Earthquake damage in Anza Borrego

April 04, 2010

The girls over at DzrtGrls.com forwarded me some great pictures from  the recent 7.2 earthquake. The quake itself occured just over the border in Mexicali on April 4, 2010 and apparently shook things up pretty well in Anza Borrego. These pictures are from the Fishcreek / Sandstone Canyon area and are from a post on the Ford Truck Enthusiast forum.

We missed this by one day on our recent trip to the Arroyo Tapiado Mud Caves.

What you should take away from these pictures is that camping in a narrow canyon is a very bad idea.

There are more pictures and a trail report over at the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

Wildflowers , Cactus Blooms and Jackrabbits in the southern Anza Borrego Desert

03/25/2010

The wildflowers and cactus blooms have arrived in the southern Anza Borrego Desert

When my sister Linda viewed last week's wildflower update post she insisted I take her on a mid-week flower hunting trip. After much arm twisting I agreed and here is what we found.

 :

We had this great encounter with a couple of Jackrabbits in Indian Valley. Once they realized that we weren't a threat they chased each other around the LandCruiser for a good ten minutes. Linda commented that it was probably some rabbit mating ritual being Spring and all. 

Check the rest of the Wildflower Photos Here

Trythe slideshow (beta)

Wildflower update for the southern Anza Borrego Desert

What I love about living in San Diego is that within two hours you can leave the coast, drive over the mountains and then drop down into the desert. Incredible diversity in my opinion.

With that in mind, I decided to take the day off work and check on the wildflowers out in the Anza Borrego desert. My preferred area of Borrego is the southern section where you can get away from the crowds, hike up a trail and be completely immersed in the solitude of the Desert. 

  Driving up the S2 I knew I was in for a great show. The road was lined with Desert Dandelions, Lupine amd Brittle Bush. The only downside was watching a Border Patrol Humvee casually lumber up the shoulder of the road plowing through patches of wildflowers. Wasn't really sure about his reasoning but...

Group of Beavertail Cacti ready to explode with flowers

Trio of Blooming Barrel cacti deep in Carrizo Gorge

Desert Dandelions in RockHouse Canyon - Anza Borrego

Staghorn Cholla off the trail in RockHouse Canyon

It looks like it will be a great weekend out in the Anza Borrego Desert for those seeking wildflowers and cactus blooms. Temperatures are suppose to be in the 80's on Saturday so bring a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water. Be wary of where you pull off to check the wildflowers as many areas of the highway will have deep sand on the shoulder. If you do get out there feel free to post your trip on our forum,

Most important have fun and take lots of pictures.

You can check the rest of the wildflower pictures here.

For easier viewing try the SlideShow based on PicasaViewer

Anza Borrego Wildflower Season 2010

It looks to be a great year for wildflowers out in the Anza Borrego desert due to the record rains we had in January.

We are planning on heading out this coming Valentine's weekend to scout out some areas. From what I have been reading, late February into mid March will be the peak, so make your plans to head on out. This year I am extra excited since we finally picked up a decent camera. Hopefully you will be able to tell by the new pictures we upload.

I am hoping to report back Monday so check back.  For now enjoy these pictures from our previous flower hunting trips.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has a wildflower hotline for Anza Borrego, (760) 767-4684. Updates will begin when the flowers start to bloom.

Pink blossoms of a Beavertail Cactus	Brilliant orange flowers on an Ocotillo
Sand Verbena (pink) and Desert Primrose (white)	Desert Dandelions
If you want to become an expert on the various wildflowers in the Anza Borrego Desert or just interested in learning more, I recommend the field guide Desert Wildflowers of the Sonoran Desert. If this guide doesn't have it, it probably does not exist.

Summer temperatures in Anza Borrego

People sometimes ask me how come we don't spend much time out in Anza Borrego in the summer months?

Well to answer this question I looked at this nifty little iPhone App and checked out next weeks temperatures in Ocotillo (the gateway into southern Anza Borrego).

 Death Valley has nothing on us.

Governor wants to close Anza Borrego Desert State Park

If the Governor has his way the Anza-Borrego Desert will be off limits due to state budget cuts.

Anza Borrego is on the chopping block along with 219 other parks in the California State Parks system. According to an article in the Union Tribune, the parks being targeted do not have enough visitors to offset the costs associated with keeping them open.

Governor Schwarzenegger's budget would cut $213 million from the state parks budget over the next two years.

So let me get this right, Californians who have had to trim back on their vacation budgets can no longer take a weekend mini-vacation to their local state park?

Please take a minute and sign the petition rejecting this proposal and save our state parks.

Thanks,

Bob

Anza Borrego WildFlower Report

I have been reading multiple reports that the wildflower season is starting out in Anza Borrego.

Even though we were out there less than 2 weeks ago for our hike to Goat Canyon, it looks like Mary and I are going to do a day trip to scout out some of the lesser areas known to put on impressive wildflower displays.

Something like Spring 05 would be nice where we came around the bend in Arroyo Tapiado and saw this.... 

Christmas time in Anza Borrego

Anza Borrego Desert sign outside of Julian

I guess there is a little sliver of Anza Borrego Desert State Park that comes up the mountain between Julian and Cuyamaca. I had never noticed this sign until a recent day trip to find snow.  

New Site

Decided to "Blogisize" this for ease of maintenance and navigation. The old site looked great but as it got bigger it was really hard to maintain.
Hopefull now it will be a lot easier to navigate and update so stay tuned.

Here is a quick pic from a couple years ago when the wild flowers were just intense. That's our friend Jan in the background and our dog Tia in the foreground. Hopefully this year we get something close to this. It was pretty unreal to be driving through a dry sandy wash and suddenly be blinded by fields of pink and white Desert wild flowers. 

We are going to be heading out to Borrego for Thanksgiving this year. Plan is to dig a hole. Line it with rocks and leaves, and throw in a turkey. Need to start reading up on this.