Anza-Borrego Desert, California - April 7, 2024

 I put this in the Arizona blog because it's a short trip and almost in Arizona, but I'm sharing it with Travelogue regulars as well, if that makes sense.  Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys a few scenes from the desert.

The Anza-Borrego Desert is a huge area of sand, rock, mountains, canyons, arroyos, washes, a variety of plants and wildlife, and many unique formations and features.  There is a state park of some 640,000 acres, a state recreation area dedicated to off-roading of some 85,000 acres, the town of Borrego Springs at 28,000 acres and 4000 people, plus BLM land of untold number of acres.  Many snowbirds spend the winters here, while many off-road enthusiasts come year round to play in the vast sand box with 500 miles of suitable trail.  The entire area is available for camping without facilities, and there are several designated camping areas with facilities.

The desert averages about five inches of rain each year, but there are years when winter rains are much heavier.  When that happens, the desert springs to life with an incredible array of wildflowers, and folks come from all over to see and photograph the event.  I get a newsletter weekly telling about things related to the desert southwest, including reports on wildflowers in various areas.  The report for Anza-Borrego indicated this was a better than average year for wildflowers, so I decided to visit.  Unfortunately, commitments at home delayed my start.  The day I arrived, I received a report that the wildflowers had pretty much played out, but the cacti were blooming nicely.  Since I had reserved, and paid for, a week at a central campground, I had to stick it out and enjoy what I could.

I spent nine days here in 2018 and covered a large area, so this time the plan was to visit areas I missed before, particularly those areas known for wildflowers.  The afternoon of arrival, I took a scenic drive toward nearby mountains, saving the most likely wildflower areas for a full day.

My previous visit had many good sunrises and sunsets, but this trip saw almost no clouds, so not much sunrise or sunset.  That first evening was not great, but was the only sunset photo of the trip.