitted with big wheels and tires and even this rig scraped bottom on several boulders. Everyone else turned back after the Third Creek Crossing. Hiking on foot gave us the opportunity to study the area closely, and find the desert lilies.

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Gail Niebrugge, landscape painter

We hiked the desert floor west from the Anza Borrego Visitor Center toward the canyon that lies between Hellhole Canyon and the Palm Canyon and spotted the first blooming California Barrel Cactus! In another week the tops of these plants will be festooned with these pretty yellow flowers!

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Gail Niebrugge, pointillism paintings

The best wildflower bloom at the moment in the Anza Borrego State Park is along the Henderson Canyon Road where lawn sized patches of the blue/purple Sand Verbena cling to rolling ridges punctuated with spots of the soft white Dune Primrose. Lovely to see. During our visit we heard the yelping calls of two packs of coyotes signaling each other, one from a nearby ridge the other on the valley floor. The desert is a beautiful and refreshing place to enjoy at this time of the year.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, wildflower paintings

Bob blends into the landscape wearing his camo jacket while hiking among the ocotillo cactus on the Cactus Loop Trail in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California. Although rain, wind and cool weather were forcast for today, it turned out sunny and nice and sure beats the weather in Alaska at the moment. The Cactus Loop Trail is a short self guided 1 mile stroll up the canyon across from the Tamarisk Grove Campground, and is a wonderful way to learn to recognize the amazing variety of desert plant life. Most of the plants are greening up nicely from the winter rains and sport tiny buds that will bloom into gorgeous flowers soon. Unfortunately, most of the cactus flowers won’t bloom until May, so we will miss them, but the other plants are on the verge of a colorful show. We also saw a dozen big horn sheep along the mountain ridge above Highway S-3 at the summit. Life abounds in the desert!

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Gail Niebrugge, wildflower artist

Bob and I at the oasis at the end of the 2.6 mile Palm Canyon hiking trail. This hike follows a stream bed and is full of interesting native desert plants and boulders, the stream is often visited by bighorn sheep although we did not spot any on this trip. I plan to visit this spot often while we are in the desert, it is one of the most beautiful and interesting places we’ve visited in the Anza Borrego State Park. I’d like to do some paintings of this desert landscape, and can’t wait until the wildflowers are in full bloom.

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Gail Niebrugge, Artist of wildflowers

Bob and I at the Maidenhair Falls in the Hellhole Canyon of the Anza Borrego State Park, California. Our 6 mile round trip hike up the Hellhole Canyon revealed a lot of early wildflowers, and the very beginning of red blooms on the Ocotillo cactus. Near the Maidenhair Falls were several cool oasis with palm trees and clear, fresh water springing from the earth. We climbed over boulders and through thickets of palms to find a trickle of water cascading down a rocky cliff dubbed the “falls”. They were a little disappointing, but the hike was good and scenery along the way interesting. A slight overcast sky gave excellent light for photographing wildflowers.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

Our son, photographer Ron Niebrugge and his wife Janine join Bob and I during a day hike in the Anza Borrego State Park in southern California. We are spending time in the desert this winter anticipating a bonanza wildflower bloom due to the excellent timing of rain in the area. The plants are full of buds and we expect to see a great burst of flowers within the next week or so. On February 20 we hope we will be able to witness a total lunar eclipse, it will depend on wether or not we have clear skies. So far it has been sunny and warm. A nice break from the winter in Alaska.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Our booth at the Holiday Market Place, Carlson Center, Fairbanks last weekend. We love our new lit sign made by our friend, Mark Alger. If you are interested in talking to Mark about a sign you can contact him through his website at the Moosewood Squash Centre, Palmer, Alaska. The weather was mild in Fairbanks during our three day stay, and the long drive up and back was uneventful. But, when we returned home we were surprised to see nearly 8″ of fresh snow in the yard! Winter is definitely here.

Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

This week end we are in Fairbanks participating in the holiday arts and crafts show held annually at the Carlson Center. Today is the last day of the three day event, tomorrow we hitch up the cargo trailer and head home to Palmer. We try to schedule our driving times during the short daylight hours, gone are the days of tearing down the booth and driving home on the ice and snow in the dark, arriving exhausted in the early hours of morning. Next Friday, November 16, we set up our booth for the weekend at the Egan Center, downtown Anchorage. Our final show of the year will be the Saturday after Thanksgiving at the Colony High School Art and Crafts Fair. This is a fun, one day show, only two miles from the studio. It is always busy for us during this time of the year when shoppers begin to make Christmas purchases. I’ll try to post some photos of these events later.
Gail Niebrugge, Pointillism Artist

Today, October 26, I’m taking a break from my artwork and representing the Alaska State Council on the Arts at the Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities held tonight at the Riverside Princess Hotel in Fairbanks. Saturday, after breakfast with the Alaska Humanities Forum Board, and a meeting with the Arts Council I will squeeze in a quick trip to Chena Hot Springs to see the Ice Museum before flying home.

On another note, we’ve heard from almost all our relatives in San Diego County, all have survived the firestorm. I am waiting to hear the status firefighter cousin Fred Orsborne who is still somewhere on the lines. Seems funny watching the fire coverage on TV to see everyone walking around in shirtsleeves, when we have 4″ of snow already!

Gail Niebrugge, Pointillism Artist

I found the perfect place to ride the train from Seward to Anchorage, the Tiki Bar car! I really enjoyed sitting in the balcony sipping my favorite libation while watching the landscape roll past the picture windows. Better still, it was pouring rain and we didn’t have to worry about traffic and the poor nighttime visibility that comes after a summer of daylight when our eyes haven’t adjusted yet to darkness. Once it snows, it won’t be so hard to see in the dark the plowed snow creates white shoulders that help define the dark road. But for now the road and shoulders are black on black and the rain makes it hard to see with headlights reflecting glare on the wet surface. So, ride the rails whenever you can.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist