Stan's Travels: Julian & Anza-Borrego Desert (2/17/2018) and Coachella Valley, CA (2/19/2018)

One of my objectives while visiting the SoCal desert area was to take a tour of the California Wolf Center, located in the nearby mountains just outside the village of Julian. Due to veterinary activities at the center, it became necessary for me to extend my stay in order to get a reservation. I was surprised at the number of attendees, around 50 or so, most of whom had driven long distances.

I'll say right up front, the conditions for photography were pretty bad. The wolves were behind a chain link fence, in an area with lots of trees and a wide range of light from shadow to extremely bright sunlight. The wolves naturally preferred the shadows, but came out occasionally. The crowd didn't help, preventing me from moving about freely to see the wolves as they moved around. Of course, each person paid and was entitled to the same space as anyone else. Actually, a number of people invited me to take their spot, wanting to help me get better shots. In the end, I got enough "acceptable" photos to make me feel it was a success.

The staff and volunteers at the center do a wonderful service to help restore the wolf population in areas where it has been seriously depleted. It does not house "rescue" wolves, only captive born. If a wolf is considered capable of living in the wild, it is released as soon as possible, collared for constant monitoring.

That last night in the Anza-Borrego Desert had a pretty special sunset, too.

My next stop, the Palm Desert area, was only a little over 100 miles away, and included a stop for groceries I had been running low on. I was amazed at the number of campers in so many places along the route. In addition to state and private campgrounds, most of the desert is available for "dry" camping with few restrictions...and it's free. A great way for folks from the cities to spend a week-end in nature at low cost.

Coachella Valley is home to many desert communities, the most famous of which is Palm Springs. The valley was one of the first locations for a wind farm in the 1980s, and still has the third largest production of electricity in CA with over 3200 units (as of 10 years ago). The state itself was first for many years, but has fallen behind several other states, with Texas being the leader.

This area frequently gets high winds, like yesterday with 50 mph winds all day. Moreover, all the on-shore winds that strike along the southern CA coast are trapped by the Santa Rosa and San Bernardino Mountains. One small gap between those ranges, San Gorgonio Pass, allows the wind to escape into Coachella Valley, giving it a funnel effect in the process. Needless to say, it is a good location for wind turbines. They were all turning very well yesterday. However, with today's calm, very few are turning. I doubt their feasibility for investors without government subsidy.

Solar panel farms are also in use here, probably growing much faster than wind farms. The wind turbines make noise, kill birds and are an eyesore for most people who live near them. Solar farms are ugly, too, but less noticeable. Further, the cost of solar panels tends to go down much faster as technology improves. I hope we can eventually have solar panel material usable as roofing for homes and businesses.

I enjoy the unusual architecture that can be found all over the valley. My favorite is the Bob Hope home, built on a mountainside and called by many the "flying saucer" house. Since it's in a gated community, I took a photo from down below with a long lens. Hope's estate offered it for sale at $50 million, but eventually sold it for $13 million. More photos of it can be found at Bob Hope's Home

Here are a few of the other special buildings I've seen here. I'm sure with some time I could find lots more. In fact, I plan to look for the home occupied by Elvis and Priscilla Presley in the 1960's.