More Wandering In The Desert - Anza Borrego - Sunday April 11, 2010

Heather and I spent the day wandering around Anza Borrego Desert State Park with some friends on Sunday. When we stopped at the State Park Visitor Center in the morning we learned that Sandstone Canyon (where I was on 3/23 and 3/27, see the earlier posts) was completely blocked about halfway in due to a massive rockslide during the Easter Sunday earthquake. We thought it might be a good idea to stick to the sandy washes and ridgeline trails for a while.

The drive down the Montezuma Grade (County Road S-22) is pretty spectacular this time of year with the huge bloom of yellow flowers.

We started off by heading southeast down Palo Verde Wash from S-22 at the northern end of the Park, and connected up to Fault Wash and Military Wash continuing south. The ocotillo were in full bloom, and were fiery red.

Lots of interesting geology in Fault Wash and Military Wash.

We continued on towards Buttes Pass and found a shady spot for lunch.

After lunch we backtracked a bit and then went up Blow Sand Canyon to the Goat Trail, and followed that back around to Buttes Pass Road. Blow Sand Canyon goes from sandy and narrow to a sandy ridge line trail.

There are some pretty big views from along the Goat Trail, which is a generally easy drive with a few blind crests where all you can see over your hood is sky.

Our vehicles sitting at the top of Buttes Pass looking north towards the Badlands.

We saw lots of wildflowers along the way, including a whole bunch of Desert Five Spot in Hawk Canyon.  We also stopped at the Cactus Garden off of Kane Springs Road and Harper Canyon to check out the blooms there. Thanks to the wet weather this year there are still lots of flowers going in Anza Borrego.

One more group picture, then it's time to head for dinner and the drive home.

The last stretch of trail, looking west in the late afternoon sun on Kane Springs Road, ending up another great day in the desert.

Click here to see more images from Sunday.