The vagabond winos needed to get out of rainy Portland. We purchased an encore year of the National Parks Pass, loaded up the trusty Earthwalkabout van and headed south. We just wanted some sun – rust was beginning to form – so we headed to the deserts of California. One of our stops was Borrego Springs.
Primarily Desert Sunflowers along Henderson Canyon Road
The hike to Palm Canyon
And though the sun was shinning as advertised it was anything but a drab, baked-brown, drought-dry desert like you typically see in the summer. The desert had seen way more than its normal share of rain earlier in the year and what we found instead was a multi-colored explosion of flowers and cacti teeming with life.
When we arrived in Borrego Springs we were unaware that they were in the middle of what was being called the “Super Bloom” of 2017. After years of drought, the winter and early spring rains had come in buckets and the flowers (and the people) were everywhere.
We were lucky to get a camping spot due to a cancellation at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We immediately headed out after securing our site and armed with information provided to us by the friendly people at the visitor center started flower fawning at some of the popular spots.
We were in Borrego Springs mid-week and so the crowds were not bad but the word about the Super Bloom was out and on the weekend hordes of visitors from nearby San Diego and Palm Springs had inundated the area and created traffic jams in the popular viewing areas.
Even this beast of a cactus has its beauty during the bloom.
The stunning ocotillo plant.
Besides perfect spring weather (though it can get a bit windy at times) the area has great hiking (we recommend the hike up to the Palm Canyon oasis and heard good things about the Slot Canyon hike), wide open areas for dirt biking and off-roading, some very nice golf courses and an extensive collection of outdoor sculptures.
The white-lined Sphnix Moth caterpillers were everywhere and were voraciously chowing down on the wildflowers.
But what we love about the desert are the sunrises and sunsets and how the heat of the day turns into cool evenings and brisk mornings. I’ll just shut up now and let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
The canyon ablaze in the sunrise accompanied by a short rainbow.
The sunrise lit up the the mountains in a red glow.
What an unexpected thing to see out in the desert, sounds like you hit it exactly right. Love your photos Steve, it’s the next best thing to going there and seeing it for myself!