Last day at Anza-Borrego

I walked the Yaqui Well Trail near the Tamarisk Grove Campground with a goal to find birds since I was told that this would be a good place. When I stepped out of the car I was greeted by a Phainopepla which is common to southern California but I never get tired of looking at them.  To my friends in the East I have described them a Goth Cardinals all dressed in black.

 

The trail was rocky with cactus all about.

Once I found the old Yaqui Well I noticed several white butterflies racing up and down the path patrolling and doing battle over territory. Further along I round the source of nectar and a beautiful Western White butterfly (Pontia accidentalis). I have finally learned that just because something looks familiar it is often the western version and therefore just a little different. So this was not a West Virginia White.

 

Up until my last day I had not seen Ocotillo in bloom but on the drive back to the campground I came to a screeching halt and slowing made a 5 point turn back to see their lipstick tube red blossoms.

"At a casual glance, nothing seemed to live here except the few plants which had clawed deep into the earth, defying wind and heat alike . . . But this was deceptive. The desert nurtured a whole world of living things of its own."  -- Edward Maddin Anisworth, author

Anza-Borrego geology

Anza-Borrego Desert Narrows Earth Trail in “Powder Dump Wash”. 

In the 1930’s road crews called this wash “Powder Dump Wash” because this was where they kept explosives. Below is a photo of part of a concrete and boulder wall from the building where they were stored. Noticed the fault line next to it.

Now this wash has become the Narrows Earth Trail with good geological examples of how this region was formed.  I thought Anza-Borrego was all about flowers so I was surprised to find a geological trail.  Here is what I found and learned. Over 100 million years ago hot liquid rock, called magma thrust into the earth’s crust forming igneous rock.  As it cooled, it crystallized into minerals and became granite.  Later erosion exposed the granite and broke it down even further into sand.

This region had experienced and continues to have earthquake faults and because of that there are sections of older sedimentary rock next to the granitic rock.  The sedimentary rock had pockets of softer material here and there and over time, rain and wind removed the softer rock, leaving these holes.

Anza-Borrego has thousands of small faults like the one below. The rounded edges of the contact zone caused by constant movement and the different kinds of rock material are distinct features of a fault. The fault lines in this valley create cracks in the earth that allows water to seep up and provided the needed water for the many palm oases.

The rock below is metamorphic, which means it has been changed by pressure, heat or chemical action.  When this rock was at the bottom of the sea, about 450 million years ago, this cliff was located south of what we now call Guaymas, Mexico. You can see how the layers have been pushed, squeezed and turned on their sides.

 

As I left I turned around for a parting shot of the alluvial fan sloping down the mountain caused by heavy rain as it carried the sand and gravel down the mountain.

 

This short walk was a reminder of how we are always surrounded by active processes of geology. I could have found many of these same features in my home state of West Virginia that I have described here.  I am always amazed at how our earth has exploded, bent, oozed, and moved all around. Once I began to notice geological features, it is hard to go anywhere without noticing and it makes my journey all the more interesting.

 

 

Anza-Borrego Insipiration Wash

 

Eager to start the day I rose with the birds and was treated with a new life bird, the White-winged Dove.  Notice the white edge to its wing.

 

Another bird nearby was a Eurasian Collard Dove which has a dark semi circle on its neck. 

I though the best one I saw was a Costas Hummingbird. 

But then a couple of Roadrunners showed up, and well it is hard to top a roadrunner even if they are common in this area.  They weren’t common to me.

 I followed then through the campground until I finally took a good photo. Whew, they are fast runners.

 

My plan was to join the park naturalist at a place called Inspiration Wash for a walk to look at flowers. The walk was beautiful with lots of fantastic vistas.

We only found two flowers a Mojave-Aster (Xylorhiza tortifolia).

 And a desert vetch.

 

After climbing a small hill I could look back and see the wash that we had just walked. 

From there I drove over to the Narrows Earth Trail which deserves its own blog, so look for it tomorrow.

On my way back to camp I passed some metal sculptures in the desert and stopped for a look see.  They were created by Ricardo Breceda for Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs. There are over 129 sculptures and I only saw a few.  I didn’t know there were so many until I came home and looked searched on the internet. 

 

I only saw a few and these are a couple of my favorites. Collectively they are called “Sky Art”, a blend of craftsmanship and placement in the open desert landscape.  Each piece I did see looked it came there on its own accord.

 

 

Anza Borrego Desert State Park

Anza-Borrego Desert in California is a place I have know about since I was stationed at Miramar Naval Air Station but I had never taken the time to visit until now.  It encompasses some of the most diverse desert landscape in the world within its 600,000 acres. Nearly two-thirds are pristine wilderness and has a wonderful array of desert wildflowers.  Unfortunately most of them bloom in March and I was early by a week or two but I didn't regret going early.

The drive to the Anza Borrego Desert was much more exciting and beautiful than I had anticipated.  I thought I would just be driving along an Interstate but that was not the case.  As I approached San Diego I turned off and began my ascent up into the mountains.  I became a little worried as I was passing cars coming toward me with snow on their hoods and roofs.  My camper is not a four wheel drive and I would have to turn back if the roads were icy with snow.  But luck would have it and the road remained dry but the mountains surrounding me were covered with a dusting of snow which made them grand to look at.  At some point it was almost impossible to go very far without stopping for a photo opportunity. I found this wonderful fellow standing guard.

 

Finally I began my descent into the desert valley.

My first stop was the visitor center to find out what was going on and to purchase a map.  I took the short but colorful trail around the center and found some interesting flowers in bloom.  One of the most unusual ones I saw was a Fairyduster (Calliandra eriophylla) a little shrub about a foot or so high with gray twigs. The leaves are divided into small leaflets like a mimosa.  The flower is rose to reddish purple with dense heads on the ends of short stems, with conspicuous tufts of reddish stamens that may be almost an inch long that look like feather dusters.

 

I foun a Leaffooted Plant Bug nearby called Leptoglossus zonatus.

 

Another red flower in bloom caught my attention when I spotted a humming bird fly to it for a sip of nectar.  It was a Chaparosa or Belopperone (Justica califonica) about 2 feet high shrub and looked almost leafless. The Spanish named it after their name for Hummingbird.  The Native Americans are known to have sucked the flower for its sweet nectar like I sometimes do with Honey Suckle.

Moving on I found Desert-lavender (Huptis emory) that was either just beginning to bloom or was about finished.   It is in the mint family and can grow 3-10 feet tall.  Bees love this plant and it is often called “Bee Sage”.  I had to move in slowly to not get stung.

The visitor center is build on the side of a small hill and the roof is covered with soil blending in with the desert. At the top was a large Desert Agave (Agave deserti) in bloom.  It was too tall to get a good close up.  The root was baked and toasted by native peoples and I read that it tasted like sweet potatoes. The fibers were used for ropes and baskets.

The most common yellow flower was the Brittlebush or incienso (Encelia farinose).  It is a member of the sunflower family and I do believe it is the same as the one I saw in Death Valley earlier this year but here there were many more.  The stems extrude a fragrant resin that is chewed by Native Americans and used as incense in the churches of Baja California.

Another yellow flower was the Bladderpod (Isomeris arborea).

 

From the Visitor center I drove to my campsite for lunch and then set out to find a La Conti’s Thrasher.  The park naturalist said that they were singing and I might be able to find one in the more desert area so off I went.  I never did find the Thrasher but I did find one of those beetles that I had seen in Death Valley but this time I took a better photo. 

The only other life I observed were two colonies of ants not too far from one another.  I tried to channel E.O. Wilson and make good observations.  The first colony had a very big hole and they were all black.  The big one carrying large grains of sands and smaller ones, well, I don’t know what they were doing.

Just a couple yards away were a smaller hole with fewer ants that were red with black ends. If I leaned over to take a photo they stayed in the hole but once I moved they came rushing out.  It was a little tricky getting good photos.

I drove back to the campground as the evening was approaching.