Our last few days in the high California desert have been windy and cold, this morning it is raining and snowing again in the surrounding mountains.  Nevertheless, the early wildflower bloom has been very nice.  I’m sorry I have to leave before the full bloom but happy to have found so many pockets of truly [...]

Soon the tops of the barrel cactus will be crowned by a circle of yellow/green flowers in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park.  This plant is blooming early, most cactus just have the beginnings of tiny buds forming among the prickly thorns.  Within a few weeks the desert will be festooned with a riot of [...]

Runoff from recent snow in the mountains last weekend created some beautiful fresh water creeks in the high desert of Anza Borrego.   A trail marker pointing the way for the Palm canyon trail stands in running water instead of the usual a dry wash.  The rains have brought the landscape alive, the soil and [...]

We found a treasure trove of the beautiful wildflower Desert Lily while on a hike up a sandy wash along the foothills of of the Santa Rosa mountains in Borrego Springs.  Sometimes we can hike all day without seeing anything unusual and suddenly a little pocket of flowers will appear out of nowhere, that is [...]

After a night of heavy rain the sandy desert ground was solid and packed allowing us to easily travel the jeep trail to Fonts Point in 2 wheel drive.  With snow on the nearby Santa Rosa mountains the air was crisp and clear, a great day to explore the canyons, washes, and arroyos of the [...]

Boy do I miss fresh vegetables in Alaska at this time of year, the Friday market at Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs is awesome!  We loaded up on vine ripened strawberries, oranges, tomatoes, fresh lettuce, and many more wonderful home made or home baked goodies.  Love it to find this in February Gail Niebrugge, Alaska [...]

It has been wonderful to hike around the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park during a rainy period!  The rain intensifies color in the landscape and everything smells and looks fresh and clean.  Huge puddles appear out of nowhere and disappear in a day, the ground is soaking up the water and the desert plants are thriving.  [...]

Woo Hoo, it rained today in Borrego Springs, the wildflower bloom should be outrageous!  The big Alaska cold front has arrived, I’m glad I’m here with a tiny bit of rain and 60º, a cold front in Alaska would be -40º.  People are such weather wusses down here.  This photo was taken during our hike [...]

We spent another day in Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, watching for the elusive Bighorn sheep.  Suddenly, out of nowhere people on the trail below us all stopped and pointed, we scanned the hillside and saw this single young ram.  Then we looked up the canyon on the opposite side just in time to [...]

We found a sweet three mile hike just off Mile 38.8 on S22 in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California, the South Palm Wash.  Three trails begin at the same point; the Calcite Mine, Palm Wash Loop, and South Palm Wash.  We chose the latter because it was labeled “moderate” the other two were [...]

The Palm Canyon Trail in the San Ysidro Mountains is one of my favorite hikes in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, the crystal clear flowing springs at the end of the boulder strewn path are a delight to reach especially on a hot day!  The 2.6 mile loop is promoted as a moderate level [...]