Palo Verde Wash and more 

surfponto

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We left home in a pouring rain on Saturday at about 11:00 AM. It rained all the way through the mountains and finally let up as we dropped down toward Scissors Crossing. Headed south on S-2 and did the loop around Blair Valley into Little Blair Valley. The pond from two months ago in Little Blair was gone. It rained off and on as we made the loop. Both valleys are very green! There are not many plants blooming, except ocotillo, but that will surely change in the next couple of weeks as there are lots of newly sprouted wild flowers.

After leaving the Blair Valley area we headed back north on S-2 and turned east on highway 78. Took a short side trip up Plum Canyon. Again it was quite green and the view down into Grapevine Canyon was beautiful with a mix of blue skies and huge puffy clouds over Pinyon Ridge. Saw a lot of Chuparosa blooming and a few very small flowers but there were plenty of new plants that will be blooming soon. The rain had pretty much stopped by now.

We retraced our route back down Plum Canyon and then headed farther east to Buttes Pass. Lots of ocotillo in bloom here and again many small plants not yet blooming. Perhaps a week or so more. Dropped down into San Felipe Wash and then took the Cut Across Trail to Fault Wash. Fault Wash was very sandy and not much growing in this area. At the top of Fault Wash we headed east on Short Wash and then south down Palo Verde Wash.

We went a couple of miles down Palo Verde Wash and then turned back north and headed for the upper part of the wash. We were looking for a sheltered place from the wind which was beginning to pick up as the sun was getting lower. Set up the tent and then it began to rain so we retreated into the tent. The wind blew pretty strong during the rain storm but we were dry and warm. It rained for about 3 hours. Then got out of the tent and made a late dinner.

The morning was clear and calm with new snow on Toro, and on the mountains up toward Coyote Canyon and Ranchita. I took an early hike up a couple of side washes near our campsite and found lots of Desert Lily plants, some blooming, some sprouted, and some with blooms which were not yet open. Not much else in this area blooming but like everywhere else there were lots of plants that had sprouted but not yet blooming.

After breaking camp we took Short Wash west to the Thimble Trail and then north to S-22. We drove into Borrego Springs for breakfast at the Red Ocotillo and then stopped by the Visitor’s Center. The lot was full so did not go in. I have never seen so many cars there before.
We then headed up the hill and back toward home at about noon. The view down into the valley was amazing. The Salton Sea was very clear and the valley around Borrego Springs is amazingly green.

Next week we will head for the southern part of the park. I am hoping with the lower elevations down that way there will be more flowers. The rain this weekend in the north should help the bloom last but it is at leastl a week or two away peaking. I attached a few pics below.

surfponto

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It rained from about 5:30 to 8:30 Saturday night. The wind blew really hard during that time but I brought my North Face tent and it hold up to anything.

surfponto

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Posts: 1362

Nice pics and trip report. What is the road that is not closed that you mentioned in the post? I was through there a couple of years ago and don’t remember anything different than the previous years. I don’t remember seeing that sign either of the pictographs either? Where exactly is that?

We still plan to go to the southern part of the park this weekend even though the forecast says more rain this weekend. We are hoping for some flowers to be blooming soon. I attached a picture from Indian Valley from spring 2009. Hopefully it will look better than this in a couple of weeks.