Garden Travel Food and Wine

Desert Destinations: Wildflower Hikes

Last year at this time, preparations were underway for a desert sojourn.

Saguaro National Park in Tucson is on the current itinerary, so I won’t be returning to the California desert. Still, that won’t keep me from reliving the adventure of a series of 2011 Springtime hikes through arrays of wildflowers, beginning in the Indian Canyons of Palm Springs …..

Palm Springs Wind Farm Photo © Alice Joyce

… and on to Joshua Tree,

Joshua Tree National Park Photo © Alice Joyce

with plenty of time allotted to explore Anza-Borrego State Park.

Anza Borrego

Hawk Canyon and Lupines Photo © Alice Joyce

I’ll certainly return one day to hike again in Hawk Canyon, a majestic setting with trails to satisfy all levels of endurance. I felt like a mountain goat at times, veering off a trail to find myself moving forward in rather treacherous terrain of rocks and boulders. I couldn’t really look around and enjoy the scenery, when it was necessary to focus on each step to keep from tumbling over.

: Fouquieria splendens Anza Borrego Photo ©Alice Joyce

Brilliant flaming red spires of Ocotillo – Fouquiera splendens appeared in striking contrast to gem-like Phacelia minor, the wild Canterbury Bells.

: Phacelia minor Photo © Alice Joyce

Native wildflower, Phacelia crenulata (if I’m correct): Notch-leaved Phacelia- Andreas Canyon, Palm Springs.

During the early-March 2011 trip, Brittlebush blooms were lighting up the desert landscape with masses of cheery, golden yellow daisy-like flowerheads on shrubby, mounding plants. It’s a common wildflower in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts.

: Brittlebush – Encelia farinosa Photo © Alice Joyce

More colorful still, the combination of Sand Verbena and Desert Dandelion hugging the parched earth. I was thrilled to encounter so many different species strutting their stuff. You can never know for certain whether the wildflowers will be abundant when planning desert travel in late winter or in spring. 2011 proved to be a very good year.

: Sand Verbena and Malacothrix glabrata Desert dandelion Photo © Alice Joyce

Borrego Springs .. Read More

Eerie Vision: The Salton Sea

After leaving Palm Springs…

Palm Springs Sunset Photo © Alice Joyce

my desert sojourn to Anza-Borrego State Park followed a route south along California State Highway 86, to enter the park and the town of Borrego Springs from the eastern entrance.

Salton Sea Blue Sky Photo © Alice Joyce

The drive along Hwy. 86 runs nearly parallel to the western edge of the Salton Sea in the Imperial Valley, past Desert Shores and Salton Sea Beach; desolate towns that time seems to have passed by.

Salton Sea Photo © Alice Joyce

A State Recreation Area, the Salton Sea SRA Parks web site lists budget constraints as the reason for the closing until further notice of Bombay Beach and other areas located on the opposite side, where Hwy. 111 runs along a stretch of parkland. A unique inland body of water some 200 feet below sea level, the strangely eerie Salton Sea resulted from massive flooding of the Colorado River more than 100 years ago.

Salton Sea - Photo: wikispaces

Photos show what I believe to be the Chocolate Mountains in the distance. I chose not to photograph the wasteland where we parked to car to walk down to the shore — decrepit buildings at the end of the road in a landscape strewn with trash. A setting as surreal as the sea itself.

For a history of the Salton Sea, visit the Salton Sea Museum web site.

Joshua Tree Journey

The otherworldly landscape of Joshua Tree National Park is transporting.

One’s senses are heightened when taking in the powerful juxtaposition of wondrous rock formations and the oddly entrancing forms of Joshua Trees marching across the desert’s hills and flatlands.

I had vowed to return to the park after an all-too-brief foray a few years ago; managing but one hike on a perfect winter’s day in bright sunshine. Checking into our hotel after driving from Borrego Springs, we set out immediately for Joshua Tree, knowing that a rainstorm was predicted for the following day: A day when I had planned to spend long hours exploring the park.

Yucca brevifolia – Joshua Tree

By the time we arrived in mid-afternoon, the weather system at Joshua Tree had rapidly shifted. The sky threatened rain, and the strength of the bitterly cold wind at the Keys View overlook nearly toppled me as I stood facing a vista of the Little San Bernardino Mountains.

: Joshua Tree – Keys View Overlook (Photo: Alice Joyce)

Despite knowing I would not be returning the following day for another hike in the sun, I felt thankful to have caught a ‘window’ before the storm hit. Although too early in the season to see the Joshua trees in bloom, their presence was a stirring sight. (The park’s succulent species generally flower in April or May.)

: Joshua Tree Panicle: Wikipedia

The parkland spans diverse ecosystems; taking in a section of the Colorado Desert – part of the vast Sonoran Desert, the Mojave, and an area of the Little San Bernardino Mountain range. The flora encompasses Palo verde (Cercidium) and pencil cholla (Cylindropuntia), smoketree, ocotillo (Fouqueria), and chuparosa (Justicia). It’s the north part of the park that is, in fact, the southern boundary of the Mojave Desert: the special habitat where you’ll see the Joshua tree – Yucca brevifolia, looking palm-like to some eyes.

Created by age-old volcanic activity, the parkland’s ‘rockpiles’

- stunning geologic formations – are breathtaking and mesmerizing.

More to see in Borrego Springs… & Southern California

Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Follow Me…..

Thank you .. ‘Dirt du Jour’

Contact Alice: Talks & Topics

Desert Destinations: Wildflower Hikes

Eerie Vision: The Salton Sea

Joshua Tree Journey

Best 100 Travel Blogs

Click on Icon To Subscribe:

Pages