Our campground in Borrego Springs is an oasis in the desert. Its location is perfect for exploring Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The park itself is well maintained, and we have been having a very pleasant stay here. The sites are wide and level and spaced nicely.
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| camping in Borrego Springs |
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| great site |
Again, we rose early to beat the heat and enjoy a nice hike. The Palm Canyon Trail is a very popular trail in the park, and if you look carefully, you may be able to spot Big Horn Sheep. We had heard from others that they have recently been seen in the first mile of the hike, so we were looking!
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| ready Susie? |
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| I think I can do this!! I have lots of water, the big hat, sunscreen, cooling kerchiefs.... |
We may have been a bit distracted by the wonderful blooms all around us though. Wow! To see so much color in the desert is extra special to us. So many different flowers, but we don't know the names of them. We are simply enjoying them! Enjoy the pics of the flowers!
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| so much color everywhere |
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| such a beautiful hike |
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| we are heading back there into that canyon |
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| even the lizards are colorful :) |
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| a gorgeous hike |
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| pinks and greens |
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| I'm not hot, are you? |
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| caught my eye....nature's art |
There were gentle ups and downs on this hike, and lots of rocks-all in all it was a fun hike. My head was spinning watching my footing, the flowers, looking for big horn sheep, and watching out for snakes. Hahahahah. Oh, and trying to stay cool. That was the biggest challenge of all!
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| lots of rocks |
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| hydrating in the shade....doing good so far |
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| very cool rocks...loved the white lines |
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| the rocks were colorful here too |
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| lots of folks photograph this rock! |
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| GREAT hiking in the shade!! Makes a world of difference! |
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| uh oh...hat off....not a good sign |
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| its greening up - we must be close now |
We knew we were getting near the palm oasis the minute we spotted water in a stream. It was so weird, the stream just disappeared. Look at it. Crazy! At the other end of the stream, within the palm oasis, there is an actual waterfall, although it is very small. The water just runs out I guess, that's all.
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| see way down the canyon....palm trees! And check out how the water just stops here |
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| lots of green here |
As we neared the palm oasis, there were lots of rocks to climb around and through. It was fun! Though it was getting really hot. By the time we got to the oasis, I was ready to take a swim....ahahhah.
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| heading up to the oasis |
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| lots of rocks |
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| easy footing though |
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| on a mission |
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| aahhhh.....water! |
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| its nice here! |
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| aahhh....refreshing! |
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| want to take a dip? |
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| very inviting! |
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| see the waterfall? |
We continued up the oasis as far as we could. Still lots of rocks and climbing but it was easy and fun. The view was special too. Magical. There was a point where we couldn't go any farther.
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| this way |
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| up |
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| up |
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| still nice flowers along the trail too |
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| heading towards the big oasis |
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| its pretty hot!! |
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| this is as far as we go |
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| the water going downhill until it stops (where I mentioned before) |
On our return back, we took an alternate trail. Boy were we glad we did. The flowers were spectacular! We only passed one other set of hikers too. I guess that alternate trail is not very popular. It seemed a little more strenuous to me, but it was really good! Loved it! No luck with the sheep spotting though.
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| view back down the canyon |
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| heading back...gorgeous |
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| heading down the alternate trail....looking for sheep! |
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| check out this guy's hands!! polka dots! |
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| a quail! |
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| a big pleasant surprise on this "alternate" trail!! |
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| so vibrant! |
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| glad we came this way! |
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| still looking for sheep |
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| hot hot hot-but the flowers are awesome!! |
We had about a mile to go when it just got unbearable hot for me, and I was on a mission to complete the hike and get out of the sun. Silly me....I forgot my white long-sleeved shirt to help protect me from the sun, and I was paying the price for that! It felt like I was frying! Tom is getting to be quite the photographer too, but I couldn't linger any longer. Good thing he has those nice long (thin!) legs and can catch up to me in a heartbeat:)
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| see Tom way back there? in the middle of the picture? |
The air temperature when we were finished with the hike was 87! Way too hot for me.
Tom I'm glad we finished when we did, and even happier that I didn't have a heat stroke. Tom is my idol! I don't know how he does it with the heat!
Every Friday, there is a Farmer's Market set up at Christmas Circle in the center of Borrego Springs. We were in luck, because it was still going on when we rode by. There were several vegetable vendors, meat, mushrooms, salsa and chips, bread and baked goods, and some jewelry too. I was checking out the lettuce when the vendor offered me the biggest head of lettuce I've ever seen, for $3. In California! Not bad. I bought some swiss chard from her as well. It all looked so fresh and delicious. She said she just picked that giant head of lettuce this morning.
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| great way to shop! |
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| wait, what does that say? 107? (in the sun) I knew it was unbearably hot!!! |
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| not sure if you can tell just HOW BIG this head of lettuce is (and its delicious too) |
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