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.

Non-denominational church

Armenian Apostolic Church

Chamber of Commerce

Convention Center

 

Part of a hospital

They have some nice sunsets here, too, especially when sand fills the air.  These were taken the night before the wind storm, however.

Anza-Borrego Desert, CA (2/13 through 2/15/2018)

I keep posting sunsets because a lot of folks seem to enjoy them, and we have had some beauties here in the desert.  For some unknown reason, sunrises haven't been very good.

 

A place called the "Pumpkin Patch" came to my attention, so I just had to go check it out.  It's not in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, but in an adjoining park called State Vehicular Recreation Area.  In other words, since ATVs and dune buggies aren't allowed on the state park trails, a special park was established just for off-road vehicles.  Good idea.

The SVRA is huge and has countless trails in washes and over hills, dunes, etc.  Thankfully, they have street signs at the intersections of washes, as well as small markers along each trail, to let you follow the map they provide.  Without it, one could get lost in a hurry.  The trails that lead to the Pumpkin Patch were pretty good until near the end, where it turned into a true ATV trail with dips and hills, rocks and holes, blind corners and deep sand.  Let's say it was a challenging trail and I was happy the map showed a different route out.  I'm including a photo of the sign that explains how the Pumpkin Patch came to be, so I won't have to try.

 The trail out of the SVRA led back to the state park over fairly good washes, going through an area called "the Badlands".  The formations here have more color than most of the park, so I enjoyed it quite a lot.  Along the way, there is an oasis called "Five Palms", although I only saw four.

 Later, I stopped by a dry lake bed since it was on the way.  Despite all the signs warning not to drive on it, there were plenty of tracks where people have done just that.

 The next day, I drove through Box Canyon where a marker indicates where the original road built by the Mormon Battalion came through.  A spot called the "bedrock funnel" had fifteen foot walls and was too narrow for their wagons.  With picks and shovels, they widened the trail to get through.  Later the stage line also used it.  Incidentally, one stage line from San Antonio to San Francisco charged $200 per passenger.  Each person was allowed 30 pounds of luggage, plus blankets and firearms.  Extra baggage cost $.40 per pound. 

This next photo shows part of the stage "road" in the distance, right across the middle of the photo.

That area now has a lot of wind turbines scattered about,  As usual, almost none were moving.  It's hard to see their feasibility, but I guess it must be there.

Finally, another sunset from that evening.

Borrego Springs (2/11/2018) & The Slot (2/13/2018)

Borrego Springs is the main town in the Anza-Borrego Desert and is surrounded by the 600,000 acre State Park.  Less than 5000 people live here, some permanent and some seasonally, such as personnel for the park headquarters.  Designated an International Dark Sky area, it is a popular spot for astronomers.  To maintain that status, there are no streetlights or traffic lights in town, and minimal lighting overall.  At the center of town is a traffic roundabout known as Christmas Circle, which contains a park, picnic area and a WIFI hotspot.  The latter is helpful for the many people who "dry camp" all over the desert or in state park campgrounds.  Just outside town, a canyon oasis has a grove of rare California fan palms.  Desert bighorn sheep that frequent the spring there gave the town its name, since borrego is Spanish for "little lamb". With tourism as the only reason for having a town here, there are numerous places to stay in addition to unlimited camping.

The day I visited was the day after high winds, so it was no surprise to see the air full of sand.

More recently, the town's claim to fame is due to the Galleta Meadows sculptures, created by sculptor/welder Ricardo Breceda.  He was commissioned by the property owner to create more than 130 metal figures scattered all over town.  It has become a game for tourists to locate all of the figures located among the desert's vegetation.  Maps are available, but I found enough for my purposes just by driving around.  The action-oriented figures include horses, African animals, prehistoric birds and dinosaurs, but the most spectacular is a 350 foot sea serpent that even crosses the highway.  The head of that serpent is more than twenty feet tall.

While photographing some sculptures, I noticed a bird fly up from underneath a giant sabre-toothed tiger and perch on a nearby ocotillo plant.  It was one of my favorites, an American kestrel with a mouse or vole in its talons.  Normally, it's very difficult to approach these birds, the smallest member of the Falcon family.  However, I got fairly close this time, probably because the bird was busy having dinner.

Back in camp that evening, storm clouds help create an unusual sunset.

After a day off due to more wind and intermittent sprinkles throughout the day, I did more desert driving in a few of the countless washes through the many canyons here.  One such trail led to a slot canyon identified simply as "The Slot".  Since it appears there are many slot canyons in the park, it isn't clear why this one has been singled out that way.  At any rate, the hike through this one starts out going steeply down a hill, then gradually enters the narrow canyon.  Although it is mostly sandstone, it isn't the colorful rock I'm used to in AZ and UT slots.  There isn't much reflected light, either.  The canyon does get very tight in places, especially for us plus sizes.

 A slab of rock has broken off and now rests on the opposite wall.  Also, an arch and a few boulders can be seen overhead.

The "badlands" that surround The Slot have a trail that leads to the back door of the canyon, thus making a loop hike of about 3.5 miles.  I just went through the slot, then backtracked the way I had come.  Two Swiss men who arrived the same time I did had been there several times before.  They took the outer trail.  One of them had a guitar, saying they enjoyed music in the canyon.