Heather and I were joined by some friends from San Diego for a day of wandering around Anza Borrego on Sunday. They have an old Isuzu Trooper that makes a lot of weird clunking and groaning noises, but seems to work. We did pretty much the same route as the December 2009 Xcursion, which was Arroyo Salado, 17 and 5 Palms Oasis, the Pumpkin Patch, Ella, Palo Verde and Short Washes, and a stop at Vista del Malpais. We skipped Font's Point in favor of checking out the flowers on the north side of Henderson Canyon Road in the late afternoon sun. That turned out to be a really good choice.
17 Palms Oasis is always a fun stop.
The ground around 5 Palms (you can just see the top of the tallest palm) was really soft and spongy after the recent rains.
The 2 trucks on the way back from the Pumpkin Patch.
The palo verdes are really green right now, and many are in bloom.
The view from Vista del Malpais south across the Badlands to the Borrego Mountains was nice. San Felipe Wash is really green right now. We also noticed that when we were there on 2/15.
The view north was even more spectacular because of the clouds and the way the sky was lit.
We made a stop in Short Wash at the same spot we stopped at in December, so that I could show Heather those "teeth" looking rock formations we found last time. A geologist friend has told me that they are most likely formed the same way that the hoodoos found in places like Bryce Canyon are formed, where the harder cap rock protects the column of softer material directly below it from being eroded by rain.
The wildflowers are blooming nicely right now. It sounds like the peak will be in the next week or two, and is expected to be pretty spectacular this year. The area to the north of Henderson Canyon is a good spot, but it does get crowded. The light is probably best there in the late afternoon just before the sun dips below the mountains. If you are checking a sunset table, be sure to account for those mountains; basically figure the sun sets noticeably earlier than the published time. We also saw lots of flowers in the Arroyo Salado and Palo Verde Wash areas.
There are more pictures on my gallery pages at:
http://frankbaiamonte.smugmug.com/So-Cal-Explorations-Day/Arroyo-Salado-Anza-Feb-2010/
