Ahhh...finally sunshine! Yes, we woke up to basically clear sky this morning...just a few skiffs of clouds. After the last two days of rain, fog and clouds, it's great to be back to what is "normal" for Southern California. The temps, according to the forecast though, will take a few days to climb back up to "normal".
Our plan for today is to go to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and do some hiking. We did our exercises, showered, had breakfast and were finally ready to head out shortly before 11:00. On our way to the Park, we stopped to take a better picture of the "Farm Workers" (part of Galleta Meadows mentioned the other day)....and then continued onto the Visitor's Center at the State Park...
We parked the truck in the RV area and followed the signs to the visitors center. The building is invisible from the parking lot, tucked away into the landscape.
We checked out some of the displays inside...
...and then watched a fifteen minute video on the Park. Anza-Borrego is California's largest state park at over 600,000 acres. It's one of the largest state parks in the US. Borrego is a Spanish word meaning "sheep" or "lamb" and the park is home to the endangered Desert Bighorn Sheep. The video said two-thirds of the remaining population of the Desert Bighorn live in the park.
After talking to one of the park volunteers and getting some hiking maps, we went out to take some pictures. This is actually walking up on top of the visitors center...
Once we were finished at the visitors center, we headed to the campground, paid our $8 day-use fee and proceeded to the Palm Canyon trailhead. 
It was going onto 12:00 by this time so we thought that we would have our lunch first...
Steve is inside the truck (out of the wind) changing the lens on his camera before we go. He decided to put the telephoto lens on in case we see some Bighorn Sheep...
Lots of info and warnings at the trailhead...
...and this very cool "open" women's restroom...
And we are on our way...it was pretty level at the start...
...but then started climbing...
The holes on this rock are called "morteros". They are made by Borrego's earlier residents; women ground seeds in the same place for centuries to create these holes. The grinding sticks are called "metates".
This is interpretive stop 10...telling us that the Bighorn Sheep are probably watching us...we just have to try and spot them on the mountainside...they are supremely camouflaged, only the movement of white rumps gives them away...(Turned out that Steve took his camera for a long walk...never did see any sheep.)
The California fan palm is the only palm tree native to California. The frond skirt protects the bark from water loss and insect predators. Unfortunately, many of these trees have lost their skirts. Fires started by careless hikers are a threat to these water-loving trees. It's too bad that this beautiful oasis is shadowed by the mountain...I guess we should have started earlier.
The alternate trail takes you up on a ridge with spectacular views...
The trailhead and campground below...
It was about 2:30 by the time we got back to the truck...a good 3 miles hike up into the beautiful canyon. As we were leaving, we took this picture of one of the primitive campsites...cool ramada for the picnic table...
We stopped at the sani-dump in the campground and filled up our blue water jugs with fresh water before driving through the full hook-up area on our way out...
On the way home, we drove by a pretty nice looking RV Resort and Golf Club.It was tough trying to get a picture of the campsites behind the golf course through all of the trees...
We had also noticed more of the statues in the distance this morning when we stopped to take the picture of the farm workers, so we went to take a further look. This is a continuation Galleta Meadows. The sculptures are quite incredible...very well done! It was so windy out in this picture that the sand was blasting against our legs...ouch! I ended up sitting in the truck while Steve went out and got sandblasted.
Notice that the serpent is on both sides of the road...head on one side and tail on other...
There are apparently many more scattered all over the place...but that's all for us. We had had a great day! It's so nice to get back out hiking!
It had turned out to be a pretty windy afternoon. Once we arrived home Steve took this picture of a rather ominous looking cloud above the mountains (behind Borrego Springs) that are no longer visible because of the blowing sand and dust.
Great post Diane and Steve, really enjoyed your pics and narrative. Vicki and I can hardly wait until we can go full timing. AND congratulations on your grand child. Hopefully we will see you guys at Quartzite in Feb. Vicki and Harry
ReplyDeleteThanks guys. Sounds like you have Vickie talked into full timing!! Look forward to seeing you at Quartzsite.
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